County Road 48 Dispersed Camping

This was our first stop before getting to the San Juan Mountains. We decided to spend two nights here. We explored a little bit of turquoise lake and some trails.

The camp site was nice, very simple with tree cover and fire ring from previous campers.

I would stay here again, some spots have nice Mountain View’s, others are secluded and in the trees. Definitely some campers that may live there permanently.

Nice location

Stayed here over 4th holiday weekend and I don’t agree with other reviews. Underwhelmed - stayed in a 40ft class A. Surrounding area is beautiful and so are mountain views but no real sites so it was crowded - not my style of boondocking. Took a beautiful hike to Bear Lake and had a blast - need a 4wd for drive to trailhead. But well worth it - used Alltrails app and found it easily. Turquoise lake is just a short drive but we were not impressed. We preferred Salida area.

Spent 2 weeks here avoiding the heatwave that is gripping the West. Due to elevation, this area is nice and cool. This area has 3 main "entrances" and is a network of connecting roads. The main road is very well maintained.

GPS coordinates take you to the first entry road to this area. There are some nice sites in by this first entry and 2 bars of 4G Verizon, but intermittent. I would avoid anything longer than 30ft for the first area. The sites in this area are decently spaced. The road is very good but does have one sharp turn.

If you drive past the GPS location and head down the road approximately 3/4 mile there will another road to your left. Be mindful of this entry as if you are on the left side of the road there is a big dip. If you have a lot of rear overhang take this at an angle. Definitely stop and look at it first. The road is a big rocky but totally doable. This area has the best Version. We consistently had 3 bars of 4G. The sites here are larger and more spaced. I did see some larger fifth wheels back here.

If you continue on the main road past that side street you will end up by an open flat field. If you are driving a big rig this is your spot. On father's day weekend this area held at least 30 toy haulers with plenty of space to maneuver.

There were quite a few dirt bikes, dune buggies and ATVs on the weekend, but it was quite during the week.

There is a dump in town, about 10 minutes from this area. Water is $5 and dumping is $10.

Turquoise Lake is about a mile from this area and always has a good breeze. Tons of places for dogs to swim at the lake.

We found this little gem well going through Leadville when no other options of camping were available. We were so glad we did! We met a few awesome like minded people, we were able to ride our ATVs from sun up to sundown right from camp, beautiful scenery, And it was what camping is supposed to be. The only negative thing that I have to say is that the bathrooms were disgusting (that’s why I gave it 3 stars) - campground cleanliness a 5. They were full of feces and trash. However, if you have a trailer or outdoor potty be sure you have that available as a back up. We will come back here again.

This is one of our favorite free campsites in Colorado. First... it's HUGE. There are so many meandering roads back into the woods. I spent about 45 minutes driving various roads scouting out spots. Tons of options! We ended up driving down the main dirt road to another left hand pull off, driving a bit back that road and finding a gorgeous spot overlooking a ridge with views of the mountains.

We had decent Verizon service and were able to do basic work on our computers. When we needed to do heavier uploads, we drove 15 minutes into town and ate at the great Cuban restaurant, Buchi, and sat at their covered, outdoor patio. The food there, as well as Mountain High Pies is great.

Some of the roads into the secluded spots can be a bit tricky to navigate but we got our Class C in no problem taking it slow. I saw a ton of big rigs tucked away too.