Fraser River Diversion Canal Dispersed Camping

Pros:
- Easy to level
- Close to lots of hiking
- Close to town but doesn’t feel like it
- Great service on both Verizon (13.7Mbps down, 12Mbps up) and AT&T (10.7Mbps down, 63.1Mbps up)

Cons:
- Sites are just pull offs of the road so lots of dust

If you come in from I-70 you’ll come to a fork in the road, I was the first site on the right which was huge and could’ve fit a lot of rigs. If you go left it warns you that narrow road but it doesn’t narrow for a mile. When it does narrow, it’s doable especially if you’re smaller but I would probably come in from the other way if you can’t easily backup if you encounter someone else (this is for towing something only) . After Jim Creek Trailhead there are lots more spots, some big enough for multiple if in a group but again I’d come in from the other direction if you want to camp on this side of the trail head.

Lots of spots, but there are more on the left branch. The road narrows but does widen again and there are lots of places to turn around even for big rigs. The Jim Creek Trail is right on the road and is amazing. You are right above Winter Park so lots of places to restock supplies. The dust from traffic including UTV’s is a negative. I would stay here again.

We stayed at first near the Jim Creek trailhead but a black bear was frequenting the area in daylight. To be safe we moved to the other side of the narrow road to the tail and no longer saw the bear. Talking to others he did destroy a few tents. He put paw prints on our truck and RV.

Love the area though and saw the momma moose. Was quiet, even though we where there for thr 4th of July.

Depending on your site there is road noise and you can hear the Amtrack at night. Mosquitoes were bad this year.

We came up to the area Aug 15th and drove all along FR-128 and found several sites, but all of them are pull offs right along the road. You can find some big spots for big trailers and the road is fairly wide and easy to drive. Some sites have great views of Winter Park and the mountains to the West. The area is very busy with other campers and lots of ATVs and Motorcycles. We choose not to stay because we did not like the lack of privacy or how busy the area was. If you don't mind being right alongside a busy dirt road then you can find some nice areas, but you won't have tons of space or privacy.

the road is well maintained and very easy to drive even for the biggest of rigs. upon entering there is a large flat area and shortly after the road forks left and right. both directions offer a number of spots of for most sized rigs. the right fork has two mostly flat areas which can hold one or two large rigs (like a class a) and a number of smaller areas. all areas are basically just an extended shoulder of the road. there is a moderately large turn around at the dead end of the right fork. the left fork is similar but goes further and leads to a trail head and small creek. like the right for, the left offers two larger flat areas for big rigs being basically extended shoulders of the road (suspect these were used at one time for construction equipment for the road). there are also a few small wider areas of the road with shoulders that can accommodate vans or small rigs. also, make sure not to park on the uphill side of the road because there are multiple signs indicating there is an "underground canal" beneath the dirt (basically a buried large diameter metal pipe). I had sprint/t-mobile running wifi with great speeds.

We spent 14 days here and enjoyed the cool air and beautiful views.

The road was very well maintained and allowed any clearance vehicle to pass. Less dusty than some forest roads in Colorado. Upon exiting I40 there is a large turn off that allows for a large rig to park and turn around. At the first fork I suggest any larger rigs to turn left for further parking. The left fork has a turn around for large vehicles.

The right fork has multiple turn offs that fit small RVs and vans. As you continue along the road, do not park over the drainage canal on the left. There are signs to this effect. Larger rigs should not continue past the road passing over the drainage canal as it is very narrow. There is a large turn around before this which has 4 bars of 4G Verizon.

There is a back entrance from Arrow Trail further down I40. This would be the best way for a larger rig to access the remaining sites along the road.

The Jim Creek trailhead can be accessed from this road. It is a moderate trail with a waterfall. During a hike we saw a Moose with a baby on the trail.

Overall the area has approximately 30 areas for overnight. OHV traffic was light and mostly on weekends.

As the phone coverage varies between 2 and 4 bars I chose 3 bars of Verizon 4G.

We stayed July 10-13 2021, the campground was beautiful with a stream running along it. Plenty of room for the kids to play in the woods and splash in the stream. The days were warm and the nights were cool enough not to need A/C.
The campground is only a few miles from town and having young grandkids with us the laundromat saved the day!
The biggest drawback was it was close to the road, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.
We would definitely stay there again.

We stayed here in a large class A DP. Plenty of room for us but we stayed close to the entrance. The road was fairly busy with other campers, but we had that section to ourself and we used the RV to shield us from the road. There are several hikes right off the road, which are great and a creek running through parts of this area, which our kid’s played in. I had good cell signal (good enough for Zoom calls) and even road my bike to town a few times.
We will definitely be back here.