Madden Peak Road Dispersed Camping
San Juan National Forest
Write a Review FR-316 Hesperus, CO 81326 970-247-4874 Official WebsiteGPS: 37.3476, -108.2016
Overview of Madden Peak Road Dispersed Camping
Accessibility is not guaranteed, always scout ahead before driving down dirt roads. Learn more: Boondocking 101.
Last Price Paid: $0
Reported by camper-800233 on 7/3/2024
Longest RV Reported: 42 feet (Toy Hauler Fifth Wheel)
Reported by Blake & Chelsea on 9/26/2019
Pad Type dirt
Open Seasonally Late April - Dec.
Elevation 8,103 ft / 2,469 m
Max Stay 14
Tent Camping Yes
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Q&A - Ask the Community about Madden Peak Road Dispersed Camping
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 970-247-4874
LeahM asked on 1/11/2021
Hello! Based on reviews, it sounds like the road and conditions are suitable for a minivan pulling a small pop-up cam...
DirtTrailJunkies asked on 8/3/2021
We were at Madden Peak Road recently and had no internet. According to some of the reviews, people worked in this are...
Reviews of Madden Peak Road Dispersed Camping 93 people have reviewed this location.
“Powder dust, good Verizon signal, decent access”
Reviewed 7/12/2020
Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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Days stayed: | 6 |
RV Length: | 21' (Fifth Wheel) |
Good base for exploring Mesa Verde, Chimney Rock, surrounding area. FR 316 is a little rough, but no big deal if you go slow. Best thing is great cell signal. Worst thing is the powder fine dust that gets everywhere. Traffic was heavy on weekend, but tapered off weekdays.
Sands would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Easy access, private, dog loved”
Reviewed 6/17/2020
Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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Days stayed: | 1 |
We drove about 1 mile on dirt road, turn right before fork in road and right again into trees. Road a little bumpy and dusty but traveled slow and it was ok. Easy access, easy parking in the trees. Beautiful view of valley below. Only drawback was cows, we were hoping for wildlife instead. Our dog loved being off leash. ATT connecti... more
We drove about 1 mile on dirt road, turn right before fork in road and right again into trees. Road a little bumpy and dusty but traveled slow and it was ok. Easy access, easy parking in the trees. Beautiful view of valley below. Only drawback was cows, we were hoping for wildlife instead. Our dog loved being off leash. ATT connection was great, planned a movie but it was so nice and quiet we enjoyed that instead.
Doug would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Second time around”
Reviewed 6/17/2020
Days stayed: | 2 |
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I camped here years ago and camp back again. It was quiet and less populated this time so that was fantastic. Love this location since we’re going to both Durango and Mesa Verde.
A_Mi_Go would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great views. Private spots.”
Reviewed 9/26/2019
Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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Days stayed: | 1 |
RV Length: | 42' (Toy Hauler Fifth Wheel) |
We didn't have any issue with getting to our spot - the road was pretty good most of the way. It does get a bit rocky at some points but nothing our 42ft toy hauler couldn't handle. Just go slow. We only stayed here for 1 night (left after work the next day) only because the elevation is so high and we have a doggo with heart issue... more
We didn't have any issue with getting to our spot - the road was pretty good most of the way. It does get a bit rocky at some points but nothing our 42ft toy hauler couldn't handle. Just go slow.
We only stayed here for 1 night (left after work the next day) only because the elevation is so high and we have a doggo with heart issues. Otherwise we would've stayed much longer! We went quite a bit down the road because all the spots towards the beginning were taken. (when you come to a part in the road where you can go left, straight or right... we went straight... about .5 mile to a big U shaped pull-through (or back in) Site wasn't the most level as some of the others but it was slim pickin's by the time we arrived (we arrived 8pm on a Wednesday)
There were probably 15 other people all scattered about along the road but you wouldn't know it. The privacy was GREAT! Views were awesome!! We would definitely stay here again.
Cell signal is good. Verizon kind of sucked for us but I think its due to our hotspot plan, not the signal here (congestion). AT&T was great also (30/down 20/up)
Overall, great experience and we would have loved to stay longer!
Blake & Chelsea would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Very dusty!”
Reviewed 9/10/2019
Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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Days stayed: | 1 |
We had no problem at all finding a great pull through spot. It hadn’t rained in some time so it was extremely dusty. We didn’t have time to explore the surrounding area, so I can’t say much. We were in search of free camping and were happy to stay here.
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“One of our favorites”
Reviewed 8/22/2019
Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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Days stayed: | 7 |
RV Length: | 25' (Travel Trailer) |
There's some great boondocking all around this year, but there's one spot that's special. One spot with the best view. If you can score it, it's great. But don't worry if you arrive and someone's already taken it - it's a popular spot with locals - there are plenty of other great spots around! The dirt road to get in is a little rou... more
There's some great boondocking all around this year, but there's one spot that's special. One spot with the best view. If you can score it, it's great.
But don't worry if you arrive and someone's already taken it - it's a popular spot with locals - there are plenty of other great spots around! The dirt road to get in is a little rough, and I wouldn't want to take a big rig down there, but for us it's perfect.
Cell signal is generally good, but line of site to the tower makes all the difference. You can see it up on the hill, and moving your RV a few feet is the difference between great signal and terrible signal.
Here are our speeds (unboosted):
AT&T: 44.7 down / 8 up / 47ms ping
Verizon: 75.4 down / 16.8 up / 36 ms ping
Verizon (Jetpack): 84.1 down / 12.4 up / 48ms ping
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great boondocking experience, even with the snow”
Reviewed 7/10/2019
Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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Days stayed: | 8 |
RV Length: | 26' (Travel Trailer) |
I stayed here from 5/19/19 to 5/26/19. I stayed in the same site that another reviewer mentioned - coordinates 37.346023, -108.199392. As you're going down road 316, you'll eventually see a split where a dirt road goes off to the right. I took the road to the right, then took the first right and it led to the campsite. I actually parke... more
I stayed here from 5/19/19 to 5/26/19. I stayed in the same site that another reviewer mentioned - coordinates 37.346023, -108.199392. As you're going down road 316, you'll eventually see a split where a dirt road goes off to the right. I took the road to the right, then took the first right and it led to the campsite. I actually parked at the split and walked down to scout it out before driving in. I would recommend doing this, as I'm not sure what the road is like past the campsite I stayed in.
The site was amazing! It was on top of a hill and had a beautiful overlook of the valley below. There's a long narrow clearing for a gas line that runs through the site and several times I saw deer and elk in the clearing. It was very private and I didn't see too many other people while I was out there. This is likely because of the weather, as it was beautiful when I pulled in but the next morning I woke up to about 6 inches of snow. It continued to snow for almost the entire time I was there. Once the snow melted the dirt roads to the site off the main road got pretty slick and rutted. Fortunately I never had any issues getting stuck. Verizon service was great up here, and I had no trouble working.
This was actually my first boondocking experience, and even with the snow I thought it was great. Since then I've done a fair amount of boondocking, and this is still one of my favorite sites. There were a lot of other sites in here right off the road, but I was glad I got the one that I did for the privacy.
Blake would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Hope you like cows!”
Reviewed 7/1/2019
Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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Days stayed: | 2 |
It's OK if you need somewhere to stay in the area, but not worth going out of your way for. Basically a bunch of sites surrounded by Gambel's Oak, which makes them private but also a bit claustrophobic. The real highlight was the cattle, however: a big herd grazing in the area that surrounded the RV most of our stay, providing endle... more
It's OK if you need somewhere to stay in the area, but not worth going out of your way for. Basically a bunch of sites surrounded by Gambel's Oak, which makes them private but also a bit claustrophobic.
The real highlight was the cattle, however: a big herd grazing in the area that surrounded the RV most of our stay, providing endless entertainment. Possibly less entertaining at 6AM when they woke us with loud mooing and rocking the RV (though we did joke about "this is your wake-up cow").
We stayed about 3 miles off the highway, at what appears to be the last level site as the road heads upwards. We went a couple miles further, and found a few spots with views, but no chance of leveling the vehicle - so we came back. FYI, the road also gets rougher the further up you go.
String would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Loved it; rough road”
Reviewed 6/16/2019
Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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Days stayed: | 4 |
Goods: quiet, shaded, well-spaced sites, clean, tons of wild flowers, hummingbirds, squirrels, chipmunks, quaking aspens, pines, mountain water streams Bads: road is very rough in parts, not all sites are level, biting red ants The farther you drive up the road, the better the sites seem to get. We picked a spot about 2 miles in ... more
Goods: quiet, shaded, well-spaced sites, clean, tons of wild flowers, hummingbirds, squirrels, chipmunks, quaking aspens, pines, mountain water streams
Bads: road is very rough in parts, not all sites are level, biting red ants
The farther you drive up the road, the better the sites seem to get. We picked a spot about 2 miles in from Hwy 160. One day we walked a couple miles up the road from where we set up camp, and we saw some really good spots with nice views. Only deterrent is the road in spots; higher profile vehicles will do okay.
Hypsy-Gypsy would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“We liked it here. Great location. 22 miles from Cortez, about 25 from Durango.”
Reviewed 6/16/2019
Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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Days stayed: | 5 |
RV Length: | 25' (Travel Trailer) |
We have 25' travel trailer and had no problems getting in. Stayed middle of June. Elevation is 8,000' so nights dropped into low/mid 40's. High 70's. Every size rig here. There are two sets of overhead wires. I wouldn't go past second set with my Travel trailer. A lot of 10-15' foliage making a lot of the sites feel pretty private. We ... more
We have 25' travel trailer and had no problems getting in. Stayed middle of June. Elevation is 8,000' so nights dropped into low/mid 40's. High 70's. Every size rig here. There are two sets of overhead wires. I wouldn't go past second set with my Travel trailer. A lot of 10-15' foliage making a lot of the sites feel pretty private. We came in on a Friday and picked a spot a little closer to the road then I would have wanted. We are about 1.5 miles from highway. There were perhaps 20 vehicles that came by all day. T-Mobile with 8.8Mbps speed.
Commanderdave would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
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Amenities
Hookups
- dry camping
- Dispersed Camping
Site Amenities
- fire ring
Pets
- pets
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