Mud Tank

Beautiful Boondocking/ Dry camping area off of the 260 on Forest Service road 9E. We called both surrounding ranger districts to verify we could camp here and got the go ahead from both. It is a little muddy (but completely driveable) from recent snow melt but I bet in the spring/summer when the road is dry, you could drive pretty far. We walked FR 9E for a couple miles till we got to the trees taking in the gorgeous weather and views. We only saw one other person the entire time we camped here and they just stopped for some exercise and to let their dogs run. Cattle ranch and house for the ranchers were not in use. My family and I love it!

Pulled in and def had a sketchy vibe from the run down house in the distance, horse stable and shed. Saw someone drive by and take the dirt path while waiting for buddy to get there. Theres a sign that reads “NO OVERNIGHT CAMPING” at the entrance to that road. Tried to drive down it but it was def going to be a long one. Not to mention giant purses of rusted metal in the road. We turned around and said screw it. I’m sure it’s a nice spot once you get to it but we were looking to camp.

I read the other reviews and even though it felt like we were on someone's property, we gave it a try. It was lovely, with horses on the property, so many birds, a dragonfly and even a coatimundi. A couple of cars came down the road but no one bothered us. The next morning, as we were toasting our good fortune for finding such a peaceful spot, a car came by and told us we couldn't camp here (and he waited until morning to tell us, so not to scare us). He said that down the road (where mud made it impassible) or across Hwy 260 were spots, but not here.

The drive was down an easy short dirt road, past the loop I didn’t bother to look because it was certainly not drivable for my little car. I arrived to hang out in the sun a bit before I slept for the night. I was weirded out that there was a corral with some horses and a building up in the back that seemed boarded up. I felt like I was on someone’s property but with no one around. Besides being a little creepy to me at first (but that’s just me) I was soon enjoying the peaceful property with a couple of mountain bluebirds playing around my car until sunset. No one else arrived during the night. Ended up being super chill.

I arrived here after dark and there were no reviews so I had no idea what I was getting into. After a short drive down a dirt road that is in decent shape I came to a loop. From the loop, roads in worse condition split left or right. I couldn’t see very far up either road so I parked right in the loop. If one more vehicle came in they would have been able to turn around to get past me, but otherwise they would have been stuck. And if another vehicle had been parked there before me it may have been weird sharing it. So it has room in the loop for more than one vehicle but there are not any individual parking spots. It would be very difficult to turn around a larger rig, and difficult to get around multiple vehicles. Vans and 4-wheel drive vehicles should be fine going further up the dirt road to the right, but not RVs. It was a beautiful spot to wake up in. I have no idea if this is public or private land, btw. It was listed as a spot on this app so I tried it. No issues whatsoever.