Rock Creek Hills Road Dispersed Camping

This is our second time staying at Rock Creek Dispersed Camping area. We came in on county road 77 from Jefferson. The road into the camping area is a little rough in spots but we had no trouble getting in with our 30' travel trailer. We stayed in the first camping area on the left. Had spectacular views but it is a little windy on that hill.

This review will be in regards to the specific forest roads mentioned only as the area is quite large.

This is a hot spot for OHV riding so if you are looking for quiet you should turn elsewhere. There is also extremely spotty Verizon coverage that varies with the wind from 3 bars to no service.

The road in, 39, is very rutted and barely enough room for two vehicles to pass. It is doable in most rigs and I saw a giant Class A drive it without issue. Toy haulers and other large rigs frequent the area and there is no lack of large pull through sites.

In regards to specific roads in the area

FR 826 - do not take an RV down the hill on this road
FR 824 - 4x4 only and no RVs
FR 832 - A few sites, narrow road
FR 132 - Entry may get very muddy but overall a good road. Take the humps slow. This has large pull through sites.
FR 131 - very narrow and tree lined
FR 821 - degrades quickly with low branches and a lot of rocks. May need 4X4 to tow a trailer
FR 39.2A - best views in the area but road humps increase after second site.

The nearest grocery is in Fairplay

Great place to drycamp. All black top until the last mile or so. Dirt/rock road is in rough shape, but doable if you take it slow. Lots of large spaces, great views, and plenty of room. Verizon service is very weak, AT&T is much better. Could stream with it.

Plenty of spaces for large rigs as well. Only downfall is the locks ATV’s that don’t follow the rules. This area is supposed to be for “licensed” vehicles only. Yet plenty of Colorado locals loaded up the side by sides for the weekend.

I was so hopeful about this location, as I love to boondock with my dogs in a small camper. I recon-ed this area along 39 the week before on a Thursday, thinking it would be a decent gauge of occupancy (I camp during the week only). The road was decently navigable for my 22' Class C, and there seemed to be plenty of dispersed spots - many in the trees and a reasonable distance off the road. There was only one site occupied (the best one, IMHO) so I was optimistic. When I returned four days later on a Tuesday, several of the spots were already occupied and I was left with a less than optimal site too near the road for my liking, but whatever. Hence are the risks in the National Forest. The first night was quiet but it went downhill from there. Each day more and more traffic came through at all hours - pick up trucks, ATVs (not technically permitted on that road, but y'know...) and a TON of huge long TTs. I couldn't figure out where all the latter were going since I counted at least a dozen, didn't remember seeing that many sites to accommodate so many large rigs, and none of them came back down. The ATV traffic continued after dark, I could hear generators late into the night, and when some jackass came joyriding around just outside my camper with their ATV past midnight, I'd had enough and we left the next day. Some of this behavior I might expect at high season and/or on the weekends, but was surprised this was the case during the week, and the first days of October. When hiking around, I also found several "decommissioned" dispersed sites the FS has shut down (which were way more private off the road) but that's another conversation! Disappointing.

Stunning pleasant surprise between Denver and Salida. Miles of boondocking options, beautiful views and interesting landscape. Scout ahead as most roads were doable in our 36’ class a but a few tight turns and rough patches had us thankful we didn’t choose some roads. Stick to established camping spots. Some ATV traffic but nothing horrible. Noticeably more popular on the weekend. Cell service was ok and worse at night but we also don’t have a booster currently.
Overall, a beautiful area to explore and we would stay again.

It is amazingly beautiful and peaceful! We have been here since late June 2019. Signs everywhere warned against limited areas for ATVs and No Fireworks. Most obeyed. Fire rings mark the sites. At&t 4 bars off and on, Verizon 3 bars off and on, Verizon jet pack did great! On weather, blue skies mostly, afternoon lightning storms often, a big hale storm and a small one (no damage. Come supplied as closest gas, grocery, water is a drive! Small amount of shooting, mostly 22. Nothing big, and down in ravines. Small vib from a 3 generation local family who have been coming here for years, and felt the rest of us where invaders. 😔Their loss. We also had this families unsupervised dogs at our camp over and over till one adult realized we weren’t thrilled. He took care of it.

This spot has such potential - might try again during the week. Arrived on Friday and most spots taken. Got lucky and found a spot relatively level. After about 2:00pm the ATV's came out. A LOT of ATV's. Some nice folks, probably most but some idiots - chasing cows, doing doughnuts to stir up dust clouds, etc. Then the shooting started. I'm leaving today, planned to stay until Tuesday. Cell service was weird - Verizon - would show 2 bars 4g lte but no connection. With my booster on it worked us fine.

I could be too harsh here - letting a few idiots ruin it. If you come here I hope those same type of people aren't here. If so, you'll have a great time.