Sacred White Shell Mountain Dispersed Camping

We were going to head further down the hwy but noticed a class A entering this area on our way into the Dunes. On our way out of the park (15ish miles) we decided to pull in and check it out. East access, the road isn’t perfect but just take it slow. There were a couple of muddy sections but we made it through just fine and multiple cars/suvs came in after us. There was a large empty area so we pulled in. Had it to ourselves until a lady in a car pulled in and parked on the other end of the same area (not a problem). There is a 12mph breeze and it’s supposed to come down to 4-5 overnight. We had to close some windows and put on a hoodie (perfect!), it’s supposed to get down to the mid 50’s. After the hubby rides his bike up the mountain and back down in the morning, we’ll head out. Amazing sunset, no trees but we prefer that for our solar and Starlink. There is some trash in the fire pits and around the site area, not terrible but we’ll pick some up in the morning… leave it better than you found it!

We stay here on 05/23/22 to wait out the winter storm going thru colorado. The GPS coordinates are correct, but we were confused about the name of the area since the signs say San Luis Valley Public Lands. We got rain, snow and high winds while we where here, but the next day the road was still drivable! Plenty of space here and never got full during our stay. Rangers drive through here often, but I think it was because of the fire notice/holiday weekend. We enjoyed our stay!

So we were lucky to find this place on Saturday evening of Memorial Weekend. Our original campground was inaccessible due to a wildfire so we needed a place to spend the night and figure out where to go. This place is huge. There were lots of people camping out here but its so big that everyone was really spread out which was so nice. Its off the highway but you can go a ways back and so you don't hear any traffic noise. It was windy and dusty but honestly thats to be expected. No fires. 10 mins from the Sand Dunes which was really nice and convenient. We filled up our water at the KOA on the way into Alamosa about 15 mins away. Cost $20 but its really the only place close by. If you are just passing through its an easy and convenient overnight stay. Wouldn't stay here more than that though.

This area is very easy to get to, even for larger rigs. The camp area is in the middle of a grassing open plain with a number of pull off sites next to a dirt road. The road in is flat and even, but has lots of washboard type bumps which makes for slow driving with a trailer (small van might be able to drive 30 mph on it and be fast enough to avoid massive vibration). Cell service is just ok. With At&t boosted, I was getting 3 to 8 megabits up/down.
My biggest complaint would be the wind and accompanying dust storms. Much of my time there my doors and windows were closed and my trailer was rocking violently even when pointed into the wind. Wind was 25 mph constant with gusts up to 50 or more (this was in May). I guess it should be a given that wind and dust would be like this being the camp area is very close to the Great Sand Dunes National Park (I didn't attend because I had been there several times before). Overall, it was quite, easy to reach and had good phone service. For that I'd give it high reviews. If the wind and dust were lower, I'd rate this extremely hight!

This was our first experience boondocking. We found the spot on Campendium and it had lots of reviews so I felt like we could trust the spot. It was a great, easy experience. We pulled off the main road and drove down a marked trail for maybe 1/4 mile and there’s a large clearing in the brush that’s large enough to pull in and make a circle for easy in and out access and it was level. There were several different campfire locations. The sunset was beautiful. There were signs that marked the way to the road so finding it was easy.