Slate River Designated Dispersed Campsite #16

Stayed 9/27 - 10/1/23 - Road wasn't too bad, except the entrance into the campsite had a dip that would potentially remove the rear corner jacks on our 19' camper. We opted a different entry point across some grass to the left of the dip. Worked a few days and no problem with Starlink. Scenery is fantastic and it's very quiet except the sound of the Slate River. A few other campers, but pretty quiet in terms of traffic and people looking for a spot.

The Slate River Valley offers breathtaking mountain and river views along with many different recreation options along its length. It is frequented in the summer by anglers, mountain bikers, hikers and nature lovers.

Slate Creek dispersed sites are accessed via a narrow gravel road past the O Be Joyful Campground. This road is a single lane at times with limited turn off, against a drop-off. There are on guardrails on this road. Please use caution when driving, especially during peak times.

It is recommend that all vehicles greater than 35-40 ft. do not attempt to drive beyond Musician's Camp (approx 6 miles from Gothic Road) due to lack of turn around space, rough roads, and/or lack of sites with adequate parking for large vehicles. The road past Musician's camp has tight turns, large ruts and stream crossings that will prevent all but high clearance short rigs from passing.

This site is fairly level and in full sun. There is ample turn around at the site. It is directly next to the river and you can hear the water all night long. In the spring a massive waterfall comes off the mountain right at this site. It is the best of nature and solitude.

There is no cellular connection in the Slate River Valley

I stayed at the GPS coordinates mentioned in earlier review. The road is rough, rutted out and rocky. I'm surprised I made it with my Jeep Cherokee. Luckily I have an off-road teardrop so that wasn't an issue at all. I literally opened my door to a giant waterfall every morning. Lots of trails around. I hiked everyday. Very few people came through. Most were Jeepers or 4 wheelers just stopping for the view. In 14 days of camping I had this area to myself for 12 days. It gets really windy around 130pm until around 4pm. The ground is very very rocky. I chucked a lot of rocks just so I could walk around my camp without taking out a toe. The mice figured out we were there after about a week. Luckily I have a rat dog and she had a blast hunting them. It did worry me though when I found turds in my vehicle and one little guy actually attempted to come into my teardrop. I was here from 8/3-8/17 and had perfect weather the entire time. The last night I was a bit worried as all of a sudden it was really smoky from surrounding fires. Welcome to Colorado in the Summer. There is no cell service. There are little pools of the clearest mountain water I've ever seen, surrounding the area and waterfalls. Icy, but good for a dip to cool off. I DID hear three distinct bear roars off in the distance throughout my stay. I only found one pile of old dried up scat at my site. But hiking up to the waterfalls there was a lot more. But again all dried up and old.The nights were clear and still. Star gazing is great here, and I was able to easily spot the Milky Way.

Listen, here's the secret low down. Consider it your passcode to heaven.

38.966498, -107.088930

Note Exhibit 16a, Section 5, Paragraph 0 in the photos.

Don't come expecting cell phones or warm nights, but if you get fidgety over waterfalls, fresh bear scat and endless mountains covered in flowers well into July, then this "end of the road" (not really, you can technically go further if you make a turn a little before this) is more than Boyz II Men, ABC, BBD and the East Coast Family could ever hope to harmonize with.

Note that the road just before this, and really the road in general, is pretty choppy, there are some water crossings when it rains, and, as they say, suckas and hoods get misundastood, so do your diligence and all of that fun stuff.