Summer Pasture Dispersed Camping

We were looking to stay here for a week but the USFS closed the entire Lincoln National Forest for fire danger.

The road to the Campendium coordinates is fairly bumpy but doable if you go slow. Once you reach the fork in the road, the southern road isn't passable for anything but the most robust of rigs - the road is heavily rutted. The northern road is more passable, but I wouldn't take anything longer than 20 feet down it because of the lack of turnarounds. The northern road is also more rough than the entry road.

The clearing at the fork is your best bet. It can take some effort to find a reasonably level site. Cell service was phenomenal with >75 mbps down and up on ATT and TMobile. Fresh water filling is available for free at the Saddle Campground just down the road. A dump station is also available for $8 at one of them.

There were a lot of elk hides lying around that I assume were from hunting.

We camped here in a camper van. Just after turning onto the road there is a large area with many available spots. Trailers could be maneuvered here. Beyond the fork in the road trailers would be not advised. We took the high road or the fork to the right. We drove up about a mile and found a spot beside the road. There are only about four good spots past the fork. A gate is at the far end of the road with a very small turnaround area. There were about six other campers on a weeknight in April. The scenery was beautiful and we were well away from other campers. The road is rough and Rocky. If it was wet or muddy it would be difficult to navigate.

We read the great reviews about this forest road dispersed camping area, and decided to give it a try. While many of the sites were really beautiful along the road, we found they probably wouldn't do well for us as we just had a tent on the ground -- most seemed either sloping, uneven or rocky.

Then we discovered an offshoot of the road marked 206C... it veers to the left a few hundred yards into the 568 road. There were several great spots here, though you'd probably need a high clearance vehicle to access some of them, as the road was sometimes off camber and had some deep ruts. Our spot was right about where hiking/biking trail 5688 hits the road. Several nice flat spaces to pitch tents here, wide open spaces and, of course, gorgeous scenery. We had the place to ourselves too (mid-October)!

This spot was accessible for our big rig (42’) right off the forest road when you come in on the right. Many spots farther up the road, but I wouldn’t go up there unless you’re smaller. The first area offers the best turnaround possibility. Some low trees coming in but we cleared them (13.5’ tall). Water sometimes available from forest service campground nearby, or visitor center. Many trash cans in town, laundry, and cute shops. We enjoyed hiking from our campsite. Be aware that elk hunting season may increase the number of visitors in fall.

Absolutely beautiful spot half mile up the gravel (rock) road. This is not a campground so don’t expect any “services” — it is simply dispersed camping off of a National Forest road. We took an 18ft trailer up the road, wouldn’t go much bigger than that as there are limited options for turning around.

2¼ mile trail walk into town in addition to a seemingly unlimited number of trails to explore in the area.

The camping spots here are very nice and mostly flat with lots of campfire pits already set up. The views are beautiful and the trails are well kept.

The bathrooms here are completely trashed which is very unfortunate. Also, be aware that the road that leads to this campsite is not only dirt but also is a little torn up from atvs. Regardless, our SUV made the trip just fine.

This area has been quite crowded as of late due to the COVID closures in the area. Between the over-crowding and heavy rains making many of the areas too muddy to park, I've watched several vehicles have to U-turn it and go elsewhere. If you come here, make sure you have a "Plan B."

Also, make sure you have some type of rodent deterrent plan, as chipmunks and field mice are quite persistent.