Turkey Springs Road Dispersed Camping

We stayed here for 10 days with The Wandering Shores (review below). We'll plus one everything Kyle mentioned, especially on the flies! This area was very close to Pagosa Springs and absolutely beautiful! We highly recommend this area as there is soooo much to do! We will definitely be back again and this area will be high on our list of places to stay.

For the dip in the road that Kyle shared below, here is a link to show you our experience pulling in and how tight it can be (link to the exact point in the episode where we start pulling into a spot) - https://youtu.be/Y39VFe23SOE?si=55s5xWL6Dkx3aGbZ&t=1039

- The Austins Travel
(Shaun, Lauren, & Aiden)

We really enjoyed our stay at Turkey Springs. There are numerous sites to pick from and most of them are easy access to rigs of most size. A majority of them have tree cover so if you are looking for the best solar there are limited sites for that. Be advised that while our stay the flys were something out of lord of the flys. It really prevented us from going outside until later in the evening. I don't know if this is an everyday thing around that area but it was bad.

We were there for 10 days at the end of June but were run out by the Chris Mountain Fire we had to pack up and leave within about 3 hours of it starting on the west side of the mountain.

Most sites are level but some have a bit of a "curb" down into them when coming off the main road.

We did a video review of the entire area if you are interested (linked below and on video tab here in campendium)

https://youtu.be/dcDXqpTPWw4

We managed to get our 40' Montana in one of the first few sites as the Dispersed area in the back is closed to allow it to "regrow". There is quite a bit of road traffic, but it dies down in the evening. This is one of the larger sites as we were able to maneuver our Montana into the site, turn around and situate it just right. Road is very dusty and at least at the time of posing the wind is from the north, blowing it away from us (luck!). We have Verizon and at times we have one dot (not a bar). Otherwise, we ran Starlink and wifi calling. Scout the area out first if you are pulling a larger rig. You can probably disconnect it at one of the two trail head parking areas just before you get to the road.

The dispersed parking is wonderful. Good roads. Good campsite pull outs. Beautiful forest. The road to the national forest was closed for construction and the detour took around a lake and through some very fancy neighborhoods. We thought we might be lost, but just kept following the detour signs and finally got here. It was so worth it. We’re here the weekend before July 4th. The park has a lot of campsites taken, but it still has some available.

We checked out the route in advance as much as we could. Planned on parking the RV at the trail head while we scouted in our truck. Google maps took us on the road from 160 to Badger Springs. The road up from Badger Road winds through a neighborhood and turns into a narrow forest service road, which eventually turns into a very rough bumpy rutted narrow road.

When we looked at maps again we saw that there was another option. You can access Turkey Springs road from CR 600 which is paved most of the way. If you search Turkey springs trailhead on Google maps it should take you the better route. Hope this is clear.

It is a beautiful area and we would stay here next time. We did not figure this out until we went mountain biking in the area.

We counted in a 25 foot class sea. We disconnected our towed vehicle before proceeding down the gravel road. We were about the second campsite in, and it was enormous with an outstanding view. I would not attempt this road or this campsite with a longer Motorhome or even a fifth wheel for long travel trailer. I can’t imagine where you could even turn around if you needed to with a long vehicle. Our campsite was a circle drive, so that was perfect. No hook ups of course but an amazing view and so peaceful. We dumped our tanks at the speedway station on the other side of town. We also filled up with water there. The people there said that they have to say the water is not possible for liability purposes, but it is the same water that they get in their market. We don’t drink the water from our rig, just shower and toilet.

Although turkey Springs Road was a bit washboard, when you turn off onto Forest Road 923 it’s in better shape.

Came here to mountain bike with a seven year old beginner and for the most part, the trails were friendly for him. Definitely a great place for a beginner mountain bikers. Decent Verizon cell service and only about 8 miles out of town.

Although it was quite hot in town, with the elevation gain and Ponderosa Pines, it was a bit cooler up here. Other campers were friendly and mostly quiet except for a generator. But thankfully the guy turned it off before 10 PM.

I initially camped near the Newt Jack Road trail head Which is shortly after you turn off onto Forest Road 923. It was nice because it was close to trail heads.

The third night I came much further down Forest Road 923 where it again crosses the southern part of turkey Springs Trail where “Park Ave., Trail “crosses the road. It was even quieter down here as there are fewer sites to pull out. But still have two bars of Verizon and access to mountain bike trails.

My truck camper is only 22 feet long but I believe a longer rig could make it down past the cattleguard and down the short but somewhat loose and rocky hill. The rest of the road, traveling further south is in great shape.

I was here on a weekend and it did not feel crowded and was mostly peaceful except for a few rowdy folks on ATVs in the middle of the night. But they just made one pass by.