Walden Reservoir Dispersed Camping

We stayed here for a weekend while passing from State Forest State Park to Rabbit Ears Pass. We ended up staying longer than the 2 nights originally planned due to the parade and rodeo going on in Walden.

This is a very pretty and quiet spot. It's right outside of town but feels like a world away. There are a bunch of turn outs on the left. We stayed in the 3rd one as there were some trees to give you a break from the wind. It had a gorgeous view of the lake and mountains in the distance.

As others have mentioned the bugs are thick here. We spent most of the time in town or inside anyways so it didn't bother us too much. The wind helped keep them down as well.

We never heard the factory but the winds may have helped with this.

There were tons of birds though and we really enjoyed watching them from our dinette window.

Town tip: There is an awesome pool in town. $5 per person and it's great to catch a nice hot shower as well. There is also a free dump and water fill in town as well!

I love the spot! The lake is teeming with birds. It was easy to find a flat spot right next to the water. A view of the mountains in the distance! Yes, it's a wetland and it smells like wetlands.

The 241 hertz (I checked) constant hum from the manufacturing business to the southeast just might drive me crazy, though. It travels across the water quite nicely.

Go check out The Holy Grounds coffee shop in town. It's awesome!

I only used this for one night when I found myself in Walden with no reservation anywhere and it was getting late. Was so pleased when I pulled in and had a good night’s sleep for free. Yes, it’s buggy. Yes, it can get godawful windy. It got cold overnight, mid-June. I loved hearing the birds (not too loud). In the morning, I was greeted with snow-covered mountains behind a body of water - better than a cramped parking lot campground! And free. I was really happy and grateful for the spot. I was pulling a 14-foot trailer.

As other reviews have mentioned, it gets pretty buggy here. But with a some bug spray and a deterrent like Thermacell or another similar device, I really wasnt bothered much. I slept in so I missed the morning swarms, and in the evening I took shelter in the camper to eat dinner with the puppy. But I could see it being too much in the evening if you were in a tent.
Otherwise, you are right on the water with your own personal beach. Saw a few people fishing during the day, and a camper van in the 2nd pullout our first night, but otherwise we were by ourselves. The road is not used much, and I felt very comfortable having my dog off leash. We stayed in the 3rd pullout, which definitely had the room for multiple rigs. Very level, easy to turn around and get the perfect spot. There are a TON of birds, which you can hear constantly but we loved it. We would stay again, but only with sufficient bug protection.

My wife and I were looking for a place to boondock where we could get signal so our options were limited in the area. That said, Walden was a great stop. They've got most of the essentials right in town and there are many nice views to find on the water. That said, the bugs here were a nightmare. If it's not windy, you will be amazed by the amount of bugs surrounding your site; this is in early June. If it weren't for the bugs, I'd probably give this a 4-star, just because there's not much to do out here. That said, I'm sure this would be an awesome place if the bugs weren't so bad.

(Wanted to update before we leave - we relocated and found that the spots right off the water when you get on 15 from Walden don't have near the same amount of bugs that we had up in the prairie. Might be because it's a little windier, but well worth it.)