West first time INTENTIONALLY boondocking here in...

[Dureedesign]

HI FOLKS, want to try a get away for a day and am unfamiliar w/ the whole thing...am in Manitou Springs an only want a hour or so of driving.....any recommendations?
And, where can you just pull over? We have a generater, we are self-contained...why do we have to pay to be in a Park? Please fill me in on the proper boondocking edicate!
Thanks All!

[Dureedesign]

Oh,BTW, Manitou Springs is just outsite Colorado Springs, at the foot of Pikes Peak!

[pmclemore]

Duree,

Since you are new at the game, perhaps you should consider camping at a park - and get to know the unit better, before you plunge off on your own.

congratulations - Pat.

[Boondocker]

I dont know the area you are in, but you might look at this thread
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f387...ado-34884.html

You might also try contacting the national forest service office and see what the rules are for dispersed camping are out to your west.
Pat may have a good idea. If you are used to full hookup camping, you might consider transitioning using national forest service campgrounds, they typically have few services but have some nice features like fire rings and tables and what not. Good luck whatever you do, I hope you report back and post pictures from the trip.

[Dureedesign]

I am totally in agreement , bare with me, I have done the Walmart thing...plus after picking her up (not literally but yes, admitable after 3k)..I just don't understand why we just can't pull over,..subtly..and be there for an overnighter..Even at Walmart, alone, I was waiting to be roused out AT 2AM....So that was the question more site specific and protocol...Thanks, again to all of you....best! Andra

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by Dureedesign

HI FOLKS, want to try a get away for a day and am unfamiliar w/ the whole thing..
Thanks All!

So are you saying you want to drive an hour or so and park overnight in a walmart parking lot? Or are you looking for a place to camp. I'm not following you.....

[pmclemore]

Me, either. Go someplace nice, to a campground. Get to know your rig. Enjoy what nature is about. Walk, listen. then go back a enjoy your airstream.

Camp - not park.

Pat

[TBRich]

Duree...I am a little unclear, too, about what you are asking... I think you might be asking why you can't pull over just anywhere and spend the night...and perhaps what the rules and courtesies of boondocking and are. Where you can and cannot boondock is usually determined by whomever owns the properpty, or under whose domain the property falls (private, city, federal, national forest, BLM, etc)... You need to know where it is OK to pull over and stay...and where it is not...if you boondock where it is not allowed, you may very well be rousted out in the middle of the night...

There are some subforums here you might want to check out to get more information and the whole wonderful concept and practice of boondocking:

Boondocking - Airstream Trailer & Motorhome Community

and:

Western Boondocking - Airstream Trailer & Motorhome Community

There are many avid and dyed in the wool boondockers on this forum, so if you have specific questions about practices, or need suggestions of the best places to go, just ask...the answers are here...

Happy Trails!
TB

[Dureedesign]

Hi all, husband of Duree updating you all. We just returned from a brief one nighter, boondocking about 44 miles West of Manitou Srings. This was our first true boondocking experience. For those of you who want to find a nice spot near the Colorado Springs area here's where to go: Take Highway 24 West. You will drive through Woodland Prk, Divide, Florrisant and to Lake George. Keep driving West and you will reach Eleven Mile State Park/Spinney Park. 7.1 miles further West past the Eleven Mile Park turnoff you will see a dirt road on the left hand side. (there is a stop sign on a yellow pole on the corner of the dirt road) Turn onto the dirt road, and about 20 feet or so you will turn left. Stay on this road for about 1500 feet and you will come to a fork, take the left turn at the fork. This stretch of road will take you into the forest. About 1/4 mile in you will see the road splits in several directions. Take the part that turns to the right. Drive a bit further and it will be obvious that you are now in an open free area where many have bondocked before. There is a small covered pavilion and lots of places under trees where you can set up camp. This site is part if the Pikes National Forest. It was beautiful there and very peaceful. We were the only folks there last night. Elevation is 9000 feet so our Honda generator had to work just a bit harder but our basic A/C needs were met just fine. I took a several pictures of the area with our camp set up. I uploaded one pic or you to see. Thanks again for your help with our boondocking questions.

[Boondocker]

Hey there husband of Duree, looks like a great spot! I'm glad to hear you had a good time on your first offical boondock. Make sure and add the campsite to the appropriate "cheap or free in_______" thread under boondocking so others will be able to find it.

[Dureedesign]

Thanks, Will Do!

[KerriO]

Hey, just wanted to update this because we stayed in the area Dureedesign laid out in her previous post, and it was a lovely, quite stay.

For anyone reading this in the future, here are the GPS coordinates for the turnoff of the dirt road on 24: 39.03081924496828, -105.4736852645874

If you stay to the left in the part of the instructions where Dureedesign goes right, there are also several other well used camping spots with firepits. We stayed exactly where Dureedesign described. There was a huge fire pit with a giant pile of firewood ready to be used, and another pile of larger logs ready to be cut right next to it. I think the forest service must pile up the trees they thin right there as a courtesy. We could have easily stayed there for a week (even with the trees, the solar charged well), but the Verizon/Sprint 3G signals weren't strong enough for me to get work done.

[polarlyse]

WORK, WORK, what's that. What's better than a place that nice with no cell service to annoy us. ( Yeah, I know, those things called emergencies). Sounds like my kinda place to visit. And free firewood to boot. Life is good.

[KerriO]

Yeah — it's *perfect* for those out to get away! I'm under 40 full-timing, and support that lifestyle with that darn thing called work!

(FYI: Verizon signal does exists, so emergency calls are not a problem. Which is good, because there's something very disconcerting when you're in a place where you haven't seen a single person all day, then at nightfall, headlights approach…)

[bbqmama]

Originally Posted by Dureedesign

HI FOLKS, want to try a get away for a day and am unfamiliar w/ the whole thing...am in Manitou Springs an only want a hour or so of driving.....any recommendations?
And, where can you just pull over? We have a generater, we are self-contained...why do we have to pay to be in a Park? Please fill me in on the proper boondocking edicate!
Thanks All!

Hi Duree.... We're in the Denver/boulder area... Just starting to use our new (to us) camper and plan on 'boondocking' in the dispersed campsites all around us here in co. If you go to the national forest service page, click on the forest district you're interested and then go to recreation - you'll see camping and a breakdown of the kinds of campsites avail. Dispersed campsites are undeveloped (other than maybe a firepit) and free!

I've done dispersed camping since moving to co but in a tent up until now. Reminds me of Idaho where I'm originally from - ya don't see anyone at camp or on the hiking trails til you head back home! So nice compared to the developed campground around here - so busy!

[Ray Eklund]

For new Boondockers, this area is great in several ways. There are plenty of pullouts going north from Almont (north of Gunnison on Highway 135) and catch the right turn (east) to Taylor Park Reservoir.

The pullout camping spots, when vacant, along the Taylor Canyon and Taylor River are wooded and easy access to the river for fly fishing. You can proceed north and you will eventually end up on the East side of the reservoir and will find hundreds of acres to park and enjoy a private camping spot.

The fishing to the north of the dam and to the south is very good. There are fish over 24 inches waiting to be caught... by what kind of fly... only the locals might know. They will not move when you toss an "average" seasonal fly in their vision.

If you have any problems... there are small communities in the area and other campers on the Friday to Sunday days of the week. There are NO services at the pullouts along Taylor River or further north in the open areas... so you are more Rockdocking but near civilization. The roads are excellent and you need not be concerned traveling on the black top to the reservoir or the well traveled gravel road north of the dam. I might be wrong about pullouts along the river having no services, but when we camped with friends out there ten or more years ago... there could have been Forest Service restrooms.

If you have a 4x4 vehicle and want some adventure. Drive the gravel/boulder road on the west side of the north end of the reservoir to the Star Mine. It is a complete mining community, yet a ghost town up near tree line. This is up Italian Creek to Italian Mountain. The people that own the current mining claim are restoring the buildings and you might be lucky to stop and visit them. It is Forest Road FR 759. It is in the DeLorme atlas of Colorado on page 59 at A 3-4 at the top of the page.

So. You can camp in isolation. You can fish. You can jump into the river which is not that deep or fast flowing on the edges. You can take the back way to the Maroon Bells, north of the reservoir and on jeep trails. You can even meet some interesting campers.