Aspen, CO -- Ideas for dispersed camping

[danandmimi]

Good Morning!

We wanted to see if anyone on the forum has ideas for dispersed camping on forest service land near Aspen, CO? We're looking for a place to park our 23ft FC while staying in there area for a couple weeks. We are aware of a couple RV parks near town, but prefer something more remote. We have been looking on maps for places off of Castle Creek Road, but cannot tell if they will work, and cannot find much online.

Thanks in advance!!

Mimi and Dan

[mojo]

There are several forest service campgrounds in the Aspen area but they have a 5 night stay limit. Some are free "dispersed" sites, others have a nightly fee. Not much is free in Aspen. Check Allstays for list of CG's

[danandmimi]

Thanks for the feedback.

For the forest service campgrounds, we looked online, and are not sure whether they accommodate travel trailers 23 feet in length. Have you camped in them before?

[mojo]

Some are tent only but most will accommodate RV's of your length. It's just luck of the draw on what's available. Some in Maroon Bells area are reservable and you can find the lengths on recreation.gov. Or go to the US Forest site for the area and read the descriptions or call for info. I have stayed in the Silver Queen with my Bambi, but had to dig a hole for the jack foot to level the trailer. Nothing is level in the mountains!

[Lily&Me]

I know there are some no hookups, NP campgrounds in that area, as we stayed in them several years ago.


Maggie

[canyonduck]

We showed up in Aspen last weekend and were able to get a site in Silver Queen campground (up Maroon Creek Rd) for Fri & Sat nights without a reservation. I do feel we got a bit lucky with a cancellation though. Campground had six sites, no hookups of course. Was a bit tight with trees & rocks, but we were able to get our 19' international in without two much trouble. Technically these sites fit 30' trailers, but I wouldn't want to be trying to back in a trailer that long.

Sites are beautiful with creeks rolling by and lots of trees. At $15 we felt this was a bargain. Over off Hwy 82 there are other FS campgrounds - Difficult Campground just outside of Aspen was large and nicely located. Be careful about driving much past Difficult CG as you will be run into length restrictions (35 feet total TV & trailer) on the way up to Independence Pass. Many of the CGs up that way can only be accessed from the other side of the pass (or without a trailer).

The area was beautiful when we visited. The town of Aspen itself was interesting, but we paid more to park in town for four hours ($21) than we did to camp in the forest! Take the shuttle up to Maroon Lake if you haven't been there before. We hiked a couple miles up to Crater Lake below the Maroon Bells.

Be sure to post back if you find a good place to disperse camp in the forest. We hope to return and it would be great to have other options. Good luck!

[Len n Jeanne]

We've stayed in the Aspen-Basalt RV park a few times. It's hardly the idyllic site in the trees, but it does offer a cheaper monthly rate.

http://www.goodsamclub.com/travel/ca...cgid=201131486

[mguinn]

Last July we reserved a campsite at Difficult CG, on the road to Independence Pass. It's within an easy bike ride to Aspen. The sites were level enough for our 19' Bambi.

As for Independence Pass, the fine is $1500 for anything over 35', but I expect that includes your TV. It's not only the length, but the height and width of your trailer that matters. Part of the road is single lane along a steep rock face.

[danandmimi]

Thanks everyone for your helpful posts!! Sounds like we have a couple options with difficult and silver queen. Also, if we are lucky with dispersed camping, we will post back.

Mimi & Dan

[Antique Pedaler]

You can fit in Difficult CG, no problem. DON'T try taking any kind of trailer over Independence pass. We made it many years ago with a pickup camper but it was no fun.

I'd recommend Rudi out of Basalt and away from the ultra high scale shopping center that is now Aspen.