Planning a camping trip

[Ronin13]

So my brother has some time off around the last weekend of Sept and we want to plan a little camping trip. Now, I haven't been camping, per se, in CO for about 6 years, and was wondering if anyone here knows if it's legal to camp in a non-developed area off the beaten path and where we can go for that. We're looking in/around Arapaho NF between Golden and Breckenridge. I'm not familiar with this kind of camping (the non-campsite kind), so just curious if we're good to drive somewhere, park, then hike in with our gear and put up camp wherever we want? And if so anyone know of any good areas?
Thanks[Beer]

[spqrzilla]

Check with the ranger HQ for the National Forest you are interested in, but in general you can camp out of developed sites in many national forests. Also you can camp on BLM land.

I'm unclear on where you want to camp, there are a lot of good campgrounds in the area. I like the campsite north of Silverthorne on Hwy 9 along the Blue.

[CO Hugh]

I think the government has been cutting back on that. Try top of Vail Pass, Ute Pass near Green Mountain Reservoir.

[Mtn.man]

Won't get to far off the beaten path in a BMW anyways.

[yankeefan98121]

So my brother has some time off around the last weekend of Sept and we want to plan a little camping trip. Now, I haven't been camping, per se, in CO for about 6 years, and was wondering if anyone here knows if it's legal to camp in a non-developed area off the beaten path and where we can go for that. We're looking in/around Arapaho NF between Golden and Breckenridge. I'm not familiar with this kind of camping (the non-campsite kind), so just curious if we're good to drive somewhere, park, then hike in with our gear and put up camp wherever we want? And if so anyone know of any good areas?
Thanks[Beer]

I'm under the assumption as long as it's NF or BLM you can camp. But I've been wrong many times hahahaha

[Ronin13]

Won't get to far off the beaten path in a BMW anyways.

Aha, but my brother has a Jeep and I can always take the Dodge Ram too! [Tooth]

Thanks, I'll check some of that stuff out and talk with the bro. Part of our concern was that we wanted to go to Mt. Princeton area but they're closed early Sept... not sure how to work that, but I think now we're leaning more towards closer to Evergreen like Arapaho NF.

[Mtn.man]

Just go to Boulder you guys will look like occupiers. camp anywhere no one will care.

[JM Ver. 2.0]

Check the hunting dates for archery.... If you're going to be doing any shooting please be careful. Nothing will make.you shit faster than hearing bullets crack over your head and hit the tree next to you...


But you know that already.

[Mtn.man]

Check the hunting dates for archery.... If you're going to be doing any shooting please be careful. Nothing will make.you shit faster than hearing bullets crack over your head and hit the tree next to you...


But you know that already.

Archery ends on the next to the last week (23rd). So should be good.

[JM Ver. 2.0]

Archery ends on the next to the last week (23rd). So should be good.

I should know this... I have the last two weeks of the season off.... Shows how prepared I a

[Mtn.man]

[Beer]

Nothing like sling a stick with a stick at something you want to eat but your chances are about 2%.

[Inconel710]

Ronin - I've backpacked in the Lost Creek Wilderness Area several times. The trails are excellent and not overly challenging. Lots of interesting places to camp. Very easy to hike a long loop and make it a multi-day trip. Nat Geo Topo map 105 covers the area well and you can find it at REI, Barnes & Noble, etc. The trickiest part is driving to the trail heads - I've used Goose Creek Trailhead, Spruce Grove Campground, and Twin Eagles Campground as entry points. You do not have to use the campgrounds - in fact there are no "official" campgrounds inside the Wilderness. The area around the abandoned shafthouse is good spot to camp and pretty popular.

These websites may be useful for you -
http://dualpineclub.org/news/backpacking-in-the-lost-creek-wilderness/
http://www.summitpost.org/lost-creek-wilderness/178676

I always call the Forest Service Ranger district before I head out to check on any fire restrictions or other issues.

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/1088/dscf4248.jpg
http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/7564/dscf4257.jpg

[ghettodub]

Gonna be heading up past Carbondale to camp this weekend. Can't wait...

[Ronin13]

Ronin - I've backpacked in the Lost Creek Wilderness Area several times. The trails are excellent and not overly challenging. Lots of interesting places to camp. Very easy to hike a long loop and make it a multi-day trip. Nat Geo Topo map 105 covers the area well and you can find it at REI, Barnes & Noble, etc. The trickiest part is driving to the trail heads - I've used Goose Creek Trailhead, Spruce Grove Campground, and Twin Eagles Campground as entry points. You do not have to use the campgrounds - in fact there are no "official" campgrounds inside the Wilderness. The area around the abandoned shafthouse is good spot to camp and pretty popular.

These websites may be useful for you -
http://dualpineclub.org/news/backpacking-in-the-lost-creek-wilderness/
http://www.summitpost.org/lost-creek-wilderness/178676

I always call the Forest Service Ranger district before I head out to check on any fire restrictions or other issues.


That sounds like a great area to go! Of course we're going to check fire restrictions both the week prior and the day we leave just to be sure. My brother mentioned up near Echo Lake as well, but that might be just a bit too close to civilization for my tastes.

[rockhound]

jeez you guys, use GOOGLE or YAHOO

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/camping/#dispersed

everything you need to know about dispersed camping in colorado and the local ranger district contact info should be there


ONE rule to live with, file a trip report with the local authorities or with a friend/family member. otherwise no one will miss you until you are a corpse.

aslo bring warm clothes, it is august, i have seen more than one below freezing night in august in colorado.

IN fact that is the reason we bought our first RV, mmmmmm 30k btu furnace, mmmmmmmm

[BushMasterBoy]

You can pan for gold here. Just bring a shovel and a plastic gold pan. Mt Princeton Hot Springs is 25 mins away. Aspen is an hour away and great fishing at Twin Lakes 10 minutes away. Then there is the Arkansas River. Campground is west the town of Granite. I heard somebody got a 4/10 ounce nugget a couple years ago. Then there is the Cottonwood Hot Springs to soak in. Lots of rafting companies around...

http://www.hookedongold.com/cachecreek.htm (http://www.hookedongold.com/cachecreek.htm)

http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/rgfo/minerals/locatable_minerals/placer_mining/cache_creek.html (http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/rgfo/minerals/locatable_minerals/placer_mining/cache_creek.html)

[Ronin13]

Thanks for all the great advice (and Rockhound, of course, I learned a good lesson from Aron Ralston [Coffee]).

Update- I had a nice long chat with the brother last night and now our group has expanded to about 5 or 6 confirmed. The general consensus now is that we want to go to an actual developed campsite complete with fire pit and all that. http://www.recreation.gov/ has a lot of great info, including dates and an interactive map of all the locations around the state. So I guess now it's just figuring out where we want to go that isn't overtaken by beetlekill. I was really looking forward to roughing it in the wild, but now since it looks like we're going to an actual campground (mostly due to the amount of stuff we're going to have to bring in for 3days) it'll still be fun. [Beer]

Might even want to just make this a sticky and call it the camping thread. [Tooth]

[tmckay2]

Doesn't get much better than lost creek wilderness for backpacking. Not sure on camping though.