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Colorado Free Camping Rank and Rules

Colorado ranks #6 of 50 for free camping

Colorado ranks #6 of 50 for free camping, with 19.3 known dispersed sites per 1,000 sq mi.

Data as of

Colorado free camping in numbers

Colorado ranks #6 of 50 for free camping, with 19.3 known dispersed sites per 1,000 sq mi.

Rank
#6
Known dispersed sites per 1,000 sq mi
19.3
Known dispersed sites
1,999
Land area
103,642 sq mi
Developed campgrounds
1,385
State-land rule
Not confirmed
Forest restrictions tracked
5

Dispersed camping in Colorado

Can you camp on Colorado state land?

Not confirmed. We could not confirm the rules for state trust or state forest land. The option we did check here is federal National Forest and BLM land. Every state, with the rule behind each answer: dispersed camping on state land, state by state.

Where is dispersed camping restricted in Colorado?

We track 5 National Forest restrictions on dispersed camping in Colorado. Read each one before you camp nearby.

  • Pike-San Isabel National Forests, South Platte Ranger District. Camping is banned along particular roads or around particular features, not across the whole forest.
  • Rio Grande National Forest, Named roads and places. Camping is banned along particular roads or around particular features, not across the whole forest.
  • Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, Areas mapped in Exhibits 1-6. Inside the areas the order maps out, you can camp only at sites the forest has already built.
  • Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre & Gunnison National Forests, Seven Crested Butte drainages and Taylor River Canyon. Inside the areas the order maps out, you can camp only at sites the forest has already built.
  • Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre & Gunnison National Forests, Forest-wide. A cap on how many nights you can stay. It says nothing about where you may camp.

How far from a forest road can you camp in Colorado?

  • White River, Rio Grande, San Juan, Apache-Sitgreaves, and Custer Gallatin (About 300 ft, confirmed). Each of these prints roughly 300 ft on its own pages. That is the best kind of evidence we have, because the forest says the number itself instead of leaving you to assume the national one.

Each restriction, cited and dated: where dispersed camping is restricted.

How the rank works

We divide the known dispersed campsites in a state by its land area, in square miles, and multiply by 1,000. The rules above sit beside the rank but never change it. The count includes only sites that public sources map, so mapping effort affects the result. Roadside camping corridors and the points we place inside state wildlife and forest areas are not counted.