June 13, 2017

Prime Camping: Close To You

The “c” in camping stands for Colorado. Our state offers nearly limitless options for staying outdoors and has something for every taste — sand dunes, tundra, pine forests, prairies.

This is a guide to some of the best and most popular sites in the Boulder Valley Northern Colorado. It’s by no means comprehensive, but it’s more than enough to pack your summer with mountain adventures.

Every campsite and backcountry option we discussed should be doable for the average person — or family — but know your, and your group’s, capabilities. Stick to a developed campground if that’s what’s best, and you’ll still have a fantastic time.

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The further you get in the backcountry, the more you’re on your own, and the more chances you have for adventure. Be mindful of wildlife, leave no trace, and remember that you’ll have to carry all your trash back out with you.

Get your gear and get out there.

Camp Dick

In short: A family-friendly campground on the Middle St. Vrain Creek that offers hiking, fishing and mountain biking less than an hour from Boulder.

How to get there from Boulder: Going north on Broadway, turn left on Lee Hill Drive and continue on it as it turns into Olde Stage Road. After 4.4 miles, turn left onto Lefthand Canyon Drive and continue straight onto James Canyon Drive after 2.7 miles.

Follow James Canyon Drive through Jamestown, where it turns into Overland Road. Continue for 6.4 miles, then turn right onto Colorado Highway 72, the Peak to Peak Highway. After 1.6 miles, turn left onto Middle Saint Vrain Road, and Camp Dick is on the left a mile later.

Camping options: Pay the $21 fee, and you’ll have access to Dick’s 41 campsites, all of which are tent-, RV-, camper- and trailer-friendly. Reservations cost $10 extra. Campsites have picnic tables and fire grates, and the campground provides vault toilets and water.

The true joy of Camp Dick is the shallow, calm Middle St. Vrain Creek, which winds around the north side of the campground. It’s safe and fun for kids and dogs and offers good fishing.

The Buchanan Pass Trail, which goes from Peaceful Valley to the Indian Peaks boundary, is accessible from Camp Dick. It’s open to mountain biking, and you can ride back to Middle Saint Vrain Road to do a loop.

Brainard Lake Recreation Area

In short: A beautiful lake at the base of the Indian Peaks Wilderness that offers developed and backcountry camping less than an hour from Boulder.

How to get there from Boulder: You can get there from Lefthand Canyon, but the more-scenic Peak-to-Peak Highway route takes just a minute longer with good traffic.

Take Canyon Boulevard west out of Boulder and follow it for 14.5 miles as it turns into Highway 119. Just before you get to Nederland, turn right onto Hurricane Hill Drive, and after 0.7 miles take a left onto Ridge Road.

After another mile, turn right onto Colorado Highway 72. Follow it 10.6 miles to Ward, then turn left onto Brainard Lake Road. After 2.9 miles, you’ll get to the lake.

Camping options: The only developed campground at Brainard Lake is Pawnee Campground, which opens June 30. There’s an $11 fee for passenger cars and RVs. Get a reservation, because the 47-campsite ground is one of the most popular around Boulder. Campfires are usually allowed, and you can gather firewood from dead and fallen trees. The campground has vault toilets and drinking water.

Brainard Lake doesn’t have to be the end of your trip, though. The stunning Indian Peaks Wilderness is just a trailhead away — just make sure to apply for your overnight permit with a PDF you can download from the forest service’s website. Pick your backcountry zones — a map is also available on the website — pick your dates, apply as far in advance as possible and go.

Start at the Mitchell Lake Trailhead parking lot on the west end of the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. Any of the trails you can take west from there — Mitchell Lake, Long Lake, Beaver Creek — will take you into Indian Peaks.

There, 76,711 acres of spectacular wilderness are yours to behold. Explore, keep your pets on a leash if you brought them, pick a spot and enjoy.

Pawnee National Grasslands

In short: If mountains aren’t your flavor, Colorado offers camping on the vast prairies less than an hour northeast of Greeley.

How to get there from Greeley: Going north on U.S. Highway 85, turn right on Colorado Highway 392 in Lucerne. Take it 26 miles to Briggsdale, then stay on it as it becomes County Road 77.

Take your first left, then turn right after three-tenths of a mile and continue on a dirt road to the campground.

Camping options: There are seven single sites that hold eight people each and three double sites that hold 16. The singles cost $12, the doubles $16. Reservations are available but cost $9 extra.

Campfires are allowed in the rock rings and in charcoal grills. There are vault toilets and water.

The grasslands are spread among private land over a 30-by-60-mile area. They’re crisscrossed with trails that have hiking and mountain biking. Shooting is legal in places.

The Pawnee Buttes trailhead is deeper into the grasslands, but provides the best hiking the area has to offer.

Lory State Park

In short: Rugged backcountry camping and hiking in a state park on the outskirts of Fort Collins that borders the north end of Horsetooth Reservoir.

How to get there from Fort Collins: Going north on Overland Trail, turn left on Bingham Hill Road. Continue for 1.9 miles, then turn left onto Northern Colorado Road 25.

After 1.2 miles, turn right onto North Larimer County Road 25G, then turn left onto Lodgepole Drive after 1.6 miles. You’re there.

Camping options: Backcountry only. Lory has six first-come, first-serve sites that you need to pay a $10 fee for at the park entrance. Don’t be put off by the proximity to Fort Collins; you can absolutely get away here.

Park at the group picnic area parking lot and get on the Timber Trail. The 3.7-mile trail winds through steep grass and shrubs on the northwest end of Arthur’s Rock, the massive pegmatite granite protuberance that dominates the entire park.

The trail enters a pine forest, where the six backcountry campsites are. Set up there, then if you want follow the rest of the trail to the summit of Arthur’s Rock, an easy switchback hike on good trail with a 50-foot scramble to the top. The views of Horsetooth, Fort Collins and the Front Range are spectacular; you can even see Pike’s Peak on a clear day.

Poudre Canyon

In short: Your gateway to mountain hiking, camping and fishing half an hour from Fort Collins. For a classic Poudre Canyon experience, stay at Ansel Waltrous campground.

How to get there from Fort Collins: Going north on College Avenue, stay on it as it turns into U.S. Highway 287 and bear left after 6.1 miles to get on Colorado Highway 14.

After 12.8 miles of winding up the Poudre Canyon, Ansel Waltrous is on your right.

Camping options: Pay the $21 fee, then pick from the 16 tent-and-RV campsites and three tent-only sites. From there, the Young Gulch Trail is open to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.

The crown jewel, though, is the Poudre River, which flows northeast past the campground for your fishing, rafting or kayaking delight.

Rocky Mountain National Park

In short: The 415 square miles of Rocky Mountain National Park offer as much camping as your heart desires — including 120 backcountry sites — and Longs Peak holds two standouts less than half an hour from Estes Park.

How to get there from Estes Park: Driving west on North St. Vrain Avenue, bear right as the road curves south to stay on it as it turns into Colorado Highway 7. Continue for nine miles into Rocky Mountain National Park. You’ll have to pay the $20 park entrance fee.

Turn right on Longs Peak Road. Continue for a mile and park at the Longs Peak Trailhead.

Camping options: You have two — right in front of you and 12,760 feet up Longs’ slopes. The closer one, Longs Peak Campground, opens June 30 and is tents-only, with 26 first-come, first-serve sites. No reservations. The camping fee is $26.

At 9,500 feet, the forested campground is still fairly high in elevation. It has potable water and vault toilets. Keep your fires on metal grates and bring your own firewood, as gathering from the forest around the campground is prohibited.

Or you could opt for one of Colorado’s best camping spots — the Longs Peak boulder field. If you’re climbing Longs’ standard Keyhole route, the boulder field is the perfect place to rest before you tackle its upper difficulties.

Longs’ standard route is 14.5 miles round-trip and involves 5,100 feet in elevation gain. It’s a straightforward but long hike to the boulder field, then a winding, difficult, exposed scramble the rest of the way up.

There are nine spots at the boulder field, reservation-only. Book as far ahead as you can because they fill up fast. You’ll have to pay a $26 wilderness fee. Park at the Longs Peak Trailhead and start on the East Longs Peak Trail — no dogs — which you’ll follow all the way to the boulder field.

Each spot is relatively surrounded by boulders, though still big enough for two tents. The boulders offer little protection from the weather, though, so be prepared for anything. The weather on Longs is unpredictable.

Campfires are prohibited in the Longs Peak boulder field. Use a portable stove. There are privies, but if you want water you need to gather it from the brook that runs under the boulders and purify it yourself. Leave no trace.

Then admire the views of Longs’ brilliant east face, climb through the Keyhole and start your ascent.

The “c” in camping stands for Colorado. Our state offers nearly limitless options for staying outdoors and has something for every taste — sand dunes, tundra, pine forests, prairies.

This is a guide to some of the best and most popular sites in the Boulder Valley Northern Colorado. It’s by no means comprehensive, but it’s more than enough to pack your summer with mountain adventures.

Every campsite and backcountry option we discussed should be doable for the average person — or family — but…

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