Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests & Pawnee National Grassland Dispersed Camping Rules

14 days in any 30

Order ARP-2024-02 (in effect May 24, 2024 - May 23, 2029) prohibits "camping for more than 14 days in a 30-day period or more than 30 days in a 365-day period" on all National Forest System lands within the forests and grassland. Note the second, annual cap: 30 days total in any 365. No move-distance requirement is stated in the order.

Where you can camp

Designated sites in some areas

"You may dispersed camp, also called 'boondocking' or 'drop-camping'" in areas of the forest that permit camping outside a developed campground or recreation site; "Motor Vehicle Use Maps are a handy way to determine where you may legally disperse camp, noted by a dotted line along the side of roads." Standing orders make several corridors designated-site-only (see seasonalClosures), and popular areas such as Gordon Gulch, West Magnolia and Caribou use numbered designated dispersed sites. source

Keep your distance

100 ft — Canyon Lakes Ranger District dispersed-camping rules: your vehicle "must be within 300 feet of the road and at least 100 feet away from water or meadows." Applies to the CLRD road-corridor camping area; other districts' pages not yet swept for an equivalent. source
300 ft — Stay-close corridor rule, not a keep-away: "You may camp within 300 feet of most Forest Service Roads and some Larimer County Roads as long as you are on National Forest System lands" (Canyon Lakes RD). The MVUM governs which roads carry the camping corridor. source
1,320 ft — Canyon Lakes RD: "There is no camping within 1/4 mile of Highway 14, within 1/4 mile of lower Stove Prairie Road or within 1/4 mile of upper Larimer County Road 63E" (1/4 mile = 1,320 ft). Also: "You may not camp at trailheads, picnic areas or day-use parking areas." Near Manhattan, Long Draw and Peterson Lake roads, camp only at sites marked with numbered posts. source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

"Motor Vehicle Use Maps are a handy way to determine where you may legally disperse camp, noted by a dotted line along the side of roads" (forest FAQ); "MVUMs shows roads where dispersed camping is allowed" (Canyon Lakes RD page).

Fires right now

Stage 2 fire restrictions — since July 1 last checked August 18, 2026

Whether you can have a fire at your site runs on the forest's fire order, not on camping rules — see the live fire restrictions page for this forest and what each stage still allows before you light anything.

Closures and special orders

Order ARP-2024-02 - Forest camping stay limit The stay-limit order itself: no more than 14 days in any 30, and no more than 30 days in any 365, forest-wide. In effect May 24, 2024 - May 23, 2029.
Order ARP-2024-03 - Occupancy and Use (designated camping corridors) In its Described Areas, prohibits "camping except in campgrounds and dispersed campsites designated and provided by the Forest Service," plus sundown-to-sunrise and 10 PM-6 AM presence restrictions for non-campers. In effect May 24, 2024 - May 23, 2029 - read the order PDF for which corridors are covered.
Order ARP-BRD-2023-02 - Winiger Ridge/68J designated dispersed camping Gross Reservoir/Winiger Ridge area, Boulder Ranger District: no "camping outside of a designated Forest Service campsite posted with signs"; fires only in permanent metal/concrete pits at developed sites. In effect May 12, 2023 - May 12, 2028.

How to read these rules

Dispersed camping means camping outside a developed campground — no fee, no table, no toilet, no water. You pick an already-used spot, pack out everything you brought, and the rules above are the whole deal you're agreeing to. The stay limit counts the way the card says it counts, not the way it counts on the forest next door: some places count per spot, some across the whole forest, some inside a radius, and moving a short distance often doesn't restart the clock.

Distance rules come in two shapes. Keep-away rules ("at least 100 feet from water") protect the thing you're camping near; stay-close rules ("within 300 feet of the road") keep vehicles on ground that can take them. A line marked recommended on the card is the office's guidance, not an order — the rest are enforceable rules, and a posted sign at the site beats everything on this page.

The motor vehicle use map is the legal answer to "can I drive in there to camp" — if a road isn't on it, that road is closed to your vehicle, and many forests only allow roadside camping along the roads the map marks for it. It's a free PDF; download it before you lose signal.

Fires are a separate rule with a separate clock. Nothing on this page says you can light one — the card's fire line says where that answer lives today. This forest's fire restrictions page carries the current stage with the date it took effect. If a fire is allowed when you get there, buy your wood near camp — hauling firewood from home is how tree-killing pests reach new forests, and the BTU chart says what that local bundle is actually worth.