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Dispersed camping · Colorado

Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days in any 30 on this forest, with some corridors limited to marked sites. The card below is the whole rule set — every line links the order or page it came from, and all of it was checked on .

14 days in any 30

Two matching occupancy orders - 02-12-00-24-04 (Pike NF: Pikes Peak, South Platte and South Park RDs; May 3, 2024 - Dec 1, 2026) and 02-12-00-24-05 (San Isabel NF: Leadville, Salida and San Carlos RDs; Apr 5, 2024 - Dec 1, 2026) - prohibit "camping at any location within the same 20-mile radius for more than 14 days within any continuous 30-day period." The 20-mile radius is part of the count: moving a short distance does not restart the 14 days.

Where you can camp

Designated sites in some areas

Within the orders' Described Areas, "camping, except in Forest Service developed recreation sites or designated dispersed sites" is prohibited. On the San Isabel side that covers Turquoise Lake, Twin Lakes, South Cottonwood Creek, Chalk Creek, O'Haver Lake, Cuchara Creek and the Purgatoire River; on the Pike side, described areas of the Pikes Peak, South Platte and South Park Ranger Districts (see each order's PDF and maps). Outside described areas, general forest camping rules apply. source

Keep your distance

  • 100 ft — Both 2024 occupancy orders prohibit "camping within 100 feet of a body of water (such as a lake, stream, pond, or river) unless in a Forest Service developed recreation site or designated dispersed site" - effectively forest-wide across Pike and San Isabel. source
  • 1,320 ft — South Platte Ranger District, Order 2022-08 (through Jul 20, 2027): on all NFS lands within 1/4 mile (1,320 ft) of the centerline of its Described Roads, camping and parking are prohibited except "in a developed campground or a designated dispersed campsite provided by the Forest Service that is posted with signs." Road list in the order's Exhibit B. source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

The forest posts Motor Vehicle Use Maps on its maps page, but the pages reviewed do not state a forest-wide rule tying dispersed-camping vehicle access to MVUM corridors. Confirm road-specific rules on the MVUM and with the district office.

Fires right now

Stage 2 fire restrictions — since August 2 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

Rules checked against the pages linked above — the full list is below the card.

Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the Forest Supervisor's Office, Pueblo at (719) 553-1400 before you go.

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.

Where these rules come from

Every rule above was read on the forest's own pages and orders on the dates shown — nothing here is borrowed from another forest or an old guidebook. The managing agency is U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region (R2).

Before you go