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Dispersed camping · Colorado

San Juan National Forest dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days 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 stay limit

Order 02-13-00-24-03 (Aug 1, 2024 - Dec 31, 2029) prohibits "camping, or leaving camping equipment at any location or within three (3) miles of any prior camping or equipment location(s), for a combined total of more than 14 consecutive days" AND "camping, or leaving camping equipment, for more than 28 days within a continuous 60-day period." Moving less than 3 miles does not restart the clock, and the 28-day aggregate cap applies across the whole forest in any 60 days.

Where you can camp

Designated sites in some areas

Dispersed camping "occurs anywhere in the National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground"; it "is NOT allowed in the vicinity of developed recreation areas" such as campgrounds, picnic areas, or trailheads. Several drainages are designated-site-only or closed to camping by standing orders (La Plata Canyon, Andrews Lake - see seasonalClosures). source

Keep your distance

  • Recommended: 100 ft — Forest dispersed-camping guidance: "Please place your campsite at least 100 feet from any stream or other water source." Worded as guidance forest-wide. source
  • 100 ft — In the Weminuche, South San Juan, Lizard Head and Hermosa Wilderness areas the rule is mandatory: "Do not camp or build a campfire within 100 feet (35 adult steps) of streams, lakes or other water sources" (forest regulations brochure, 04/2024). source
  • 300 ft — "Motor Vehicles can only be driven up to 300 feet off any open road to camp or retrieve forest products" (forest regulations brochure, 04/2024). Off-road and cross-country motorized travel is otherwise prohibited. source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

"Drivers of motor vehicles must stay on roads and trails open to their type of use as indicated in Motor Vehicle Use Maps and on posted signs," and vehicles may go "up to 300 feet off any open road to camp" where that causes no resource damage (regulations brochure; dispersed-camping guidelines).

Fires right now

Stage 1 fire restrictions — since July 30 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 San Juan National Forest Headquarters, Durango at (970) 247-4874 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