This is us beginning to give away all of the free dispersed campsites. Hesitant as I am, it is no secret that camping in Colorado and elsewhere in the Rockies can be achieved for free if you don’t mind leaving early, getting lost, pooping in the woods, and amazing rewards.
We’ll start with Lost Creek Wilderness. How to get there is easy, and scenic. Take Highway 285 out of Denver (which most folks will be coming from) and enjoy the view after passing over Kenosha Pass. Wind down the mountain and take a left on Lost Park Road 56. From there you are on your own. The road can be a washboard for miles, but as for all dispersed camping, it gets better and is worth the loosening of teeth.
Look for pull-offs and random little roads as there are a few. At the very end of the road, many miles from civilization, there is a pay campsite fittingly called Lost Creek Campground. It’s always full of large RVs and campers typical to pay campsites. The options on the way there are many, as long as you leave early. There is great hiking and mountain biking probably. I don’t know. Our kids were 5, 3, and 6 months the last time we were there so we spent most of our time looking for firewood, cooking, and changing diapers. I hope it hasn’t changed. The place is beautiful.
There is no river for most of it, so that is a drawback, but if you find a spot on the earlier stretches of road, there are beaver ponds with tiny 1 wt. trout in them. We got up there later so those spots were taken. When in modern Colorado, leave on a Thursday if possible.
The Confluences 