Free RV Camping – US 40 (west of Berthoud Pass)

US 40 was built through Colorado in the 1930's as the shortest Federal highway between Denver and Salt Lake City.  Therefore, Berthoud Pass became the first paved highway pass over Colorado's Continental Divide.  US 6 (now I-70 between Idaho Springs, CO, and Green River, UT) was a longer route between the same two large cities, but Loveland Pass was not paved until the early 1950's.  Just a little Colorado trivia: a railroad route over Berthoud Pass was investigated in 1867 by the chief engineer of the transcontinental railroad.  But, after nearly being trapped on the pass by a heavy, early fall snowstorm, he routed the Union Pacific through southern Wyoming!

                                                           Steamboat Springs' city-owned hot springs pool

Although the route west of Steamboat Springs sees few out-of-state visitors, the Middle Park area from Berthoud Pass to Hot Sulphur Springs and Grand Lake is one of the busiest tourist areas of the state.  Although the big Winter Park Ski Area is not a major RV draw, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Lake, Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain Reservoir, the Fraser River, and the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area make this a summer destination for many outdoor recreationalists, including RVers.  But, when planning your trip to Middle Park, keep in mind that Trail Ridge Road (US 34) across RMNP doesn't open until Memorial Day weekend and closes after the first major snowstorm of fall.  And its switchbacks and 12,000' elevation make it RV-UNfriendly unless you have a pickup camper, short Class C, or camper van.  I never even attempted towing our fifth wheel over it.  In addition, the East Troublesome Fire burned a wide swath of forest from CO 125 to RMNP, including buildings in both RMNP and the town of Grand Lake.

This is one of my favorite areas to camp because I spent a college summer as a USFS road surveyor in Middle Park.  For most of the summer we lived in a government trailer in Granby and surveyed the right-of-way for a forest road west from the Willow Creek Road (CO 125).  However, we also lived and worked in Winter Park, at Monarch Lake, and on the Williams Fork-Ute Pass Road at the Horseshoe Ranger Station.  Great summer and one of my fondest memories of the '60's!

Monarch Lake--one of my favorite places in Colorado!

Due to this popularity, most valley areas available for camping are filled with towns, ranches, second homes, and USFS, National Park, and private campgrounds.  Areas conveniently located along US 40 for dispersed camping-boondocking are limited to a few gravel/dirt roads east of US 40 near the Mary Jane ski runs.  But there are few other places that provide Free camping.  If you can find a boondocking spot near Winter Park, Granby has a Free RV dump in Kaibab Park at 555 Park Lane.

One exception is in the town of Hot Sulphur Springs.  The Pioneer Park campground is located just north of the Colorado River at the west end of Grand St.  Not only is the campground Free (with CPW SWA Pass or valid hunting or fishing license--see the "Introduction" section above), but it provides a Sanolet, a dumpster, and fishing access to the adjacent Colorado River. Potable water and a restroom with flush toilets are located at the north end of the park.  The campground is within walking distance of most of the amenities offered by the tiny town, which is the Grand County seat.  The drawback is noise throughout the night from Union Pacific trains that rumble through town on the nearby tracks.

At the other (west) end of Byers Canyon, is Hot Sulphur Springs SWA that also has Free camping (with CPW SWA Pass or license) on the banks of the Colorado River.  At the east end of the bridge over the river, turn south on CR 50--Church Park Road, then turn right after 0.1 mile.  Camping is allowed in the gravel parking lots along the river and two restrooms are provided for fishermen and campers.  As in the city park, train noise during the night can be a problem for some RVers. 

Of historical interest, both Byers Canyon and Byers Avenue (US 40) in Hot Sulphur Springs were named for William Newton Byers, the founder of the Rocky Mountain News.  Along with Colorado's first newspaper, Byers owned the hot springs and built the first resort on the site.  A little known fact is that John Wesley Powell and his boat crews gathered at the resort in the fall of 1868 to assemble their equipment and practice river running in the adjacent rapids of the Colorado River.  In fact, two of Powell's crew were employees of the Rocky Mountain News, sent by Byers to provide news reports on the trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.  And, just incidentally, the famous geologist also made the first recorded ascent of nearby 14,259' Long's Peak while he was in the vicinity.  Not bad for a one-armed former Civil War major!

A little farther west on US 40 is the tiny town of Parshall and the turnoff to paved CR 3 and a connection to the Ute Pass Road (CR 15).  CR 3 takes RVers to Free camping (no license requirements for camping and no reservations) around the shores of the Denver Water Board's Williams Fork Reservoir.  Take CR 3 about 2.5 miles to paved CR 341 for the East Boat Ramp, designated campsites with picnic tables and fire rings, pit toilets, and an RV dump.  Or go 3.8 miles to gravel CR 33 and then another 2.8 miles to the West Boat Ramp near a peninsula sticking out into the lake.  The west area provides more designated campsites with picnic tables, fire rings, and pit toilets.  There are about 45 designated back-in and pull-thru campsites in the two areas and plenty of space on the peninsula for dispersed camping.  Don't count on having potable water, campground shade, great cell service, or OTA TV stations, but it's perfect for long RVs, solar panels, generators, satellite dishes, and rainbow trout, lake trout, and northern pike fishing (with a CO fishing license, of course).  When we were there in August 2023, nearly all of the campsites were occupied on a weekend.   And all of the level boondocking sites on the peninsula were filled with groups of fishermen, paddleboarders, and families with kids enjoying their final weekend before school started.  The lake was still so full (in August!) that a couple of eastern campsites were partially flooded.  So all the boat ramps on the west side of the lake were closed.

Interestingly, the town of Parshall may be the only one in the nation named for a 20th century civil engineering professor.   In 1922, Professor Ralph Parshall of Colorado A&M College (now Colorado State University) received a patent for a structure that could accurately measure water flow in streams and irrigation ditches.  The first-ever river-scale "Parshall flume" was installed west of Byers Canyon on the Colorado River and the town took its name from that flume! 

Middle Park, Colorado
Berthoud Pass in lower right and Kremmling in upper left connected by US 40.
Dark lake southeast of Kremmling is Williams Fork Reservoir with Free camping.
White areas on right are snow-capped peaks along the Continental Divide.
Bright white spot just below and left of center is the tailings pond at the Henderson Mill.

Also of interest is that continuing south on CR 3 to its end will bring you to Climax Molydenum's Henderson Mine and Mill.  This huge underground mine has operated since the 1970's.  Mill workers generally live in Frisco and Silverthorne and commute via Ute Pass, while most miners live in Idaho Springs and commute via US 40 and a deep mine shaft located on the Jones Pass Road at the eastern approach to Berthoud Pass, nearly 10 miles from the mine portal near the mill. Originally an electric train hauled ore from inside the mine to the mill, but it was later replaced with a 5 mile-long conveyor system. The elevation of the mine shaft is about 10,500 ft, while the elevation of the mill portal is just under 9,000 ft., a difference of 1,500 ft in elevation and all of it underground!  Unfortunately, the big 2020 Williams Fork Fire decimated the forest in a large area between the mill and the town of Fraser.

There are relatively few places to camp Free or for a price along US 40 west of Parshall.  Red Mountain RV Park in Kremmling has FHU sites for $39-45/night.  Wolford Campground on Wolford Reservoir, north of Kremmling and east of the highway, has a current rate for electric sites, with separate water hydrants and RV dump, of $40/night.

Thirty miles north of Kremmling on Muddy Pass, the USFS has a cheaper, no hookup campground called Dumont Lake.  Two miles north of the intersection of US 40 with CO 14, turn north off the highway onto gravel CR 199.  The campground has 22 sites with potable water, picnic tables, fire rings, and pit toilets for $12/night ($6/night with Senior pass).  Adjacent to the campground are lake and stream fishing, non-motorized boating, and mountain biking and hiking trails.  Reservations can be made for this campground, but it gets relatively light use due to opening only about June 30 each year and closing in late October.  So you may want to take your chances and avoid the reservation fee, since one loop is FC-FS.

The popular USFS Meadows Campground is located 7 miles closer to Steamboat Springs (37 miles north of Kremmling) and a mile south of US 40 on gravel FR 297.  It has 30 tree-shaded and open campsites up to 35 feet long with picnic tables, fire rings, and pit toilets for $10/night.  This is a no reservation, first come-first serve campground, so never lacks for campers during the summer and during the fall hunting season. There are also other forest roads in the vicinity that might be used for dispersed camping, but we haven't done any there.  Be aware of hunters in fall--we've had them come out of the forest right into our campsite!

Before the recent bark beetle destruction of the lodgepole pine forests of northern Colorado, two of the most popular State parks among Colorado RVers were Steamboat Lake and Pearl Lake.  Located north of Steamboat on CO 129, these lakes provided secluded, shaded campsites around the lakes, plenty of boating room, and great fishing.  Now, however, there are few trees remaining in the campgrounds and they are less popular during summer than in the past.

The hot springs pool in Steamboat, Fish Creek Falls just outside town, and numerous summer festivals still bring in many summer visitors, but most stay in the abundant ski lodges and condos at Mt. Werner.  A word of warning: Steamboat Springs has posted "No Overnight Parking" signs in the Walmart parking lot and enforces them.

A new State park campground much closer to US 40 is the Yampa River State Park Headquarters on the south side of the highway west of Hayden.  This campground has 35 long RV sites with 20/30/50A electric hookups, water, an RV dump, flush toilets, showers, and a laundry for $32/night plus the $8 daily fee.  Included in the daily fee is access to the Visitor's Center and 15 fishing access points across public and private land along a 134-mile reach of the Yampa River between Hayden and its confluence with the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument.  Not inexpensive camping, but well worth it if you are a fly fisherman and want to fish one of the least dammed rivers in the State.  There is a limit of two trout, but no limit at most access points on non-natives like bass, pike, walleye, perch-crappie, and catfish.

Due to the extreme length of the Yampa River State Park, there are no SWAs with camping along US 40 west of Hayden.  However, BLM had two areas for Free camping adjacent to the river (no license required for camping, just for fishing) until 2023.  However, when we visited it in September 2023, both Juniper Canyon  and Maybell Bridge have now become part of Yampa River State Park.  That means that these formerly Free campgrounds are now $14/night for FC-FS dry campsites.  Juniper Canyon is located 20 miles west of Craig on gravel County Road 53.  Turn south off U S 40, then, after 3.6 miles, take a sharp right turn onto CR 74 and go about a mile.  The site has a boat ramp, parking lot, pit toilets, and bear-proof trash receptacles. It has 5 angled, back-in RV sites with tent pads and 3 tent-only sites, each with its own picnic shelter.  Juniper Canyon is popular not only with boaters and fishermen, but also mountain bikers, hikers, ATV/OHV riders, and wildlife photographers.  The only nearby population is in a ranch house across the river from the campground.

Nearly identical to Juniper Canyon, but much closer to US 40 is the now-$14/night Maybell Bridge campground.  Turn south at the east end of the Yampa River bridge just before entering the town of Maybell.  The campground has 5 angled, back-in RV sites, one pull-thru site, and 5 tent-only sites.  There are tent pads and picnic shelters at each campsite, as well as a pit toilet, boat ramp, parking lot, and trash containers.  However, the proximity to the highway and town make this a relatively noisy location compared to the quieter (unless the OHVers are there), somewhat isolated Juniper Canyon campground.

When we took our RV to Alaska, the city park in Craig, with its fantastic wood carvings, and the Moffat County Fairgrounds both offered Free camping, complete with electricity at the fairgrounds.  But the Craig KOA owner apparently complained to the two governments and that ended the public campgrounds. Incidentally, there are now "NO Overnight Parking" signs at the Craig Walmart as well.  The first come-first served city park campground in Maybell still has sites with electricity and a water faucet, but it is up to $28.50-$38.50/night.  They also charge $5 for using their RV dump and $3 for a shower.  

And that takes you west on US 40 to Vernal, Utah or maybe northwest through Maybell to the very remote Free campgrounds at Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge on Colorado's reach of the Green River.  From there, you can take a raft trip on the Green through Dinosaur National Monument.  If one-armed John Wesley Powell could handle Whirlpool Canyon in a wooden dory, you can certainly handle it in a rubber raft. Or if you happen to be in Maybell on an early May Sunday morning, don't miss the Great American Horse Drive right through town on US 40!