Manchester Creek Road Dispersed Camping

When you get to Divide, turn north on County Road 5 for a little while and you’ll end up in Pike NF at 9,100+ feet elevation. Drive past the OHV trailhead and sites will start to appear on the left and right.

The NF dirt road is groomed and in better shape than the pavement of the county road on the way in. We had no problems with our 35’ fifth wheel.

We stayed June 2018 and it was busy. I scouted spots on Sunday and it was full, but we had plenty of options when we showed up on Monday. This is OHV territory, so if you’re into that, go nuts. If you don’t mind them, you’ll be fine. If you don’t like them, don’t come here.

We had 2 bars Verizon LTE, but as you go further away from the trailhead, the signal disappears quickly. There are lots of trees, but we were able to find a site that allowed us to get plenty of solar. (see pics)

The elevation did cause some health and propane appliance issues, but we managed. Our refrigerator and water heater had trouble a few times running on propane, but they fought through it. We had some shortness of breath and some restless sleep, and our dog had…stomach issues, but none of this was too serious, and we otherwise had a good stay.

This was an easy Campground to get to with our 32' class c. There are many sites after you pass the trail head (there is a large parking lot and a restroom at the beginning near the trail head) just drive a little further and you will start to see sites, the only down part was finding an open spot and one level enough for our rig. We came here on a Sunday night I would say about 60% of the sites were open. This is a large place for people to go out on dirt bikes and 4 wheelers so be ready for that, the site we are at (cant find a number for it) does have some trash and broken glass near the woods) we would definitely come here again.

Like others have mentioned, quite a bit of OHV throughout the area but not too much of a distraction.

Lots of sites to choose from, I think we got pretty lucky with ours. Unfortunately it was down in a valley so no cell service. If cell service is needed, choose one of the sites at the top of the hill if available.

Minus the amount of glass from broken bottles and what I assume was a tent that blew from somewhere else and was basically a massive trash pile now, it was a great spot. Easy access, lots of spaces to choose from, and plenty of firewood to gather.

It was pretty busy over 4th of July weekend, but there still seemed to be a vacant spot every now and then.

Easy access to divide gas station and grocery store.

We stayed here for 1.5 weeks in the first part of July 2019. Overall, it was a decent place to stay. I can’t say for sure if we would camp here again. If we did, I would try for a non-holiday weekend.

Road/Site Condition
Access was good. Road is paved until right when you get into the forest where it turns to dirt. About ¼ after it turns to dirt, there is a parking lot on the left for the ATVers to park and unload. Shortly past that on the right is a large clearing that could fit 3-4 rigs comfortably. It was a bit busy when we arrived early afternoon on a Sunday. We drove down a bit further and there was a nice clearing on the left (maybe another ¼ down the road). This is where we stayed. There was room for probably 3 rigs. We did walk the road one day about 1.5 miles and there were other spots here and there. Some of the land became private but everything was clearly marked. There were some big rigs back there, but we were glad we stopped at the second clearing. I would say overall there is room for about 15 rigs in the first 2 miles. Not sure about after that. We were able to find a decent spot for our solar and surprisingly was able to level without blocks. I wouldn’t say the area is great for those with solar. We were able to find one of the few spots that shade was not an issue. Some were better than ours but were taken. The shade isn’t horrible, so you might be able to get enough even with it, just depends on how your solar is setup. Because this is a popular area for ATVs, it can get a little loud and a dusty. We only had one person be disrespectful by doing donuts and kicking up dirt, dust and rocks about 10 feet from our RV. He did leave after we asked. A local that camps there frequently mentioned it was normally not that busy. This was likely to due to the holiday weekend. Other than the one guy, most were respectful of our space. As you would expect, at night, it calmed down and was quiet and serene. They also didn’t get too early of a start each morning, so thankful for that.

Scenery
Most of the immediate camping area is not scenic. Your views of the mountains are blocked by trees. There were a few spots down the road that seemed to have good views. But a short drive will take you to some great views of the area, which was beautiful.

Cell/Internet Access
Our cell phones are through AT&T and service was crappy. Sometimes even with the booster it would not work. No ability to make calls unless we used Wifi calling. We have both AT&T and Verizon hotspots. Without booster they worked OK, but we really needed to booster to be able to work from the RV. The further down the road, the less cell signal.

Amenity Access
No amenities here so pack in and out. Town of Woodland Park is about 20 minutes away and has gas, groceries, etc. Colorado Springs is about 45-50 minutes away and has more options. We filled our jugs for water at the county water station just down the street (about 5 minutes away) which was quite convenient. Water there is $1 for every 30 gallons if using a 20 ft hose (goes by time, not gallons). We dumped nearby at Golden Bell Camp & Conference Center for $15 but call first because they indicated they may not let people dump anymore unless they are staying at the campground. I believe depending on the direction you are heading, most RV campgrounds in the area will let you dump for a fee. For trash, we used various dumpsters at gas stations and trash receptacles at Walmart. Most of the dumpsters nearby had signs that prohibited public use.

We absolutely loved this location. We were east of Manchester Creek Road and on a crest looking out to Pikes Peak.

No bugs, great views, amazing dry camping location.

We went in late August. Lots of ATV's...which I am fine with. Also, people brought their guns to shoot...not a fan. We found a pretty good spot, a bit off the road, and plenty of room to ourselves. Dog was happy, and the stars were beautiful at night. We will go back, but probably better chance that we will go when it is less busy in the fall. If you want complete silence, it isn't going to happen until dusk.
Site was relatively clean, although we did spend about 20 minutes cleaning up broken glass from previous campers. Note: If you want to go camping and bring alcohol (which I LOVE my beer!), bring it in containers that don't cause a hazard or make a mess (cans or plastic).
We brought our 17' trailer, and took it pretty far up. It's not an easy road, but if you feel adventurous, you can get up to nicer views and some good spots are up there.

The area is very pretty and the Rd in is fine in the beginning but gets very washboard and there are some holes in the road. Our site was a pull though, was able to get level but the last person dumped their cooked peppers and some trash. We did pick it up along with some other items
Shame on them. A few 4x4 went by, we were here during the week, would not stay here on a weekend

45’ MH, no problem getting to the area. Camping is after the large area for ATV unloading on the left with outhouse.

Wasn’t too busy but we went during the week so might be busier on the weekends. Very nice place and location. A lot of dirt bikes and ATV’s but they stop before dark. Highly recommend

We got here on a Friday and it wasn't too bad. We found a spot that was further from the main road, but wished the camping spots were further away from each other. We could handle the ATVers and dirt bikers just fine. Someone started shooting their gun at 10pm, which terrified me, my fiancé, and our dog. Saturday was so busy but we thought we could handle all the noise until some rude dirt bikers parked a foot away from our camp and started doing donuts. Then, when I started to have a coughing fit from all the dust, they heard me and decided to make the dust worse. We ended up leaving a day early because all the noise and dust ruined our (supposed to be) peaceful camping trip. I would recommend not camping here unless you are going there to kick up dust.