Pawnee Buttes Dispersed Camping

Dispersed RV boondocking and tent camping are simple and free on the Grassland, but make sure you're on public lands. For maps and tips, visit the USDA Forest Service Pawnee National Grassland Office at 115 N. 2nd Avenue, Ault, CO 80610. (You may see a Greely address on older literature, but as of May 2017 it's a nice little facility in Ault.)

Visit the Grassland's most arresting geological feature, the Pawnee Buttes, to enjoy a well-developed trailhead with shaded picnic areas, vault toilets, and level trails for hiking.

It's an hour to potable water, so you'll want to arrive with plenty in the tanks or jugs. Pack in / pack out, use established sites (look for fire rings), be aware there are no services available.

I was coming up from Colorado Springs and I am convinced I took the worst route possible (103 - 105 - 104 - 111 - 110), because it was me vs the frequent and fast moving oil tankers on these washboard dirt roads until I got to 111 and I needed to travel <10 mph to make it a minor earthquake like experience. I should have gone around the area via 390 to 112 (near Grover) to 110.

This is my first boondocking experience, so I am reserving a 5 star just in case there is better. However, the established sites are far spread apart (see photo) and it isn't very busy considering this is 4th of July weekend.

Great Verizon signal with or without the directional mimo attenna. Total crap on my Tmobile.
vender - ping - download - upload - direction
tmobile - 170 - 3.29 - 1.31
verizon w/o mimo - 70 - 29.71 - 8.68
verizon w/ mimo - 60 - 17.90 - 5.80 - west
verizon w/ mimo - 37 - 21.56 - 9.59 - east
verizon w/mimo - 37 - 31.88 - 3.15 - north

Because of the oil-trucks driving through the area (it is after-all theirs) the 14m of unpaved road were really bad. Maximum speed was 10 mph or else your fillings will loosen.

I actually found a fire extinguisher in the road. It was a commercial version that would be mounted on the side of a truck. The steel mount had broken. Presumably because of the bouncy road.

As for the site. Nothing but 360 views and cows.

Fog rolled in about 9pm and visibility was ~30 feet.

At 11pm there was a knock at the door that scared the HECK out of me. Three C.U. college kids had parked at the trailhead and gone hiking. They told me they had been lost for 3 hrs because of the fog. I drove them to the trailhead, 1/4m away, and they were safe again. They called the police back and said that they no longer needed rescue.

Nice, quiet place...except for dumb kids that go hiking, at night, without lights, GPS or proper clothes.

I'd recommend it if the roads were not tremendously horrible.
Paul

The Pawnee Buttes offer a nice scenery change from mountain camping. Nothing life changing but lots of open fresh air. You are in the vicinity of several oil rigs and farms but still beautiful and refreshing.

I really like this place ..a clear night the stars are amazing!!

It’s took us about 40 minutes on gravel road and there are some spots that big rigs may find difficult but so worth it! The Buttes are striking and the hazey landscape with cows, wind turbines and endless land is beautiful. It’s like youve stepped into Westworld. We stayed at the second obvious spot which was on top a small hill looking out over the Buttes and down to the picnic table and toilet area. There were two cars that went past at night but not noisey at all.

We found a nice pull out overlooking the buttes. Easy to level on. May only get to stay a few nights as bad winds and dogs and possible snow coming later this week.
But it’s beautiful and fairly clean. Very spacious and quiet. I have 2 bars of Verizon LTE and 4 bars of T-Mobile. Both un-boosted.

Site GPS cords: 40.810279,-103.997119

It was a very dusty long drive out here but not bad for my rig. Lots of oil trucks on the main dirt roads but once you turn off for the buttes you probably won’t see anyone. I saw two cars down at the trail head but they left quickly. I found a great hilltop site overlooking the Buttes.... it took a little bit of work to level out but it’s doable and I would definitely come back to the spot again. I watched a couple of pretty good storms come and go… Luckily they weren’t too bad. So quiet and beautiful out here… I’m surrounded by cows on this open range with views forever. 🐄 Yeah you can see oil rigs and windmills but it’s so worth it for the solitude and silence. Yesterday I was the only one here… This morning I see a rig way over on the other hill but other than that no one. So if you like solitude and silence this is the place to be. I’ve heard some say it’s difficult to get here but it’s not… Follow Google maps and it will bring you right here along with the signs that you will see along the gravel road. And I have a strong 2 to 3 Verizon signal all the time… Amazing!!

This was my wife and I's first boon docking experience. I was testing out my new battery box and inverter setup. We entered the camping area from the West Entrance, which I suggest is your best approach for bigger rigs. The reason is the South entrance road has some sever washed out areas and if your wheels slide into the ruts you are going to have some trouble.

We counted 7 camping spots that had fire rings in them. The spots are huge and can accommodate 2 or 3 rigs if you wanted to have a party, but note that the sites are more than 100 yards apart so your neighbors will not bother you at all.

We were in the second spot when entering from the West side. It was fairly level and I could easily turn my rig around in the camp spot.

Being October, it was a little windy and cold the first night but during the days it reach up into the mid 60's and the second night it go down to mid-40's.

Sunset's and Sunrises were amazing and the views are wide open. Definitely will go back.

After visiting friends in Aurora, CO, we needed a quick overnight space before moving on to Wyoming. We entered Pawnee Nat’l Grassland from the intersection of 90 and 49. Drove about 2 miles North on 49, very slowly because of road condition, until we saw sign for National Grassland. About 100 yds after, you can gingerly open a simple barbed-wire gate, and turn in on either right or left side of 49. We went right and drove in a bit near a windmill, to steer clear of two families using the spot for target practice. Each waved at us and had tables set up facing away from the road, so all was well. Our spot had broken skeets and spent shells on the ground, but we weren’t even going out, so it didn’t bother us. No views of buttes from here. Again, we just needed a place to crash, so it was perfectly acceptable.