East Fork San Juan River Dispersed Camping

We stayed her in June of 2013. The exact GPS of our spot is 37.3912, -106.84004. It was huge open area right along the river. The space between the trees getting to the spot from the FS road was a little tight and bumpy, but we made it. We had plenty of room, and there would be room for other RVs as well. Only negative was absolute lack of cell signal (but again, this was in 2013 so things may have changed.)

All along the road in, there are many gorgeous spots to camp next to the river. Beautiful, quiet and peaceful. I got in about 6:30 pm on a Fri and while there were a lot of spots taken, I had no problem finding one next to the river.

It is a bit of a bumpy road getting into the forest, but manageable at a slow speed. We found a spot right along the river...our dogs were so happy here! We had a lot of privacy as well. We were sad to leave after only one night. About a 25 minute drive to Pagosa Springs.

This area is closed for camping until May. We drove up the road in April and saw the closed. The area outside of the gate was flat enough for us to spend the night there since it was getting late when we arrived. In the morning we walked up the road and it was beautiful! You could hear the rushing of the river and there were views of the mountains. We would stay here again when the camping area is open.

We spent a great two weeks at one of my Hubbs' favorite spots. Listening to the river just outside our camper is a bonus.

We needed a place to unwind after an overwhelming week. Despite only being able to spend two nights, the four mile drive down a rough road was worth it. We were literally steps from the San Juan river (travel brochure cliche, but true).

The white noise of the river drown out any other people driving or camping nearby. We stayed the week before Memorial Day and there were a few prepositioned rigs but no one staying in the loop we pulled into. There are quite a few spots for larger rigs past the second bridge but I wouldn’t recommend pulling a trailer past the coordinates posted in NealysonWheels review. The drainage channels are pretty deep across the road. It took us about 20 minutes to go the 4 miles to our spot.

Not a drop of TMobile or AT&T which was fine with us! We’ll be back.

We came in our 38ft Motor Home and we rocked and rolled for 2.5 miles till we got to a large pullout along the river just past the second cattle guard. Drove our Jeep up to the real sites. It was washboard and potholes all the way to the first camp sites after the first bridge. Decided to stay right where we stopped. A sheriff drove by and he said it was fine to stay there. The drive out was easier because I now know where drive on this road. If there had been a better road for a big rig I'd given a 5, because the scenery and flowing river were beautiful. Hated the drive in my rig. If we ever come back we will only bring our Jeep and tent.

I live in Pagosa Springs and therefore camp here ALL the time. Several different spots to camp for FREE further down, but of course no running water (unless you get a spot off the river) or trash pick up.

My favorite spot is at the Coal Creek Trailhead, which is right at the second bridge.

Plenty of camp spots for tent camping, car camping, trailers, etc. This road takes you up to Elwood's Pass, which from my understanding was the original way into Pagosa Springs back in the day.

The San Juan was basically dry this time last year. This weekend it would have pulled a Michael Phelps all the way to Davy Jones’ locker. They should really get more lockers for these water types, just having the one doesn’t seem appropriate given the number of gold medals and pirates and stuff. Anyway, as the campground host down at the official spots pointed out, this place is defined by whether your camping before or after one of the two bridges. There is a large area where oodles of Father’s Day weekenders were full on Bud Light and ATVs, which made up about half of the relatively heavy traffic the road saw while we were there. Other than these folks, lots of people exploring Colorado from other states found the fairly bumpy road to warrant going 12mph or so. I felt that way faster was more appropriate, how else will you fill your vehicle with a quarter inch of dust? Just remember to leave all of the windows down and go full blast! Regardless of the amount or speed of traffic on the road (which is immediately next to many of the sits), with the river cruising like it was you can barely hear across your own fire pit, let alone be bothered by noise from the road. After the second bridge a bar or two of LTE kept twinkling in the eye of our phones, though we never really used it to see if it would hold up against all of the other campers. A culvert was washed out, preventing access much deeper than 5 miles but there were so many, many sites and they ranged from a small bend in the river that would probably be underwater if it rained to large meadows easily able to fit ten or fifteen RVs if everyone didn’t mind snuggling bumpers. We chose a pristine little slice of shade and open meadow, large enough to setup camp, make a fire, hoist the mainsail on the ol’ outdoor kitchen and still have enough space to toss the pigskin around beneath the narrowleaf cottonwoods. Little in the way of wildlife was had, save an impressive raven and his recurring attempts to snatch our youngest’s popcorn. And some robins, but though they’re quite majestic when you take a moment to really take them in, their common nature leaves many of us taking them for granted. Too bad, really. But anyway, yes, the river was kooky fast and lots of folks need a primer on whether or not we’re going to store their lifetime’s supply of toilet paper directly stop the ground. I mean, in addition to firewood for sale and a dumpster that isn’t locked down at the USFS campground, they have at least four, well-cleaned bathrooms where one could pack their TP out and get rid of it properly. Not to mention the ground is super soft and one could dig a 6” cat hole with an ice cream cone in about 30 seconds...

I stayed here one night just a few days before July 4, so the camp ground was very busy. I was actually fine with that since I was camping solo for the second night ever. It’s a lovely spot reached by a short but decent jaunt down a paved dirt road.

I did have one tiny bar of service that came and went, but was not at all reliable.