Shavano Wildlife Management Area Dispersed Camping

This is a huge area of BLM land with unlimited places to camp. At 8,200' it is much cooler than nearby Salida so is a good place to come in the summer. The views can't be beat, there are miles and miles of dirt roads to hike or bike on, the trailhead to a couple of Colorado's 14ers and the Colorado Trail is just a few miles up the road.

The Poncha Springs Visitor Center now has a $5 dump with potable water and is less than 5 miles away.

A couple negatives: the road is pretty rough in spots so you have to be careful driving in. If you have a toad it is a good idea to unhook and scout around first.

And we have a pretty slow internet connection, 2-3 bars of 4G but it's not real reliable.

I LOVED the view, the peace & quiet, but HATED the mouse invasion in late summer. I had two no kill traps, one of which would be standing room only (5-9 of the little buggers) every morning. The upside was they kept one dog entertained for HOURS. Downside is this is Hanta virus country, so I still have serious disinfection to do all over the coach. The only thing I found that worked was boxes of Cabfresh sachets, in every drawer, nook and cranny I could find droppings.

Previous reviewer is right about the road. It is deeply grooved in the tire tracks, and, has areas of exposed rock that will chew up the underside of a low driving passenger car. I punched a hole in the oil pan going downhill one morning, that seized the engine before I got to the airport outside of Salida. I got the engine replaced in Pueblo, DON'T try auto service in Salida-see Yelp reviews about that mess.

The views are the best of all the spots I boondocked, stunning sunsets, or watching storms roll in and around the valley. Verizon cell & wifi hotspot signals strong up there, no TV signal of any kind anywhere in Salida or up the mtn..Bring extra scrap lumber to level, you will need it regardless of how level a site you picked.

We've been boondocking here for several years. There are beautiful views of the surrounding mountains from most sites and decent Verizon LTE.

There are plenty of roads to run, walk, and bike. The Colorado Trail and a trailhead for Mt. Shavano are only a few miles up the road. It's a short bike ride into downtown Salida (it's uphill on the way back to camp). And there are a few decent microbreweries in Salida/Poncha Springs to check out.

The site we camped in was pretty clean but other sites along County Rd 250 had full bags of trash in them or trash in the campfire pits. Walking through the area there's usually evidence of hunting--empty casings, clay pigeons, and animal bones.

We haven't been here for a couple years and there seem to be more established campsites now. There's a 14-day limit but it looked like the sites closer to the start of the wilderness area had people living in them. On weekends the sites along the road fill up so better to show up during the week.

Road 250 seems to be getting rockier and more rutted so careful driving up. Probably best to unhook a toad and scout sites first as other reviewers mentioned.

We've considered this a pretty decent place to decompress and enjoy a little solitude while still being close to town. We camped closer to the start of the wilderness area where there are many well-established sites around a meadow. Unfortunately, part way through our stay, new neighbors moved in and every night around midnight would argue loud enough to wake us up. The last day of our stay, our neighbor was repeatedly speeding back and forth from camp to road 250 and tearing up the meadow area around his campsite. We left and contacted district BLM. They said they'd send law enforcement up.

We'd probably come back to camp here but would choose a site farther up the road.

We stayed on the cliff. North side of the road. (38.5608418,-106.1219990)
Views for days. Close enough to Salida for supplies and Poncha Springs visitor center dump station. Tons of amazing sites well spaced.

The road is dirt and rock but not too bad for our 33 ft MH or Jeep Liberty.

Fire rings at every site we saw.

Verizon 4G 2-3 bars.

Nothing bad to say about it. I’d stay longer if I could.

Getting In: Rough road in. Large rocks, eroded, steep, and single lane. Scout ahead. Two rigs cannot pass on this road. A rig and a car cannot pass on some portions of this road. Go slow.

Sites: You can continue for quite a few miles up the main road to individual sites flanking either side of the road as you travel up, however, we chose to take the immediate first right into the camping area. There are roads shooting off in all directions. The further in you go, the more narrow the roads become. If you have a smaller trailer, it's not a big deal, but larger rigs will have a tough time. Basically, you're on a large, sloped plateau, so getting level can be a test in patience and creativity. We went right to the same area that was used for a RV club convergence in 2016. It was in a large open space, so it was big enough for our rig and easier for us to level. This main area can become pretty busy, so privacy isn't as nice as the individual sites further up the main road. We did not see one ranger or land management person the whole week we were there. Although the sign states a 14 day max stay limit, it looked like there were rigs that have been there for quite awhile. 360 degree beautiful views of the surrounding mountain ranges.

Cell (Verizon): Signal was great at first, but some days it would drop off intermittently. It didn't really impede our work day, but it could sometimes be frustrating.

Things To Do: Salida is such a cool town. Wineries, breweries, great little restaurants, rafting, kayaking, and an awesome meat shop (Scanga Meat Company) made this town a great little gem of a find. Wood's High Mountain Distillery has great people that make amazing craft cocktails. If you have time, hike the Browns Creek Waterfall Trail. Enjoy!

I love this wildlife area! The road in is a little rough but I had no problem with my toad.
The site(s) I am in had three campfire rings and ample space for three separate campers. Though a private group is more suited than three unacquainted campers. There are many more site than campers so the privacy is great!
T Mobile coverage is good 2 bars lte and I streamed movies without my booster. Cell tower is above the “s” on the mountain.

Great views, close to town with lots to do. Arrived late in the evening, we should have driven farther in to get an even better view, but our spot was great. Has to be careful of a little broken glass around that we cleaned up.

This has been one of our favorite boondocking locations so far this year. We are excited to come back. As seen in the pictures, we got sun, rain and snow but it was all amazing. We were actually hoping for a couple of inches of snow before making it home to Texas for winter.
Good ATT, we didn’t try our Verizon.
Walmart, RV dealership/service center and all other stores etc close by.

We were here in October 2018. Great place to ride the dirt bikes, explore, relax. Leaves were turning. Lots of places to park it and chill.
CR-250, bring a detailed map to get around.

Lots of spots to get into. Best to scout so you find a good place that suits you here. Or, just keep on driving on the main road and you will see quite a few areas to park.

I stayed here three separate times this summer. There are spaces big enough for multiple rigs, and there are little getaways that you can pull into to try not to have neighbors. The good thing is that there are a lot of bushes that hide neighbors, even if they aren't too far away.

Verizon and ATT worked fine for me.

Elevation is 8300'.

Warning: There's a bit of a 'steep' hill on the 'main' road that I could't get up without a running start. It's pretty bumpy tho, so I was hesitant to go fast. Simply had to to make it. Couldn't 'crawl' up it with my now GONE 2003 2wd tundra pulling my 4500 lb 24' travel trailer. With a bit of speed, I made it.

However, mulitple very large 38' class A's and fifth wheels made it up no problem, so it's not a length thing, just a power/speed thing if you are underpowered like I was.

There's a few spots where you can park right along the edge of the bluff. Photos of myself parked there included. Rainbow is real, y'all.

Salida is a cute little town, not too far to the east. There's dump and potable water at the welcome center just down the road. I'm sure it's on Campendium.

You'll be about 1000' higher than town at this boondocking spot.

Great hiking up the road, too!

Pretty dusty at times. And windy. Hey, you're boondocking!