Forest Road 87 Dispersed Camping

We found this free Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campsite, using maps we got from the US Forestry Service. This spot is located on Forestry Road 87 which runs West off Highway 285, about 30 miles South of the Colorado border.

After you turn off the highway, there are 2 camping spots about a quarter mile down the road. The first campsite is a round flattened area on the left. In the photo below, there is a blue Toyota pickup parked in that spot. It is large enough for 1 large camper or possibly 2 small campers.

Another hundred yards down the road is a larger spot on the right. This is where we camped. It is big enough for 2 large campers or 3 small camper vans.

Check my blog post for more info!

As another poster mentioned, there is BLM boondocking on FS road 87, pretty close off of Hwy 285. If you are willing to drive for a while, there are some beautiful spots further up that road.

We camped +/- 13 miles in (about 1 hr drive). Due to a heavy snow season in the area, this was the best camping spot as far as we could take the road before snow made the road impassable. We hiked an additional 2 + miles up the road beyond the snow barrier one day, and found many large, nice camp spots in the treed forest. Most spots we saw could accommodate 2-3 RV's, and we imagined are often used for hunting parties.

The road through the BLM land is rougher than when it crosses into Carson National Forest, on the west side of Mt. San Antonio (approx. 6 miles in). FS 87 within Carson, while washboard in spots, is overall a really nice gravel road, appropriate for any RV.

We camped off of FS Road 87 I. 87 I is an offshoot of 87, follows a ridge on the left, and terminates in a fairly large camp spot. There are approx 3-4 off of this road in total. We camped in an awesome spot overlooking the range below, flanked by aspen and ponderosa. We found this to be the most open for our solar needs while still giving us the feeling of camping in the forest among the trees.

To find it: Take FS 87 approx 13 miles in. Along the way, pass Stewart Meadow, and the road starts to go uphill. Once you start seeing pines, look on your left for 87 I. It is marked by a large Ponderosa growing between two entrances to 87 I. As mentioned, there are a few spots along this road. There is a longer 'driveway' to where we camped, and is the first left offshoot off of 87 I.

The forest around here is a mix of ponderosa, aspen, doug fir, pinon and juniper, and hiking in this area you can discover pit ponds atop the higher hills, and many deer, elk and birds. The most unexpected aspect to this area is the regular sighting of what looked like C-130 aircraft doing low altitude flights. The flight path went right past our ridge and around where we did most of our hiking. Our first encounter with this was after dark on our first night, and I thought for sure we were about to witness a plane crash. It wasn't until the next day that we saw a large plane fly the same path that we could piece together what we'd experienced the night before. Saw it again the next day as well, and heard it the 3rd.

I should mention that while we had no Verizon service heading into the area, we discovered that we had enough at our site to stream video! 2-3 bars LTE.

After reading the two other reviews I thought I'd give this a try being that I only live a hour or so away. 87 is fine for the most part as long as you take it slow. I traveled about 12 miles in during a lightning and hailstorm and called it quits as soon as I found a site with a fire ring. The site I chose is at the junction of 87 and 93. There's a prairie dog colony here and views of Mt. San Antonio. Also, at this site is an old rusted out trailer that was left behind for some reason.

The road does have some traffic, but I didn't find it to be too bad. You do feel exposed though when someone drives by.

This was my first time boondocking and it was a great experience. I was only able to find two "sites" with pre-arranged fire rings and worn down pads. And that took a 45 minute drive to the intersection of 87 and 78. Other people mentioned sites closer to 285, perhaps I'll learn to spot them better in time. But for the most part it looked like you'd have to drive onto the vegetation, which we didn't want to do. The site we chose was solitary. But there's a decent amount of cars/trucks driving past, especially early in the morning and late afternoon. Tried exploring down 93, but there was a pretty big pool of water in the road, so we just turned around. 78 is great to drive up in your truck and check out Laguna Larga, but leave your camper at behind.

We drove in a few miles from the highway and parked in a clearing just off the gravel road near a wire fence.

I noticed a couple of other spots just before the one we chose, but they had what looked to be abandoned cars/campers. Kinda creepy. At least the spots are well spaced from each other.

There was a surprising amount of traffic on the gravel road, which by the way is accessible for any vehicle; it’s just a bumpy ride. Mostly trucks came and went hauling livestock trailers. It continued past sunset and resumed just before sunrise.

The spots are just off this gravel road, so there’s not much privacy. There aren’t any trees or big shrubs either, so you’re exposed as far as the eye can see.

This is a beautiful spot. Hills and mountains in the distance, no shade so plenty of solar. I don't know if the tower is having an issue today, but there is no Verizon 4g at all. There's 3-4 bars of 3g, but it's mega slow, as you might imagine.

Forest Road 87 is not public land until you travel from 285 to Forest Rd. 118. Between 285 and 118 the road is on private land. I stopped at the Tres Piedras Forest service office and talked to a very nice gentleman who cleared it up for me. The Carson national Forest is south of 64 and west of tres piedras. There is a ton of public land on the east side of 285 called the Rio grande Del Norte national monument. I recommend you stop at the forest service office for maps and tips.