Twin Lakes North Dispersed Camping

I love Twin Lakes. This is definitely one of my favorite spots in Colorado. Great boondocking over looking the beautiful Twin Lakes, Independence Pass, and in the shadows of Mt. Elbert the tallest mountain in Colorado, 2nd tallest in the lower 48. There is not a whole nearby when it comes to towns, so stock up in Buena Vista or Leadville on the way. However the general store in Twin Lakes is run by some really awesome people and it is a hub for backpackers coming off the Colorado Trail/Great Divide. There is 1 great food truck and this hilarious guy who rents out kayaks and canoes. The hike up Elbert is really not that difficult if you feel like bagging tallest 14er in Colorado. The drive up and over Independence pass to Aspen is also one of the most beautiful drives you can do. This spot is a great spot off of 24 on the way up before you get to Lakeview Campground. There are a lot more spots up the road after the campground and the Mt. Elbert trailhead too. There is a pay dump station down at White Star Campground down by the lake.

UPDATE: July 2019 this site is no longer available to motor vehicle traffic. Tent campers can park in the circle closer to CR24 and walk back but there are signs blocking the road stating no more access to motor vehicles (Cars/RVs). A motorcycle would easily fit back in this area, not sure what the rules on that are but clearly cars are not permitted. There are many other spots overlooking the lakes further up on CR24.

Even after a week of mostly staring at the lakes and mountains I was still not tired of looking at them, seeing this view is almost beyond belief. I cannot imagne what this place with look like with all the Aspen trees as the leaves turn bright orange in the fall. This location of 82 & CR24, as you go up CR24 into the first corner this spot if the first right on dirt. I fit my 8.5' wide trailer in there but it was tight. Recommend smaller rigs for this spot. As you enter there is a small clearing I saw vans and tents using but it's about 30' away from CR24. About 100' back there is a circle drive with a few fire rings and if you continue back another 50' or so there is the spot I was in (39°05'53.3"N, 106°20'49.7"W). There are maybe two more spots after this which are uncleared and more difficult to get to. I seriously recommend walking to those spots before driving, but for those less cautious go for it, life is an adventure in Twin Lakes. Seems like Verizon and AT&T were good but I had to use a booster to get decent T-Mobile which was still flakey at times. Best mobile signal is on or near the Elbert res damn higher up CR24. You can hear road noise but a sky so dark you can easily see the galactic rift with the naked eye. Bugs weren't bad here but I still used spray. Flies ate up my dog so ACV 1:1 with water sprayed on her coat solved that problem. There are several more NFS spots if you continus up CR24 to the Elbert res dam. There also appears to be free camping as you pass the town of Twin Lakes towards Aspen along with NFS paid campground on this route but 82 has a max length restriction of 35' at some point with lots of signage on the roads. BTW, don't speed through Twin Lakes, the police were always out there when I drove through. There is a general store and a few other things in the town but it's very small. An amazing area with many paid and zero cost camping opportinuties. Temps in the 40s F at night during August 18'.

Beatiful view. Can be kinda busy but plenty of spots.

Snow blocked the road. No access.

Just off the road this campsite had nice views, good cell service, and plenty of room and fire rings for campers. It was very quiet while we stayed there and was a great experience!

There is a single site, halfway up the hill, remaining for this entry due to road closure from the Forest Service. There are clear no camping signs and rocks placed in the now forbidden areas. This site is at the GPS coordinates.

The remaining site is a long one, that circles around the pines. It is relatively flat, however there is a large dip at the entrance that will prevent long or low clearance rigs from entering. Small rigs can turn inside the site.

The views are spectacular and it is more private than many in the area due to the closures around it.

The last poster before me said the road was blocked in late May. I think this must have been due to snow. It is open now in mid-August, and there are lots of spots for camping along the road above the campsite the coordinates are for.

I’m a tent camper so I can’t say for sure but it looked like lots of vans and small RVs were camping on the road around here as well.

I found a great spot with a curvy sketchy road that has lots of space for our group and feels fairly remote even though there are other folks nearby. I can hear cars driving by on Hwy 24 below but it isn’t too noticeable.

This is close to the South Elbert trailhead. It is the perfect spot to camp and access a few 14ers, especially Mt Elbert.

We arrived afternoon on a Thursday we found a good spot toward the top with open views of the lake and mountains. We were pretty exposed to the wind and no trees for shade. There were several campers around with a couple that were within 50 yards. Great location to leave and checkout independence pass and the town of Twin Lakes. Leadville isn’t too far and Buena Vista is fairly close.

This was one of the nicest sites I’ve ever stayed. I was able to telework right from my site with Verizon. Only supposed to stay 2 nights. Stayed 5 instead and then reluctantly went home cause my black tank was nearing capacity and dog was out of food.