Beaver Reservoir Dispersed Camping

Just North of Ward Colorado is Beaver Reservoir, accessible by a well graded dirt road (turn off Hwy 7 at sign for Boy Scout Camp, County Rd 96). Roughly 1.5 miles down the dirt road is the National Forest Boundary, which extends all the way to the reservoir (but not around it). This gives about a 1 mile stretch of dirt road in which boondocking is allowed and where I stayed the night.

The worst part of camping here is that you have to commit to getting here first to find out if there are any available spots. And if there are none, you are left with few choices to turn around if you are a larger rig (go all the way to the res if all else fails, you will be OK out there). Come up during the peak of summer and you are treated to the Colorado wild flower bloom.

My family and I camped here after finding that all the campsites in the were fully booked. We were wanting to camp at Pawnee and do some hiking at Brainard Lake. We saw Beaver Reservoir on here and decided to give it a shot. So glad we did! It is right around the corner from the road that takes you to Brainard Lake! We used the GPS coordinates given on here and google maps took us right to it. You do have to go about 2 miles down a long dirt road. The dirt on the road is pretty well packed and not too bad. A few pot holes here and there. We have a 26 ft trailer so we took it slow. There were small cars flying down the road so 4 wheel drive is not needed in dry weather. Once we got up to the camping spot you pretty much just pick an area of land you fit. Lots of tent campers up there. The sites were pretty large. There are fire pits at some sites that are just put together with rocks.... possibly by campers. We had to clean some trash and cans from ours. I don't think I would camp here in a larger rig. We lucked out and got a good site but backing in the site was tough due to large rocks, big dips and uneven dirt. It was doable though. It was very quite and beautiful. Especially at night! The stars up there are amazing. We will camp here again for sure!

In the morning on the way down this was really beautiful, but on the way up we had a thick layer of fog and narrow roads in our van that doesn't enjoy going up hill. Spots aren't super clear, you aren't supposed to go to the water (do not trespass signs) and we got caught in a sketchy area for the van at one point (might have been our own fault:) ) but it was really quiet.

Bring extra blankets, it gets cold at night.

Easy access in our rented Ford Econovan. Not many people around in early Oct. Good proximity to RMNP. Got here around 4, made a fire, listened to the coyotes, watched the Stellar Jays, went to bed, woke up for an incredible sunrise then spent the day exploring the RMNP. No complaints really!

This was almost 5 stars! What brought it down was accessibility to the site we chose (which we definitely liked the best for us). We do manage to get into some pretty rough spots and the TV is 4x4. Once we set up we were happy. We found a spring in the town of Allenspark that was a cool place to fill some water jugs. There is zero cell coverage for many miles in our experience so if you are good with that, you will probably enjoy this area. There were many more sites in the area to choose from and pretty obvious with fire rings. Yes, there is private land mixed in on the road up, but it is clearly marked. The nice thing is that Estes Park is about 40 minutes away and Lyons is even closer.

Nice place to camp, however the reservoir itself is actually private property we found out. The campsites were great with awesome views

Came in off season, there were only 3ish other camps we had to share with, but we were respectful of each other, and there was so much space. I'd venture say around a dozen or so established firepits, so take your pick. No moon the night we arrived, so we got to see some beautiful stars with ZERO light pollution. Drove a loaded down 2WD 4 cylinder into camp no issues.

I stayed here the night of August 8, 2019. We pulled into the campsite where the pin is dropped, the one with a big fire pit. Nice little boulder hills to meditate on. Big campsite. Plenty of trees and shade for hammock hanging. It’s a 50 minute drive from Boulder so not too bad if you are in town and need a quick free spot to pitch camp for the night.

I would definitely stay here again. Tho I had to dock a star because there was a lot of broken glass from beer bottles all over the campsite. Most of it had been worn into the ground so it’s not really a big deal. Behind the campsite near the barbed wire “private property” fencing was a ton of trash. I picked it all up including a lot of the broken glass too so the next camper can enjoy a nice clean campground. Aren’t I sweet?

ZERO Sprint coverage just a heads up. You’ll lose service ten minutes after leaving Boulder and not get any til you’re approaching Estes Park.

Enjoy!

Pretty Location. Dispersed camping. Had no issues with my 16ft TT. No cell service even with a booster on Verizon. Mountain biked from campsite

We spent 6 nights here. The campsites themselves are awesome and it is surrounded by miles of hiking trails and mountain biking trails that we were able to enjoy.

There are posted signs about bears being very active in the area. On our first night we heard growls outside of our tent. One the second day a fellow camper down the road came and warned us that a previous person dumped their food behind the hill between our two camps and it's a common problem. She proceeded to tell me that she is from the area and that bears there can be aggressive - going as far as tearing the backs off campers for food and we should expect a visit. She camps here frequently and has had bear encounters in the past. She did not quell my anxiety about the bear signs at all, or what we heard the previous night. She also told us Mountain lions are active in the area.

The campground was really busy the entire time we were there. Lots of dirt bikes and 4 wheelers. Lots of campers also so easy access for all vehicle types.

Unfortunately, our trip was cut short because my car broke down but that may have been a blessing. On the last night we did not stay in our camp, we stayed in Ward (local town) where our car broke down. We came back the next day to break down our camp because the weather called for 6 inches of snow and freezing temperatures. We came back to find a wild animal had shredded our tent. We couldn't find any distinctive tracks. We had nothing in it but a clean empty cooler, clean towels and water.

It's a great area if you're comfortable with and prepared for a possible bear or mountain lion interaction.

Also, stop by Jackleggers in Ward for a snack while you're there. The owners Katrina and Matt were an AMAZING help when we broke down. They do a lot to help their mountain community. Great people.