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Dunnage Garage

Dunnage Garage

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I just bought a RTT in Denver. I'm driving out from Nebraska on April 30th to pick it up and give it a one night test shakedown. I'm thinking Chinns Lake, but I am concerned about it being crowded and not finding a place on Saturday afternoon/evening. Any locals able to reccomend a offgrid place to camp? Near a alpine lake, stream/river, or epic canyon views near Denver? This is my wife's first "real" overland trip and I'm wanting to make it special! Thanks!
 
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scottoffroad said:
I just bought a RTT in Denver. I'm driving out from Nebraska on April 30th to pick it up and give it a one night test shakedown. I'm thinking Chinns Lake, but I am concerned about it being crowded and not finding a place on Saturday afternoon/evening. Any locals able to reccomend a offgrid place to camp? Near a alpine lake, stream/river, or epic canyon views near Denver? This is my wife's first "real" overland trip and I'm wanting to make it special! Thanks!
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Snow pack may be a bigger concern than crowds. I’m not super familiar with that area but I’d check road closure in that area and go from there. It’s still early in the year so crowds aren’t really a thing yet.
 
Yep I did...miss type April 30th May 1st...my bad...guess I didn't realize that snow pack would still be an issue. Thanks for the heads up
 
You MAY be able to get there at that time, but most likely there will be some snow to get through to do it......It's not exposed to the sun enough to thaw out early. However, it's a good choice of destinations.

Does the RTT have a heater? :wink:
 
No heater...so that's probably gonna be out of the question for wife's first trip...Is there anything close to Denver that would be good? Or should we just Hotel it?
 
scottoffroad said:
No heater...so that's probably gonna be out of the question for wife's first trip...Is there anything close to Denver that would be good? Or should we just Hotel it?
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Don’t hotel it. Where are you grabbing the tent? What city? Are you in a time crunch to get back?
 
High country snow, and yes, cold, is an issue ‘til June in many places west of Denver. You might check out Pawnee National Grasslands north of Denver/east of Fort Collins. It’s on the way back to Nebrasky, and is a cool, under–visited place where you can camp, hike, see some cool native history. Wind can be an issue there, but you live in Nebraska, so that’s nothing new. :-)

You might also dig around places west of Loveland and Fort Collins in the foothills. Plenty of camping (not dispersed), and it won’t be snowed in.
 
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Arriving in Denver on Saturday, dropping wife off to visit family. I'll pick up the RTT (Denver) we will spend the night and head back Sunday. So yes there is a time crunch... I'll look into the grasslands, and the Fort Collins. Thanks for the information...
 
scottoffroad said:
Arriving in Denver on Saturday, dropping wife off to visit family. I'll pick up the RTT (Denver) we will spend the night and head back Sunday. So yes there is a time crunch... I'll look into the grasslands, and the Fort Collins. Thanks for the information...
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Check out the Buffalo Creek and Rampart Range area too. You should be able to disperse camp along Horsetooth reservoir but it’s been a while since I have so that could have changed.
 
I just drove down to Pawnee today. Trying to find a place near home to camp without crowds or access issues for around the same time frame. I’d definitely recommend it. Virtually no trees but beautiful in its own ways. Not much for stream/lake access that I found either. Maps are easy to find from Forest Service website. Dispersed camping allowed all over. Like a grassy desert. I really liked it.

Enjoy your trip!!!
 
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adv.fam.4 said:
scottoffroad said:
Arriving in Denver on Saturday, dropping wife off to visit family. I'll pick up the RTT (Denver) we will spend the night and head back Sunday. So yes there is a time crunch... I'll look into the grasslands, and the Fort Collins. Thanks for the information...
Click to expand...

Check out the Buffalo Creek and Rampart Range area too. You should be able to disperse camp along Horsetooth reservoir but it’s been a while since I have so that could have changed.
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There is no dispersed camping around on near Horsetooth Res. It’s been quite sometime since you could do that & lots of stuff up both the Poudre Canyon & Big Thompson canyon are still closed from the fires.
 
MSD said:
adv.fam.4 said:
scottoffroad said:
Arriving in Denver on Saturday, dropping wife off to visit family. I'll pick up the RTT (Denver) we will spend the night and head back Sunday. So yes there is a time crunch... I'll look into the grasslands, and the Fort Collins. Thanks for the information...
Click to expand...

Check out the Buffalo Creek and Rampart Range area too. You should be able to disperse camp along Horsetooth reservoir but it’s been a while since I have so that could have changed.
Click to expand...

There is no dispersed camping around on near Horsetooth Res. It’s been quite sometime since you could do that & lots of stuff up both the Poudre Canyon & Big Thompson canyon are still closed from the fires.
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Thanks. I think the last time I randomly camped next to Horesetooth was 2007…

I’d point you towards Buffalo creek then. Connifer to Buffalo Creek CR126- go west on FR550.
 
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Pawnee Buttes may be worth looking into. Like others have said, there's not much (if any) trees, but the roads are open and snow won't be a problem. They're also not all to far from either I-76 or I-80 on you're way back.
 
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How far from Denver are you willing to travel? There are some good low country places to camp this early but they're going to be a good 2-3 hours from Denver at least. The high country will still have snowpack and it still gets very cold in the mountains at night this time of year.
 
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I think you would have better luck down closer to Colorado springs. The gulches Metberry gulch is my favorite or rainbow falls area. China wall there is a great camp spot at the end. Picture is metberry gulch.
 

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Jerry Quintana said:
I think you would have better luck down closer to Colorado springs. The gulches Metberry gulch is my favorite or rainbow falls area. China wall there is a great camp spot at the end. Picture is metberry gulch.
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That is gorgeous, But takes us a little too far out of our way. Thanks though.
 
307dulaney said:
I just drove down to Pawnee today. Trying to find a place near home to camp without crowds or access issues for around the same time frame. I’d definitely recommend it. Virtually no trees but beautiful in its own ways. Not much for stream/lake access that I found either. Maps are easy to find from Forest Service website. Dispersed camping allowed all over. Like a grassy desert. I really liked it.

Enjoy your trip!!!
Click to expand...
Thanks, I think we will try Pawnee... Do I need a state permit for the dispersed camping?
 
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