Crested Butte, CO
Distance from Denver: 228 Miles
Area Amenities: Many - grocery stores, gas stations, resorts are all close to dispersed camping areas.
Area Activities: Many - world-class jeep and OHV trails, single track mountain bike trails, beautiful hikes, wildflower viewing, shopping, ski resorts, and a cute downtown.
Cost: Free! There are loads of dispersed camping areas right outside of Crested Butte. Want to stay in a more established space? There are national forest campgrounds right outside of town near beautiful waterfalls.
Big Camper Friendly? Yes - can easily find spots that will accomodate a 40 foot + trailer with somewhat low clearance.
Ease of finding a spot? Can be challenging if you are arriving on a Friday - but there are many places to look for sites.
Liz Rating: 5/5. I loved Crested Butte. Nevermind that we did over $1,500 of damage to our camper going where we shouldn’t have. Had we gone to a more appropriate location, our stay would have been perfect.
Distance/Driveability: It is an easy drive to get to Crested Butte from Denver. We left on a Thursday night and stayed in the Gunnison Walmart parking lot. This gave us an early Friday morning arrival time and made it easier to find a site. You hop on 285 outside of Denver and pass through Gunnison before heading into the mountains for Crested Butte. The trip is about 290 miles from Arvada. This is a good long-weekend destination since the drive is a bit long for only Friday and Saturday camping. There are no challenging areas in the drive.
Area Amenities: There are many gas stations, grocery stores, and shops just 20 minutes from your dispersed camping site. We never felt that if we ran out of something, we couldn’t get it in town. WalMart and City Market in Gunnison are the last big-name stores you will pass through. Be sure to stop here if you need any essentials as they’ll be much cheaper in Gunnison than Crested Butte.
Waterfalls behind the ‘Oh Be Joyful’ camp ground and trail.
Things to do: Check out these things to do from TravelCrestedButte.com.
Our Summer Recommendations:
Oh Be Joyful Creek - Waterfalls and Campground. Explore these waterfalls just outside of town. You drive 5 miles or so on CR 734 just outside of Crested Butte. There is parking just outside of the campground area and bridges across the river. This is a great walk for people of any fitness level. Pickles enjoyed getting her feet wet and biting the rapids.
Dirt bike, ATV/UTV, or Jeep any of the 4x4 trails outside of town. We rode Pearl Pass and American Flag Mountain on our dirtbikes. Peal Pass was very rocky, but the American Flag Mountain trail was not. It is the best way to see all of the wildflowers without hiking for 10+ hours.
Explore the town of Crested Butte. Unfortunately, we were in town during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and many of the restaurants were closed. If you had a mask, you could still go into the shops and stroll down the main street.
Visit the Crested Butte ski resort for summer fun. You can take the chairlift to the top (Silver Queen Express) or hike to the summit of Mt. Crested Butte.
Stand-up paddleboard, kayak, or whitewater raft. There are plenty of creeks through town. They’re all a bit brisk, but if kids are playing in the water, so can you. Check out the recommendations from AllTrips Crested Butte about paddling:
The Taylor River is really two different streams: the challenging class III upper section and the mellow class II bottom section. Combine them for a thrilling top-to-bottom day on the river.
The Gunnison River is a lovely, class II canoe and kayak. Put-in at Almont or North Bridge and float to the whitewater park takeout.
Kayaking Black Canyon of the Gunnison is an unforgettable experience. Steep, narrow class V rapids await intrepid paddlers launching a Black Canyon kayak trip.
For advanced whitewater paddlers, Crested Butte is home to intense (read: dangerous), class V spring creek boating on Upper East, Oh-Be-Joyful, Slate and Crystal creeks.
Ready to come camping in Crested Butte? We recommend you camp here:
Looking for an established campground in National Forest land? Try Cement Creek Campground, Gothic Campground, or Oh Be Joyful Campground. These areas fill up very quickly. Oh Be Joyful would be my number 1 pick, followed by Cement Creek, and finally Gothic Campground.
National Forest Land Camping:
There are some dispersed sites on Cement Creek Road. We made the mistake of turning around when we reached a sign that said trailer traffic is not recommended past this point. If you have a smaller camper like a pop-up, keep going. You will hit a series of switchbacks (camper friendly) and there are sites just past that. If you do not see a space before Cement Creek Campground and you’re in a bigger camper, turn around in the campground and head closer into town. We stayed off Walrod Gulch Road and destroyed our camper. Do NOT turn up the gulch unless you’re in a truck camper or have a very off-road capable camper - GPS for our site: 38°49'53.1"N 106°50'41.4"W. Another potential area for small campers or tents is at 38°49'57.1"N 106°49'35.1"W.
FS 7738 - Pearl Pass Road (near Brush Creek): 38°53'46.5"N 106°53'06.1"W - V4W7+GX Mt Crested Butte, Colorado. This space can accommodate a 40"+’ trailer. It’s a smooth dirt road most of the way. You may see spots before this too that are more to your liking on the right-hand side of the road. If you do not see a space by this point, turn around as you will have to do a river crossing after this GPS pin. There is virtually unlimited camping along this road and I don’t think it would ever be so full that you would be unable to find a site.
I ranked Crested Butte a 5/5. There are many amenities and things to do in the area. Had we been able to find a better spot near Brush Creek Road (tagged above), it would have been perfect!