Lizard Head Pass - Telluride, CO

FREE camping near Telluride - Lizard Head Pass

Distance from Denver: 6 hours 30 minutes (see google maps location at end of post)

Cost: FREE!

Things to do nearby: Visit the towns of Telluride, Ridgeway, Ouray. Ride one of many dirtbike or OHV trails. Hike or drive up to Bridal Veil Falls. Check out some old mines and take a tour. Rent an RZR or take a jeep tour.

Black Bear Pass near Telluride Colorado

We took this photo on the July 4th weekend about one mile into the Black Bear Pass climb. We didn’t think there would be as much snow as there was and it was impassible on our dirtbikes after reaching the top and heading towards Telluride.

Overlooking Telluride from Bridal Veil Falls

Bridal Veil Falls and the road to get there hooks into Black Bear Pass. Make sure you know which way the path goes if you planning on riding through. I believe you can only come down Black Bear Pass and into Telluride (one way). July is a great time of year to see the falls.

Cheeky marmot dirtbiking

We encountered this cheeky bugger while dirtbiking. Check back in a week or two for more posts about dirtbiking in SW Colorado.

Telluride, Colorado in July

I took this photo driving into Telluride. If you pull off to the side of the road prior to getting into town, you can see Bridal Veil Falls and the towering mountains perfectly!

Lizard Head Pass - Free Camping in Telluride, CO

You can’t beat free and you can’t beat this view. Lizard Head Pass is still close to town and provides awesome views. This is certainly an AMAZING place to camp if you do not mind dry camping for a few days.

Lizard Head Pass is a stunning pass just outside of Telluride, Colorado. If you’ve been through Telluride, you know that the town itself is pretty small and there aren’t many campgrounds… especially not affordable campgrounds.

We discovered Lizard Head Pass several years ago when we came for the 4th of July weekend. If you do plan on camping here with a sizeable trailer, I recommend arriving on a Thursday night OR early Friday morning. While there is a lot of space, if you are towing a large trailer, you may need to get more ‘off-roady’ than you would like. Keep in mind that there are no hookups here. You can certainly run your generator during the day to charge your batteries, but we didn’t hear any going at night.

Keep your eyes open for my next posts - dirt biking trails in Telluride I love and our favorite activities when we get there!