Slate River Dispersed Camping (Crested Butte)

Boondocking alert!  The Slate River valley offers many dispersed campsites along Slate River Road about 6 miles from Gothic Rd.  This river valley has a breathtaking view of Paradise Divide, an iconic mountain range of Crested Butte.  The camping areas are mostly marked with numbers, but some are not.  There is one established campground that has non-electric campsites along this road.  There are several vault toilets along the road, one is at a campsite and others are at parking areas.  To camp, you must be 30 feet from the road and 100 feet from any water source.  As with any dispersed camping, everything is pack in and pack out.  The mountain views are absolutely amazing and the river is easily accessible.  There are many hiking and mountain biking trails and the trout fishing is great here.  Since there are no designated campsites, it is a free for all.  You will find camping areas packed with cars, tents, vans, and trailers.  Sometimes it looks like you’re at an RV park!  Crested Butte is becoming very popular with outdoor enthusiasts, locals and out of state tourists.  Unfortunately, because of the number of campers and the amount of trash and human waste being left behind, certain dispersed camping ares have been closed during peak season.  With any dispersed camping, please follow “Leave No Trace” ethics.  Pack out any trash and human waste.  If you don’t want to pack out waste, then you must dig at least a 6 inch hole in the ground, and then cover up the waste with dirt.  There is a place to fill potable water and a dump station at the north end of town.  It costs $5 for water, and $10 to dump.

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