The best Colorado campground you never saw might be a remote spot on Bureau of Land Management land at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo range near Great Sand Dunes National Park, 35 miles north of the New Mexico border.
At least that’s how one might envision the Sacred White Shell Mountain campground after reading about it on a list of 10 best places to camp in the mountain west that was assembled by The Dyrt, a popular camping website and app with millions of visitors annually.
Sacred White Shell Mountain rated second on the list, which was derived from users of The Dyrt, and was one of two in Colorado to make the list. The other was the Prospector Campground near Lake Dillon, which came in at No. 9.
There are eight fourteeners near Sacred White Shell Mountain including Blanca Peak, Colorado’s fourth-highest peak at 14,348 feet, the summit of which is about seven miles from the campground. Great Sand Dunes National Park, 13 miles to the north, has been certified as an International Dark Sky Park by Dark Sky International.
One user’s review made us want to pack up the camping gear and a telescope. “Stayed here after visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park! Big lot with lots of places to park. Some mosquitos at dusk but got better at night. Stunning views and amazing sunset. Not to mention that at night you could see every star in the sky. I stargazed until it was time to go to sleep.”
According to The Dyrt’s description:
“Nestled up against the side of Blanca Peak, this dispersed camping area is very close to Great Sand Dunes National Park, and only about a five-minute drive from the excellent hike to Zapata Falls. It’s another great place for stargazing or night-sky photography. Fire pits are about the only amenity here, but supplies and civilization await in the nearby town of Alamosa.”
And there is no fee since it is a “dispersed” area. In fact, half the camping areas on The Dyrt’s list, including the top three, are dispersed, a term that usually means camping outside of designated campgrounds with no services and few facilities, if any.
Prospector, meanwhile, is a U.S. Forest Service campground on the east side of Dillon Reservoir with 105 sites that can accommodate tents, trailers, and RVs. It has picnic tables, campfire rings, vault toilets and drinking water but no electrical hookups.
“I can’t say enough about Prospector,” one Dyrt reviewer wrote. “One of my favorite places to camp in Summit County. Take in the views, the hikes, and all of the natural splendor that this area has to offer!”
The No. 1 rating on the list went to Saddle Mountain in the Kaibab National Forest near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. BLM camping in the Middle Fork of Shafer Canyon near Moab, Utah, came in third.
