Dispersed Camping in the Poudre Canyon: A Long Draw Road Guide

There is a road that leaves Highway 14 up past Chambers Lake, climbs into the high country, and ends at a reservoir sitting at about 10,000 feet. Along the way there are turnoffs for a handful of cleared, marked campsites tucked into the lodgepole. The road is Long Draw Road, and the camping along the turnoff forest roads are some of the most isolated, most beautiful, and wildest dispersed camping sites in the Poudre Canyon.

If you’re going to chase the most remote locations, read this first: the ideal vehicle

You need a real high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle to drive the forest service roads that branch off of Long Draw road. We want to be blunt about this, because the phrase “high clearance” has been watered down to the point of being dangerous.

We are talking Jeep, or something built like one. A crossover will not do it. A lifted SUV that has never left pavement will not do it. If you are asking yourself whether your vehicle qualifies, that hesitation is your answer.

A rutted dirt forest road curving through dense lodgepole pine along Long Draw Road, Northwest Larimer County, Colorado

And this: you cannot turn around

This is the single most useful sentence on this page, and no other guide will tell you: turnouts are few and far between. Once you have committed to the rugged stretch, you are going forward. There is no shoulder to swing into, no pull-off to reconsider from, and backing a trailer down a rutted forest road with a drop on one side is not a plan.
Decide at the bottom. Not halfway up.

A wide dirt forest road with a Forest Service sign post beneath spruce and fir under a cloudy sky along Long Draw Road, Poudre Canyon, Colorado

Wide at the entrance

That big hill/rut combo is perfect for scraping off a muffler!

Long Draw Road climbing through young conifer regrowth and standing dead timber under a wide blue Colorado sky

It’s rougher than it looks

The road has embedded rock, deep ruts, loose stone, and tree limbs at mirror height. None of it is technical in the rock-crawling sense. All of it will punish a vehicle without clearance and low-range gearing.

Sites 1-3

Three Easy Forested Sites (before the challenging road above)

Here is the good news, and the part we actually recommend for most visitors: there are three marked sites within roughly a quarter mile of the Long Draw Road turnoff. They are noticeably more accessible than everything past them. You get the isolation, the lodgepole, the thin clean air and the quiet — without committing to the whole road.

If you have never driven this country before, or you are pulling anything, or you are simply not sure about your rig: camp at one of these three and enjoy your weekend. There is no prize for going further.

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A rough forest road forking beside a white marker post in dense lodgepole pine along Long Draw Road in the upper Poudre Canyon, Colorado

A rocky forest road running through lodgepole pine under a deep blue sky along Long Draw Road, upper Poudre Canyon, Colorado

A cleared dispersed campsite with logs and a rock-lined fire ring in the forest off Long Draw Road, Poudre Canyon, Colorado

Sites 4-8

Remote and Private Sites farther up the side forest road

Past that first turnoff, the next forest road branching off to the right gets serious and the sites thin out. There are four more beautiful and private campsites scattered along that one which climbs up into the burn scar.

We are deliberately not publishing site-by-site coordinates for the hard ones. Not to be coy — because handing someone a pin for a place they cannot reverse out of is how people end up in trouble. Drive it, look at it, and make your own call in daylight.

The rules that really matter up here for dispersed camping

The rules are meant to protect this fragile ecosystem and preserve it for everyone to enjoy. Forest Service rangers patrol this road regularly.

Camp only in a marked, cleared site

This is designated dispersed camping, not free-for-all. The sites are cleared and marked. Camping outside a marked site is not permitted, and it is not a grey area.

OHVs are not allowed

The areas around Long Draw Road are not an OHV playground. Leave the machines at home. There is superb OHV country elsewhere in Northwest Larimer County, and this is not it.

The forest road climbing toward the dispersed campsites off Long Draw Road near Cameron Pass, Colorado

A fire ring does not mean you can have a fire

Several of these sites have well-built rock fire rings that have clearly been there for years. That is not permission. Fire restrictions in this corridor change through the season and are frequently in effect through the exact months you would want to camp. Assume nothing, and check before you leave home

Open Meadow Dispersed Campsites

About halfway to the reservoir there is a group site in a subalpine meadow — genuinely beautiful, and easy to access – even for a 30′ RV or LQ horse trailer. Nearer the reservoir, a few more sit in the open meadows.

I didn’t grab photos of these since the sites were full and I didn’t want to invade anyone’s privacy. But the shot here is representative and they’re very easy to reach (but non-reservable).

Dense grouse whortleberry ground cover and fallen logs on the forest floor beside Long Draw Road, upper Poudre Canyon, Colorado

A close view of grouse whortleberry (Vaccinium scoparium), the fine broom-like ground cover that carpets the forest floor along Long Draw Road, Colorado

The ground you are camping on

That soft green carpet across the forest floor up here is grouse whortleberry (Vaccinium scoparium) — a wild blueberry relative with tiny red berries in late summer, and one of the things bears and grouse are up here eating.

It matters for a practical reason. Whortleberry spreads by rhizome, slowly, at 10,000 feet where the growing season is measured in weeks. A tire track or a new tent pad through it heals in years, not seasons. That is the whole reason to park on the pad and pitch on the bare ground someone already cleared. Not because a rule says so — because the alternative leaves a scar that outlasts your trip by a decade.

What it is actually like up there

Isolated. Quiet in a way that takes a day to adjust to. The forest is lodgepole with subalpine fir and spruce coming up underneath, and stretches of standing dead timber with new green pushing through. The air is thin and cold at night, even in August.

And at the end of it, Long Draw Reservoir is genuinely spectacular — and, remarkably, not crowded. We have watched people canoe, kayak and paddleboard it with their dogs on a summer afternoon with the place nearly to themselves.

Practical notes for Dispersed Camping

There are no services. No potable water (unless you have equipment to treat it), no toilets, no trash. Bring everything, pack out everything, including what you burned if burning is even permitted. Altitude is real at 10,000 feet — drink more than you think you need and give yourself the first afternoon to acclimate. The season is short. This road opens when the snow lets it and closes early; it is a brief, beautiful window, not a summer-long option.

Weather turns fast. Afternoon thunderstorms build over these peaks in a hurry, and I’ve experienced hailstorms that leave over an inch of ice on the roads in July. Have a plan that does not involve driving out in a downpour on a road you have already been told you cannot turn around on.

roughing it in the wild

Who is dispersed camping for?

It’s for people who want genuine isolation and are equipped to earn it. If your idea of a good weekend is a site with no neighbours in sight, cold nights, a sky with no light pollution in it, and a reservoir most people never bother to drive to — this is your place.

It’s not for a first camping trip, not for a rental sedan, not for a big travel trailer, and not for anyone on a tight schedule. It’s not for most families – there are no bathrooms, picnic tables or playgrounds and there ARE wild predators. There is no shame in that. Half of knowing this country is knowing which parts to skip this time. It’s wild out here.

Bears, food, and what you leave behind

This is black bear country, and the whortleberry you are camped on is part of why they are here. Store food, trash and anything scented in your vehicle or a bear-resistant container — never in your tent. It is as much for the bear as for you; a bear that learns to raid campsites usually ends up dead.

There are no toilets. Human waste goes in a cathole six to eight inches deep and 200 feet from any water, camp or trail, and toilet paper packs out. At this elevation nothing breaks down quickly. Whatever you leave will still be there next summer for the next person.

Tell me the truth

Common questions/FAQs

Do you really need 4WD on the Forest Service Branch Roads?

Yes — real four-wheel drive with genuine high clearance. The first three easy sites are the only forested sites that can accommodate regular vehicles (and even those are dicey); reaching sites 4-8 involves embedded rock, ruts and loose stone. A crossover or an unmodified SUV is not adequate, regardless of what you hear elsewhere.

Can you camp anywhere along the road?

No. This is designated dispersed camping. You may only camp in the cleared, marked sites, and rangers patrol the road regularly. Pulling off into an unmarked spot is both a citation risk and the thing that scars this forest floor for a decade.

There are fire rings — can I have a campfire?

Not necessarily (certainly not for all of 2026), and you must check first. Several sites have long-established rock rings, but fire restrictions are frequently in effect through the summer months and a ring is not permission. Check the current restrictions before you leave home; they change through the season and can tighten with little notice. We suggest a LavaBox for backcountry camping and marshmallow toasting.

Is there water, a toilet, or trash service?

None of the above. Dispersed means exactly that. Bring all your water, dig a proper cathole well away from water, and pack out every bit of trash including toilet paper.

How long is the season?

Short. The road opens when the snow finally lets it and closes early in the fall. Realistically you are looking at a brief midsummer-to-early-autumn window, and even then nights are cold at 10,000 feet with frequent ice/hail and thunderstorms.

Are dogs allowed?

Yes, and this is wonderful dog country — we have watched people paddleboard the reservoir with theirs. Keep them under control: there is wildlife here, and the nearest vet is a long, rough drive away.

Can I bring an OHV or ATV?

No. OHVs are not permitted on this road. Northwest Larimer County has excellent OHV country, but Long Draw is not part of it.

If this is more road than you want

That is a completely reasonable conclusion, and there are excellent alternatives close by. Long Draw Campground is a developed Forest Service campground in the same high country with actual sites, tables and rings. There is also a broader guide to camping and campgrounds around the Mountains of Larimer County, including easier dispersed options on gentler roads.

And if you want the drive without the camping, Long Draw Road as a scenic route is worth a day on its own.

Take the map with you

There is no cell signal up here — not at the sites, not at the reservoir, and not for the miles in between. Our Larimer Wilds Trails app downloads every trail and many forest roads in this country to your phone, with live GPS that keeps working long after the last bar is gone. If you are driving a road you cannot turn around on, knowing exactly where you are is worth more than we charge for it.

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If this guide helped, here is how to keep it coming

Everything on this page — the road conditions, the fire rules, every photograph — comes from us actually driving up there and shooting it ourselves. There is no tourism board behind this. If you would like to help keep it going, here are three ways, and every one of them gives you something back.

The Larimer Wilds Trails app — every trail and forest road up here, on your phone, working offline where there is no signal. $12.99 a year.
Apps & Gear — both of our offline apps in one place, including the free fishing app.
The Curated Collection — shirts, hoodies and prints carrying graphic designs made from our own original photography of this country.

Get the Trails App — $14.99/year

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Author: Faye & Chris

We're Faye and Chris, and we live up here in the Rocky Mountains of Larimer County. Everything on this site comes from actually being out in it — Chris is the driver, and Faye is the writer/photographer. Between us we built the Larimer Wilds apps so other people can find this wild mountain country too. We're not a tourism board and nobody pays us to say any of this. We're two people who love, hike, bike and ride Northwest Larimer County and would rather help you do it right than watch you learn it the hard way.