Free Camping Near Montrose | Uncompahgre Plateau

After being in Colorado for just a couple weeks, we quickly realized that we weren’t going to be able to avoid rain. It was time to completely redo the roof on our travel trailer. Not a fun task but we couldn’t put it off anymore. And as badly as we wanted to be in the mountains, we thought the desert environment and being close to to town to get supplies was our best bet for our circumstances. Luckily, we called the BLM Office in regards to free camping near Montrose and they suggested dispersed camping options on the Uncompahgre Plateau.

If you’re looking for free camping near Montrose, there are numerous dispersed sites along the main well travelled dirt road. And if you have off-road toys, the numerous roads and trails would make this area a lot of fun. This is also a great camping option if you’re in the area visiting Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It’s only about a half hour drive to reach the national park. Find out more about what to expect while camping on the Uncompahgre Plateau!

Quick Info: Camping Near Montrose on the Uncompahgre Plateau

Cost: Free

Ownership: BLM; 14 day limit

Directions: From Montrose, follow Main Street as it becomes CO-90 W for two miles. Once you see Church on the Hill, turn left to continue on CO-90 W for one mile. Turn right to continue on CO-90 W for another mile. Then when you reach the elementary school, make a left to continue on CO-90 W for two miles. Make another left for an additional two miles. Follow the curve to continue onto 90 Road for about 12.5 miles and you’ll see several dispersed camping options.

Solar: Great, minimal shade.

Miles From Town: About 20 miles

Water: None. We filled our 5 gallons jugs at City Market in town.

Road Conditions: The dirt road is very well maintained! A little steep and windy at first.

Cell Service: Yes, in some spots. Our service was very spotty and we lost service completely the further we went.

Our Experience Camping Near Montrose

From the BLM office, we followed Main Street through town as it transitioned to the 90. It then zigzagged through the countryside past farms, cows, horses, sheep and even llamas! After about 20 miles, we reached the BLM sign. Here the road transitions to dirt as it climbs steeply and rounds some curves before mellowing out again. On this section, we passed an Extreme Rock Crawling area. Sounds like a lot of fun with the right toys!

Once the road reaches the top of the plateau, there are already numerous dispersed camp spots to choose from. These first few spots see the most traffic and were almost always occupied. It seems that they would have a nice view of the town in the valley below. Cell service is probably pretty strong there as well. We decided to continue on and check out our other options.

The conditions of the dirt road were surprisingly well maintained. After being there awhile, we noticed that there was a decent amount of through traffic including constant hauling of lumber trucks. Which is probably why the roads are given so much attention.

After a couple miles, we found a nice turn off with nice views of the mountain tops across the way. And we had good cell signal. So we set up and called this spot home for a few nights. During the next few days, we spent a lot of time getting everything set up for replacing our roof – ordering supplies, figuring out where to have stuff shipped and getting tools/supplies in town.

Liking this article? Pin it!

While we were here though, we also checked out some of the dirt roads nearby. They made for nice walks and we got to explore the area a bit. There were a lot of animal bones everywhere and unfortunately, a decent amount of trash scattered around.

Then it was time to go into town to pick up our roof supplies! And afterwards, we decided to look for a new spot set back off of the main road. After about five miles from the BLM sign, we found a large turnout set back off of the road. We were here for about a week.

The spot itself was nice, but there was still a decent amount of trash dumped here and there. Sad. From this spot, there were a couple of dirt roads to walk on and explore. We wandered around on them a bit but the area is kind of monotonous. Bones, trash, cacti, powerlines.

While we were here, we experienced a lot of rain! We weren’t expecting that in such a desert-like environment! That made working on our roof very difficult to say the least. But, in about one week camping near Montrose, we were able to completely redo our roof! What a relief. It was a lot of work for just the two of us but we saved so much money doing it ourselves. And we no longer have to fear the rain!

Thanks for Reading!

All in all, we were so grateful to find free camping near Montrose on the Uncompahgre Plateau! But we were so ready to move on, and to get into the mountains.

There are definitely some perks to this free camping near Montrose though. The proximity to town was convenient as was having semi-reliable cell service. With OHV’s, this area could be fun to ride around. And there are also several recreation areas within an hour drive such as Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The road conditions and numerous dispersed sites make this area great and convenient for any sized rig!

If you’d like to read about some other dispersed camping options that we enjoyed, check out the articles below:

• Camping Near Badlands National Park
• Volcanic Tablelands Dispersed Camping
• Boondocking and Exploring at Trona Pinnacles

While we are on the road we stay busy creating hand painted longboards! If you’d like to pick up a unique new longboard, head over to our Lost Coast Longboarding Shop to see our latest lineup. We also design and screen print our own t-shirts and long sleeve shirts.

Thank you for your support! If you shop on Amazon, you can help us out by using our link to get to Amazon. Then shop as you normally would! It won’t affect your shopping experience but it helps us out. Thank you!