Tag: dispersed camping

Wigwam Trail in Colorado’s Lost Creek Wilderness Area

Wigwam Trail in the Lost Creek Wilderness Area offers an intimate rendezvous with Nature on the eastern slopes of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains in Pike National Forest.

Towering, heavily wooded mountain peaks shelter peaceful valleys exploding with the colorful summer blooms.  Rounded granite domes, knobs, spires, and arches tower over pristine creeks and rivers. 

This winter’s heavy snows on the Platte River, Kenosha, and Tarryall Mountain Ranges overflow in runoff streams, suddenly disappear below granite rock piles and reappear a few hundred feet later. This unique feature is why the area is called Lost Creek.

Wildlife is abundant and I rarely saw people although I was plenty entertained.

The area hums with life night and day. Bighorn sheep, deer, elk, and bobcats share the region with black bear. Owls, chickadees, bluebirds, woodpeckers, hawks, and eagles care for hatchlings in early summer nests.

Vegetation includes a variety of pine, aspen, spruce, fir, and alpine tundra. Profuse blooming flowers with a backdrop of piney mountains fill the soul with wonder and gratitude.

Hiker’s Paradise

Wildlife is abundant, people are scarce, and 136 miles of hiking trails traverse this 120,000-acre paradise. Of those trails, 105 miles fall within the wilderness boundary where motorized vehicles are not allowed. 

It’s hoof or foot travel only and Rocky and I had plenty of company, but never saw another human on the trails.

The mountains tower between 8,000 and 12,400 feet in the Lost Creek Wilderness Area in the Pike South Platte and South Park National Forest Ranger Districts between Denver and Colorado Springs.  

Wigwam Trail and Camping

Wigwam Trail (#609) Dispersed Camping and Trailhead is a sheltered, heavily wooded trail paralleling Wigwam Creek through the Lost Creek Wilderness Area.  

This moderate to difficult 11-mile trail has elevation ranges from 8,160 feet to 10,170 feet at Wigwam Peak. 

This trail in the Lost Wilderness Area survived the fires of 2003 intact and now provide shelter for wildlife displaced by the loss of habitat.

Wigwam Trail (#609) intersects the north end of Goose Creek Trail (#612), and the south end of Rolling Creek Trail (#663). It accesses Lost Park Meadow and connects to the McCurdy Park Trail.    

Dispersed Camping

Dispersed camping is available to set up base camp at the edge of the wilderness area. 

Fortunately folks who use this area take great care to practice “Leave No Trace” rules and philosophy, helping preserve this natural wonderland.

Backcountry water is available from Wigwam Creek that parallels the whole length of the trail. Lost Park Campground has potable water.  

How to get there

Coordinates: N 39.244058°, W 105.353329°

From Denver, take I-70 west to C 470 to US 285, traveling west for 23 miles to Pine Junction. Turn left at the town of Pine Junction onto Co 126, toward Pine and Buffalo Creek. Drive 21 .8 miles on Co 126. Turn left, traveling south on FS 211, which leads toward the Cheesman reservoir. Travel 2 miles and bear right at the sign pointing to Goose Creek. Drive 1.1 miles until you reach a fork, bear right on FS 560, and right at the next fork staying on FS 560. Drive 4 miles to the trailhead signs, turn left on FR 545, and drive 1 .3 miles to the trailhead.

A Day in the American Wilderness

Years of planning and many blessings transformed a mindful, minimal, offgrid life vision into reality.

Retirement is an odd word to describe my active, expansive phase of a life unshackled by time and place commitments and free to live my dream each day in the American wilderness.

Living the wilderness dream

Much of America’s designated wilderness areas are within our National Forests, Parks, Bureau of Land Management, and Fisheries and Wildlife Systems.

For me, that dream is unlimited access to wilderness. The real wild. In our country, almost five percent of public land is designated wilderness. 

Map created by
Wilderness Institute at the University of Montana’s College of Forestry and Conservation. 

America’s Wilderness Preservation System protects the natural, wild condition of over 109 million acres in 803 wilderness areas. That’s about the size of California.

It’s not quite my “unlimited access” dream, but better than nothing! As more people return to minimalist lifestyles perhaps we will invest more to protect the American wilderness.

This land was made for you and me

Forest Road near Lake Roosevelt, Arizona.

These public lands are owned by Americans and managed by the federal government (National Forests, Parks, Bureau of Land Management, and Fisheries and Wildlife Systems.) Access is typically free.

The Chiricahua National Forest wilderness areas are some of the most biodiverse in the Northern Hemisphere.

Mostly untouched by humans, federally-preserved wilderness areas remain Nature’s stronghold where wildlife flourishes in diverse biozones and climates.

Worth the effort to get there

My continued thanks to the West Family of Watertown, South Dakota who appeared within minutes of my need and blanketed me in quiet efficiency, gracious humor, and willingness to make my problem theirs without batting an eye.

Unpaved, often rough national forest roads open access to the edges of America’s most pristine natural settings. Motorized vehicles are not allowed within the boundaries of designated wilderness areas.

Some of the finest people I’ve met have been on the backroads leading to the American wilderness.

Maps and local resources matter

Maps of those roads, trails, and dispersed camping (boondocking) sites can be obtained online and at national forest ranger stations and headquarters.

The National Forest Service provides maps of back roads. Black and white versions are free, while more detailed, topo maps are available for $14. Many other publications are available at ranger stations. Local rangers also know their territory and are happy to share.

Once within the wilderness boundaries, locomotion is by foot or hoof. Motorized vehicles are not allowed. 

Amazing, unexpected amenities

There are no services, but fantastic opportunities to experience our country, our deepest selves, and greatest capacity when we dare to go beyond the comfort zone of civilization. 

The world’s best wilderness companion and coach Rocky the Rockstar rescued me in 2008 and is crucial in helping build and maintain the dream.

Boondocking Sedona

Arizona’s Red Rock Country Oak Creek River parallels HW 89A curving through miles of breathtaking canyon vistas and shady oak forests between Flagstaff on the North and Sedona on the South.

But on Sunday Oak Creek Canyon reminds me of ants at a summer picnic. Sedona tourism has tripled in the last decade with over two million annual visitors. On any given weekend thousands pack the roadway, parking lots overflow both sides of the highway, and bumper-to-bumper one-lane traffic inches through the gridlock. The highway flows into downtown Sedona and every artery is an organized bottleneck thanks to abundant roundabouts.

Yet even here you can camp alone for free with spectacular views of colorful cliffs, soaring pinnacles, juniper and pinion forests, and abundant wildlife.

If you’re willing to take the roads less traveled.

It’s 20-30 minute drive from town to campsite. The road is part gravel with some wash boarding, but is very passable. (In a rain the mud becomes goo so plan to settle in and wait for things to dry out rather than bog your rig in headache and heartbreak.)

Take HW 89A west from Sedona to mile marker 365. Turn right on Forest Rd 525 – Red Canyon Road. From entry to Palatki Ruins are many clearly marked pullouts. Some can accommodate numerous rigs while others are perfect for a small tent.

I prefer the area north of the Boynton Pass Road between the Honanki and Palatki Heritage Sites. Nestled in Lincoln Canyon of Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness you are encircled by the Mongollon Rim with Secret, Bear, and Lost Mountains on the east and Black, Sugarloaf, and Casner Mountains on the north and west. Like all of Sedona it can get crowded and it’s worth venturing past the first spots. The area has many OHV trails so the biggest drawback is abundant Jeep and ATV traffic during business hours.

But sunrise and sunset offer gorgeous slivers of solitude and silence in stunning natural beauty and fragile desert wilderness. The dark night skies envelop you in a velvet blanket of dazzling stars, planets, and galaxies that seem close enough to touch.

There are other dispersed camping sites closer to town, but like the private RV parks they appear to remain crowded. Veteran boondockers say many of these sites are in the process of being temporarily/permanently closed. Even the dispersed camping sites on forest roads are becoming sparse as forest officials try to balance human access with protection of natural resources.

Motor Vehicle Use maps show dispersed camping options in Coconino National Forest. Be sure to get a new map as many areas have closed. These are available at any of the three visitor centers – Red Rock Visitor Center, the Sedona Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, and Oak Creek Canyon Visitor Center. Also look for the free recreations guides for area maps, hiking trails, plant and wildlife guides. The Sedona Outdoor Recreation Map by Beartooth Publishing is an excellent waterproof, topo shaded relief map. (Oak Creek Visitor Center has copies for  $11.95. Amazon is $17.95)

Other Camping Options

The Forest Service operates Pine Flat,  Cave Springs,  and Manzanita Campgrounds along Hwy 89A north of Sedona in Oak Creek Canyon. Pine Flat and Cave Springs are open seasonally, and Manzanita is open year round for tent camping only.

South of Sedona are Arizona State Park Dead Horse Ranch and National Forest Service camps Clear Creek and Chavez. These are all open year round.

National Forest campsites are larger than the private RV parks, but remain booked solid. National Forest camps are reservable at (877) 444-6777 or rec.gov. Dead Horse can be reserved at (520) 586-2283 or azstateparks.itinio.com/deadhorseranch. Some sites are walk up reservations. Best time to secure those is early on Sunday through Wednesday.

The best private camping option I’ve found is Camp Avalon. Once an organic farm Camp Avalon is now a nonprofit spiritual retreat center with private, “dry” camping options by Oak Creek. There are fire vaults and portable toilets. It can accommodate small RV’s and tent campers on acres of open pasture and forested shade. Rates range from $20-$35/day. Camp Avalon is located at 91 Loy Lane in West Sedona off of 89A. Reservations available at www.avalon.camp.

Passes

The hiking trails of Sedona are some of the nations best so it’s worth the realities of camping in a heavy tourist area. The Red Rock Pass is required in most trailhead parking lots. A one-day pass is $5.00, a weekly pass is $15.00, and an annual pass is $20.00. The Coconino National Forest Recreation Guide also lists the few areas where the pass is not valid and an additional $9.00 per-vehicle parking fee is required.

The Federal Interagency Recreation Passes are honored. These annual passes are honored at most federal forest fee areas and many other federal fee sites. The annual pass is $80, or $10 for seniors (62 and up), free for any US citizen who is disabled and any active duty military and/or dependents. The “Every Kid in a Park Pass” is free to any us 4thgrader and accompanying passengers in a private vehicle.