- The fine print
- Leadville RD page states no day limit itself (limit is in the separate forest order, so null there).
Colorado lists 1,076 federal recreation facilities: 962 by the Forest Service, 85 by BLM, 17 by the Park Service, and 12 across 3 other agencies.
Scale, not a free-camping count: this counts federal recreation facilities of every kind (trailheads, day-use sites, boat ramps, developed campgrounds), and most are not free dispersed camping. Source: Recreation.gov RIDB, retrieved 2026-07-18.
Named areas where free camping is currently allowed
- Leadville Ranger District (San Isabel National Forest)USDA Forest Service
- White River National ForestUSDA Forest Service · Stay limit: 14 days within a 30-day period; then relocate outside a 20-mile radius
- San Juan National ForestUSDA Forest Service · Stay limit: 14 continuous days in one location (then move 3+ miles); max 28 days in any 60-day period
- BLM public lands in Colorado (camping and occupancy regulations)Bureau of Land Management · Stay limit: 14 days in any 30-day period at one location; then move 30+ air miles
Dispersed camping on public land is camping, and it is allowed by default on most BLM and forest land within the stay limit. Pulling off a highway to sleep in your vehicle overnight is a different act with different rules. Which one applies to you.
Stay limits are set by the local field office or ranger district and change with fire restrictions. The managing office's current guidance beats this page.
Free camping in Colorado mostly runs on a 14-day clock, but the fine print changes with every boundary you cross. The state has 8.3 million acres of BLM land and 8 national forests, and the three units we have verified each count the days differently.
Where the free camping is
Start with BLM. The bureau’s Colorado camping and occupancy fact sheet, verified July 2026, says you must not camp longer than 14 days in any 30-day period at any one location, and that includes campgrounds on public land. Once you hit 14, the required move is at least 30 air miles. That is a real move, not the next drainage over.
The White River National Forest, home to a large share of the state’s most visited ground, allows dispersed camping for 14 days within a 30-day period, after which you must relocate outside a 20-mile radius. The San Juan National Forest in the southwest counts differently again: 14 continuous days in one location, then a move of more than 3 miles, with a hard ceiling of 28 days on the forest in any 60-day period.
The Leadville Ranger District on the San Isabel allows dispersed camping except where marked prohibited and in the Turquoise Lake and Twin Lakes recreation areas. Its page does not state a day limit, and we do not fill silence with a guess: ask the district what order applies.
Three agencies, three counting methods
Same state, same 14 days, three different move rules: 30 air miles, a 20-mile radius, 3 miles plus a 60-day cap. The lesson is that “the 14-day rule” is not one rule. Read the version published by the unit you are camping in, and treat a posted sign or a ranger’s word as the current truth when it conflicts with any website, including this one.
How to check before you go
Call the field office or ranger district for your destination and confirm the stay limit, current fire restrictions, and any area closures. Pull the forest’s Motor Vehicle Use Map before trusting a two-track. For how these limits work in general, our stay limits guide and BLM camping rules guide cover the pattern.