San Luis camping?

[Mountain Ninja]

Hey guys,

I'm leading a group of roughly 15 folks up San Luis (NE Ridge route) in July, and I'd love to know: Where can we camp?

Brad

[spiderman]

Texas.

[Phill the Thrill]

There are a few spots to camp along the road en route to Stewart Creek TH, including one spot less than 1/2 mile from the TH on the left. Be aware that there are moose in the area - you don't want to disturb them, especially a cow with her calf. Also, this is a wilderness area and group size is limited to 15. Enjoy!

[mtree]

There are some campsites right at the trailhead parking area. A fair number before you reach the parking lot off the road. After that, you'll have to hike in a ways to find spots. As I recall, the trailhead begins in a grassy meadow and continues for awhile.

Be aware of any fire restrictions in place! This area can be dried out quickly.

[XterraRob]

Texas.

Allllll my exes live in Texas!

[Jesse M]

Look into segment 20 of the Colorado Trail, the guidebook suggests several good campsites in the area of the trail intersection of Stewart Creek Trail (7.5 miles from Eddiesville TH), and in an open meadow just below the saddle of San Luis pass (8.8 miles from Eddiesville TH). Stewart Creek and Eddiesville are basically the same TH/parking lot, you could easily make a loop hike.
Good luck and have fun.

[Mountain Ninja]

How about camping options from the south (Creede) side?

[justiner]

There's a few pullouts on the road leading to the trail, and I bet you can make camp right near the trailhead/near the mine. Then on the trail, there's a marked dispersed campsite on the CDT itself. It's... somewhat exposed, as you're right at treeline. The route then traverses the side of two gentle hills/benches before climbing up the ridge of San Luis, so there's not much other opportunity for flat ground.

[BrownBearRI]

We hiked up the trail along Stewart Creek and camped at around 12,000ft (~3.5mi in) between Baldy Alto and Organ in the basin. It was a great place to camp, there was no one else, and there were many choices of great camp sites well off the trail but still close to water. Made for a luxurious day to hike the mtn as we had lots of time to dawdle.

[huffy13]

There is quite a bit of open space at the Stewart Creek TH, but only a small area that is sheltered by trees, if my memory serves me correctly. But a short hike up the trail and you can be in the forest itself, and there are places all along the trail that are suitable for camp. Be aware though, we came across a lot of bear scat, a small black bear visited our camp at about 2 AM as well as a couple of deer and we also saw some moose on the opposite side of the creek from where the trail is....so wildlife is plentiful, so prepare your camp accordingly.

[Randyletourneau]

I am hoping to car-camp on the road up from Creede with 4 of us, but we don’t have backpacks so need to camp at the car at the 2wd or 4wd TH. Sounds like there are spaces if we can get to the 4wd TH, but wondering if anyone knows for sure if we can camp at the 2wd stopping point 1.5 miles from actual San Luis TH?

[dwoodward13]

I am hoping to car-camp on the road up from Creede with 4 of us, but we don’t have backpacks so need to camp at the car at the 2wd or 4wd TH. Sounds like there are spaces if we can get to the 4wd TH, but wondering if anyone knows for sure if we can camp at the 2wd stopping point 1.5 miles from actual San Luis TH?

There are a few pull offs prior to the 2wd after the "T" 503/504 intersection that leads up to Equity Mine. I used one of them and its really wasn't that great of a spot to camp, but it did the job. It was maybe a quarter mile from the Equity Mine turn around/info board. I think you can see the few spots on Google Satellite View.