Devils Head Parking/Camping Situation

Tal - I searched in vain for the same. I do have a few good site numbers written down if helpful 

I’ll be gone again for this weekend. Feel free to use the site everyone, I have it for Friday night through Sunday night. Enjoy!

Is #74 reserved for this coming Friday night? (Sept 10th)

A bloc, I sent you a PM. Just wondering if you might be up for sharing the site on Saturday. Also, Erik, it looks like site #74 is first come first served on Friday night? #75, which I think is the site below DH rock is first come first served this weekend as well. I'm trying to figure out if we are going to risk it and see if anything is open...

Anyone have an update on the parking situation? If we find some random campsite that's open, can we park at the Jackson Creek site, or is it better to go to MM 10's large pullout?

Anyone know how the PSICC motorized use lawsuit is going to impact DH (and the other climbing areas in the PSICC for that matter?)

https://rockymountainwild.org/psitmp2019 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=48214&exp=overview <-- Trying to decode some stuff here, looks like there's a lot of info but I'm seeing Sheeprock, Thunder Ridge, and RRR areas all called out at least.

Campsite #74 has been removed from the group of reservable and first come first served sites. Hopefully it will be posted as day use only. I’ll be checking it out soon and will update. 

That’s great news, the site is booked this Sat by me again and, again, won’t be there. Enjoy thanks!

Additional climber parking at the former Jackson Creek Campground is now open.  This is located just past the Devil's Gate trail head and past a cabin on the right.  The permitted parking spots are marked with a "P".  Please follow the rules and park where designated and DO NOT camp there.  It took a lot to get this parking opened, lets keep it that way.

Wow, great work and many thanks to the folks who made this happen. This is awesome!

Tal Mwrote:

Does anyone have an accurate map detailing the sites on RRR? The USFS released this one but it is woefully inaccurate and even if it was accurate it's not wildly helpful.

Seconded. I emailed their support page about site locations but it was pretty much pointless. Waiting for a follow up on a proper site map but haven’t gotten anything useful. Been down Rampart so many times but I have such a hard time remembering campsite numbers and locations. Good luck. 

Site 62 it right by the trail to Wipeyur, MM10 etc site 74 is at the trailhead to Devils Gate. The sites in between 62 and 74 occupy the road in between the Wipeyur trail and deep into Jackson Creek where the Devil’s Gate trail and Devils Head Rock exists. 

Very glad to hear that there is available parking!  

Does the forest service have any plans to ever re-open Jackson Creek campground?  Are the local landowners resisting this effort?  

The former Jackson Creek Campground has been opened for DAY USE parking only. This will greatly help the climber parking needs on that side of the mountain, but do not camp there!

Does anyone have more information on the dispersed camping situation in terms of how many sites there are and how filled up they get on a friday evening? I am heading up tomorrow evening and am currently just banking on the devil's head campground having a site open as a fallback, but I have no idea how busy it is up there usually, never been.

Is there some alternative dispersed camping like 30 mins away if everything is full? 

Warning!  Don’t park in Site #74.  It seems that even if you pay for the site you might get ticketed for not paying - lame. The approved parking is down the road past the trail for Recovery Wall at the old Jackson Creek Campground.  It’s on the right side of the road about 1/4 mi from the Devils Gate Trailhead 

Arrived to start looking for camping around 5:30PM on Friday evening and there were a few open spots near the climbing on Rampart Range Rd. Would not want to try and find camping on Saturday or later in the evening on Friday. I imagine it might be worse once the fire lookout trail opens back up

If you are coming from afar and don't mind driving 20-30 mins to get to the climbing in the morning, there were ample spots all along Rampart Range Rd and Jackson Creek Rd back towards Sedalia.

And a note on the old Jackson Creek campground that has been opened for day use parking, there is no sign that says Jackson Creek campground, I drove past it expecting a sign. Just look for a pull off on the right with an open gate and forest service sign about a quarter mile after campsite #74

Isaac Maurowrote:

Arrived to start looking for camping around 5:30PM on Friday evening and there were a few open spots near the climbing on Rampart Range Rd. Would not want to try and find camping on Saturday or later in the evening on Friday. I imagine it might be worse once the fire lookout trail opens back up

If you are coming from afar and don't mind driving 20-30 mins to get to the climbing in the morning, there were ample spots all along Rampart Range Rd and Jackson Creek Rd back towards Sedalia.

And a note on the old Jackson Creek campground that has been opened for day use parking, there is no sign that says Jackson Creek campground, I drove past it expecting a sign. Just look for a pull off on the right with an open gate and forest service sign about a quarter mile after campsite #74

Are reserved sites identified with tags? Is any site not occupied first come, first serve?

It is all first come first serve, at least according to this website: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/10132201?tab=seasons.. There is also a phone number for the camp hosts, they probably have better answers about the situation than anyone on here: 303-275-5610 

 All of the campsites have a nice sign with a clip to hang your payment/reservation to indicate if they are taken or not, so if there is a reservation system, you would not accidentally end up in a reserved site. When I was driving in, there were a lot of unoccupied sites that had unfilled payment envelopes, there was no need to stop at the camp hosts to pay. If a site is taken, there will be a bright orange tag with departure date on the sign. My site was missing an envelope, I just left a note asking to have one left for me, and when I came back from climbing they had left me a payment envelope and a reservation tag.

Reading this before going I was worried about some nonsense happening, but everything seems to be decently well managed and easy to understand. Some additional signage explaining how everything works would be pretty nice though...

So, I think the situation on parking at the east (Jackson Creek) side of Devil's Head is more clear now.  With the addition of the new parking spots at the old Jackson Creek Campground there should be sufficient free parking for climbing now.  Several changes to the process have led to considerable confusion recently.  Here are some key points:

* If you park at Campsite #74 by the Devil's Gate Trailhead you need to pay the $15 camping fee, or at least one car parked there does.  The fee envelope can be left in the clip in the Site #74 sign post.  This applies even if you are only parking for a few hours during the day despite what may be inferred by the signs at the entrance to Rampart Range Road.  Fee envelopes can be found at the sign board at the entrance to Rampart Range Road off HWY67 and occasionally there are some on the posts at the campsites. 

* Free parking is just 1/4 mi further down the road on the right.  Go past the entrance to the Betteger cabin and the trailhead to Recovery Wall and look for an egg shaped boulder on the right.  Permitted parking sites are marked with a "P".  The very back of the old campground loop is posted no parking so don't park there, presumably to provide privacy for the seldom used cabins back there.  

* The parking spot at the trailhead for Recovery Wall is being closed.  The sign has been removed and it will be cabled off.  Don't park there anymore.  

* There are a couple more small spots down the road to the north for parking for Devil's Head Rock and Brookside.

* If there isn't a "P" sign don't park there or you will be ticketed $$$$$.

Hey Tod, do you by any chance have a similar parking map extended further north up Jackson Creek Rd to the area by the domes? Further past site 75. I was wondering what the parking situation was looking like back there - if there are any free parking spots nearby or if it's all paid north of site 75.