Photo by Kris Illenberger for the National Parks Service nps.gov
(Cover photo courtesy of National Parks and Forest Service)
When it comes to choosing a backcountry campsite, all you need is what you can carry on your own back, and maybe a flat spot to pitch your tent once you’ve reached your destination. Busy campgrounds can be fun, especially if you are camping with kids, cause they can always find someone to play with while you are relaxing by the campfire, but sometimes you want to find a place of solitude to pitch your tent, breathe in the mountain air and spend the day fishing.
Pike and San Isabel National Forests
If you are in Colorado, then you have some of the best backcountry camping opportunities in the country. Pike and San Isabel National Forests have over 450,000 acres of untrammeled opportunities for challenging hikes, solitude, tranquility and personal growth. You can follow the designated hiking paths, or with the right permits, leave the trail behind and go and find that quiet spot with brilliant mountain views, deep valleys with lakes and creeks for fishing and if you’re feeling really adventurous, you can hike (or climb) to the top of one of the 19 “fourteeners” (peaks boasting a height of 14,000ft) that you will find in these forests.
Pike and San Isabel National Forests
Photo: National Forest Service – nps.gov
Colorado is a backpacker’s paradise
I could give you tips on great places to go, but part of packing a tent and a backpack and tightening up the laces of your hiking boots, is finding your own secret spot, a place that only you know about. Because once you tell people of that beautiful canyon or flat spot on high ground with brilliant sunsets and birdseye view of what seems like all of Colorado, you can bet that spot will no longer be “just yours”. It’s okay to have a secret spot for yourself. Like I said, there are over 450,000 acres to choose from, so there are plenty of spots for all of us to stumble up and call our own.
Denver Tent Company, Colorado
