Advice on Camping outside RMNP

We will be visiting RMNP in mid August for several days to climb and hike. In the past we have stayed in cabins and want some suggestions for campgrounds nearby. We would prefer to stay outside the park- since we will be hitting some areas north and south of RMNP. Any suggestions from locals or frequent visitors would be appreciated. As tent campers- all we need is flat land, no hook ups- and we prefer less developed areas.
Thanks!

Going south on Highway 7 towards Allenspark there is national forest land, free. Some areas around the Indian Peaks require backcountry permits. There is an area a few miles south of Allenspark near the Bunce School (abandoned) where there is much flat land. Look on this site under Highway 7 climbing areas --> Ironclads --> Ironsides Slab for more info. Some great slab climbing on Ironsides and it's shady all day. However, you may hear the more than occasional gunshot in this area.

There is a very nice Forest Service campground about 10-15 minutes south of the Longs Peak trailhead on Hwy 7. I can't remember its name right now (I want to say Meeker Park but I'm not sure). Its pretty low key compared to some of the circus stuff near Estes. Really a perfect choice if you plan on anything on the Diamond, Longs, or Meeker. However, its probably a 30 minute drive to the trailheads near Black Lake and Glacier Gorge.

Can one sleep in the back of their p/u truck at the Longs Peak trail-head?

I think that's Olive Ridge you are thinking about, Joe. Am I correct?

jfox wrote:Can one sleep in the back of their p/u truck at the Longs Peak trail-head?

If you have a vehicle without a backcountry parking permit, you run the risk of getting ticketed if you leave it more than 24 hours I'd say. I've gotten a couple that way. I wasn't sleeping in the vehicle though. My guess is that they'd just ticket you for failure to have a backcountry permit if they didn't know you were in there, or for illegal camping if they knew you were.

my buddy and i tried to do that at long's and ended up sleeping in the back of the van in back of a convenience store like 5 miles north of the trailhead. i think that the procedure for sleeping in your car at long's is the same for parking overnight - just get an overnight permit from the ranger station the night before.

of course, if you don't have the luxury of hitting the trailhead the day before to get an overnight parking permit, you'll have to get creative. like i said, my buddy and i parked randomly at one of those convenience store/car camping/cabin rental places. we didn't get hassled, but it's probably because we rolled in at 11 pm and left at 3:45. i've heard of people parking at the trailhead, leaving their car, bushwhacking into the woods off the lot for a ways, and still getting found out by a ranger in the middle of the night.