Just outside of Jefferson, Colorado, you'll find a campsite tucked into the aspen trees. It's as cool and as inviting as it looks, and it's one of my first spots that I think of while setting out, moving south from Denver, or want to get out of the city for a hot minute during the summer. The site is also accessible in the winter, but please take precautions since I've only ventured into this area after minimal snow.

It's helpful to access via high clearance 4x4, and you might think that fact will keep the crowds lower. However, the big trucks and big trailers with the big noisy generators find a way but still worth taking a look if you are biking or hiking the Colorado Trail or want a good basecamp for an early morning push further south into territory that will escape the crowds.

The site is primitive and dispersed along the dirt road that cuts through Pike National Forest. Find Guernsey Creek, where it runs parallel to HWY 285 just northwest of Baker Lake and just south of the Colorado Trail, and you are getting close or navigate to the GPS coordinance if you want to make it easy on yourself.

Enjoy. Pack out your trash; leave it better than you found it.

Guernsey Creek Camp. Park County, Colorado: 39.426995, -105.80298

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My rough JKU (4-door 2017 Jeep Wrangler) setup is mostly a combination of bungee cords and plastic storage boxes to keep things organized. This current setup is my solo camping escape pod, leaving plenty of room for my dog to sleep comfortably in the back without anything falling on her while driving or banging around the backroads.

On many solo trips, I'll let the dog (Sophie, she’s a sweet Humane Society of Boulder rescue cattle dog, black lab mix) sleep in the Jeep, and if it's warm enough and there are enough trees, the hammock, and inexpensive hammock rain fly are brought out so I can crash. Hammock sleeping is one of life’s great pleasures, if you find a system that keeps you warm (enough) and comfortable go all in. It’s light, fast and the huge benefit is not sleeping on the ground.