Directions

From Ridgway, CO: Go west on CO62 across Dallas Divide and descend toward Norwood/Placerville. Turn left onto CO145 for Placerville/Telluride. 4 miles west of Telluride, turn right at "Society Junction" traffic circle to continue south on CO145. Drive over Lizard Head Pass. Begin measuring mileage at the summit of the pass. Continue south approximately another 6.3 miles to the turnoff for Dunton, which will be on the right. This is variously known as the "Dunton Road," CR38 on Google Earth or FR535 on the San Juan forest map. The road receives regular summer traffic and tends to be bumpy and washboarded, but passable to passenger most cars. Follow the graded gravel Dunton Road past the trailhead for Navajo Lake and the Burro Bridge campground to the intersection for the Dunton Guard Station. This will be 1.6 miles past the turnoff for the Burro Bridge Campground. Coordinates for this intersection are: N 37° 46' 48.64" W 108° 05' 20.95" at 8,900 ft. This intersection is .7 mile north of Dunton. Turn right (west) and head up FR611 (or Road 52 on GE) and drive approximately 5.2 miles to where the road makes a sharp bend to the left and crosses Fish Creek. You can either park here or turn right and drive up a short road to additional parking and possibly a place to camp.

If coming from Durango or other southern Colorado towns: Drive west from Durango on US160 to Mancos. Turn right and head NW on CO184 to Dolores. In Dolores, take CO145 east, then north to CR38 which breaks off from following the main fork of the Dolores River and heads up along the West Fork of the Dolores. Drive many miles on the graded gravel road to Dunton. Drive past the turnoff for Dunton another .7 mile to the Dunton Guard Station intersection. Turn left (west) onto the previously mentioned FR611 and follow it 5.2 miles to the Fish Creek crossing as explained above.


Camping

As mentioned before in the driving directions, when FR611 crosses Fish Creek, on the west side of the creek, there is a short road that heads up north along the creek and soon terminates at a small parking area where a car camp would be possible. On the west side of FR611, just before the Fish Creek crossing, there's a vehicle track on the left where one could park a vehicle and even set up a tent. In addition, on the way up FR611, there are several other primitive sites just off the road. For forest service campgrounds, try the Burro Bridge, north of Dunton on CR38 or south of Dunton, there are the West Dolores CG and the Mavreeso CG. These are quite a ways down from Dunton, so not as convenient.

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