Rainbow Falls Area
Not a developed campground. A Forest Service motorized recreation area with dispersed camping along the system roads, north of Woodland Park. You come here to ride, and you camp where you can legally pull off.
Why it's here
Rainbow Falls is worth being precise about, because the name suggests a tidy waterfall campground and that is not what it is. It is a Forest Service motorized recreation area, the Rainbow Falls Motorized Routes, with roughly 20 miles of trails for vehicles up to about 50 inches wide, connecting north toward the broader Rampart Range OHV system. Camping here is dispersed, meaning there are no numbered sites, no hookups, no developed facilities, and you camp where you can legally pull off immediately adjacent to a system road. This is OHV country, not a family loop campground.
There is no Forest Service use fee for the area itself, but every off-highway vehicle needs a current State of Colorado OHV registration or permit, which Colorado Parks and Wildlife sells. The practical setup is a self-contained rig: bring your own water, plan for no facilities, and consult the Motor Vehicle Use Map before you go so you know which roads and trails are legal and where dispersed camping is actually allowed. The area is reached via State Highway 67 and county roads north of Woodland Park, so despite being on the DougCo riding radar it is geographically down toward the Woodland Park side, not adjacent to Larkspur town.
The honest reason this is in our camping coverage is that DougCo-area riders genuinely use it and search for it as a camping-plus-riding destination. But anyone expecting a campground experience will be unhappy. There is no host, no water, no toilet infrastructure to count on, and the entire point is the motorized trail network.
If you ride and you want a developed base instead of dispersed camping, Flat Rocks on Rampart Range Road is the OHV-friendly developed campground to pair with this kind of trip. If you do not ride at all, this is not a destination for you, and almost everything else in this guide is a better fit.
Know before you go
- •Dispersed camping paired with OHV and dirt-bike riding
- •Self-contained rigs that need no facilities
- •Access to roughly 20 miles of motorized routes
- •Riders connecting into the larger Rampart system
Forest roads in this area are seasonal and weather-dependent; confirm conditions and closures with the Forest Service before a shoulder-season trip. Summer weekends bring the heaviest rider traffic.
Carry the Motor Vehicle Use Map and a current Colorado OHV permit for every machine. Camp only immediately adjacent to legal system roads. Bring all your own water; there is no infrastructure here.
This is not a developed campground: no sites, no host, no water, no reliable toilets. It is a motorized area down toward Woodland Park, not next to Larkspur. Non-riders should pick almost anything else in this guide.
Dispersed camping adjacent to system roads only. Reached via State Highway 67 and county roads north of Woodland Park; consult the Motor Vehicle Use Map for legal access.
