Curtis Canyon Dispersed Camping

I stayed at campsite 9, I think and it was the best view of the Tetons I’ve ever had with a campsite. I’ve never driven any kind of rough road like that before so I was a little nervous coming up with my Subaru with AWD but when I left, I realized it wasn’t bad and any car with AWD can do it. Most of the sites are pretty open and ours was mostly at a decline going into a valley but it wasn’t bad.

The drive up isn’t bad at all - unmoded vans seen at sites seemed to manage it just fine. Any SUV will do just fine, likely most sedans as well. But the road is rutted so put some thought into your lines. Sites 1-4 easily accessible, don’t bother with 5-6 unless you have a a confident OHV. Take the left at the fork for the forest road for sites 7+. Bear spray + effective food storage heavily recommended by the forest service for this location.

This is the kind of spot I signed up for when I started van life. The views are absolutely incredible. I made it by the skin of my teeth in my 4x4 Sprinter with stock suspension. I do NOT recommend the drive unless you have off road suspension or have a smaller vehicle. I’m definitely going to enjoy this spot while I’m here, but might wait until I do an off road upgrade before coming back.

We showed up around 3pm on a Saturday and most of the spots were full, but keep going. We stopped at 10b and it was truly the best spot for us.

We have a small 17ft tear drop so the spot was perfect for us. Great view and also a small hiking trail.

The road is super rough but worth the trek. Saw a lot of small cars bouncing around.

The hosts were truly amazing! Informative, kind, assertive and caring. Truly enjoyed them and their approach while protecting the area.

A must stop! This place is great, you won’t be disappointed

The road going up to these dispersed campsites was a little rough.  Definitely need an all-wheel drive car or 4x4.  Somehow these big RVs get up here but it's definitely a nail-biter.  We did it in a Subaru Crosstrek and it was sketchy, but we made it.  The view is incredible.  The campground hosts stopped by and told us to be careful because there were two grizzlies that lived in the area.  Also, the park rangers were issuing fines for unattended campfires.

So close to DT Jackson, very convenient spot. No other options for free this close to town.

This place is great! We took the first spot and had stunning views of the Tetons. There was a nice flat-ish place to park a fire ring made from rocks left by previous campers. The road up is bumpy and has some sharp turns, but manageable. There’s grizzly’s one the area so be sure to make a plan to manage food and garbage.

Do not venture up the road without a 4x4 or reliable vehicle! I did 2 miles of the road to get to site #6.

There are two camping areas in Curtis Canyon.  The actual campground and the dispersed area.  The dispersed area is beyond the developed campground.  The sites are scattered along about 9 miles of beat up mountain "road".  It's really more suited for OHVs than cars.  The road is absolutely terrible.  Sure, you might be able to make it up in a sedan (we saw people do it), but you also might tear some parts off (we heard a good bit of that as cars passed our site).  We pulled a trailer up this road, and while we made it up and back with no mishaps, is was slow. Sloooooow. And very rough.  The dispersed sites have no water nearby, so you'll have to find a stream or drive up to 9 miles back to the developed campground to get water.  I would not recommend this road to anyone with a low clearance vehicle or a trailer over about 18 ft or a motor home.  It is a terrible road and once you start you are committed to it because there are no places to turn around until you reach the developed campground.

This area is also very crowded.  If you arrive much after 2pm you will have some trouble finding a site.  We arrived at 3 on a Tuesday and passed a lot of occupied sites before finding one available.  We saw a lot of other people arrive after us that could not find sites.  The  sites are not very level, but the views are incredible.  

I would camp here again, but I'd leave the trailer and the big tent and just come with a 2 person tent.

Super crowded. Not to be considered dispersed.

We arrived at 7pm on a Saturday not sure if we would find a spot. There was a camp ambassador at site 1 who said there was some spots available and let us know a bear went by shortly before we arrived, keep your food sealed up if you go here! We ended up finding spot #13, which you have to drive down a very steep, narrow hill to get to. It’s worth it. It has THE BEST views! Lots of mosquitos though when we visited.

They weren’t kidding when the sign said end of county road maintenance. This free spot was absolutely beautiful, and came with a fire ring! We loved it aside from the road, which we survived in a Acura MDX

Awesome camping spots, road is a bit rough at spots but not too awful. Once you pass the main campground just keep driving and there will be numbered spots off the road for camping. I believe there’s about 16 spots. Gorgeous views.

It’s Labor Day weekend and we got a crazy hair to drive up to Jackson, ready to tent it where ever we could find a place. Lots of places were full, but we just kept on looking. We found this place and just hoped we would be lucky to find a spot.

The drive up to our campsite was pretty rough, but very cool. Our FJ Cruiser made it just fine. I would not bring a sedan up here tho.

We passed the main Campground and drove all the way up to the end of the road.

First, it’s a rocky road up the mountain. You can get to the paid campsite in a car, I took my Honda Civic sport but took extreme caution and that was as far as we could take my low rider. BUT! If you have an AWD, go up as far as you can. We had a CRV too and climbed up the mountain and it was worth it.

The view of the Tetons was the best we had all trip aside from going into the national parks and hitting the trail heads. It’s a pack in/pack out and no fires. There were tons of spots which are spaced out so you aren’t on top of anyone and it’s the closest dispersed camp to Jackson Hole. It takes some time to get up there 30/45 mins, the roads are rutted from use.

When I come back to Jackson, I will stay here over and over again. I didn’t see a day limit but I’m assuming it’s 5 days.

Your car needs good suspension to get to the pay campground and even more so to get to the dispersed sites. The road isn’t that steep, but it is very rocky, rough and full of big dips. You can maneuver around some of the dips, but without good shocks, it will be a very slow ride. That being said, I did see a VW Jetta and a Camry make their way up. Though I’m not sure if they damaged their cars. I had a 4WD SUV and it was about 2.7 miles to site 10 after you pass through the Elk Refuge. Only took me about 15 min to get to site 10 in my car. There are 16 total dispersed sites. A few of the dispersed sites are grouped, I think 2,3 and 4,5,6. I was at site 10. There is a 10A just before 10. 10 is a large site big enough to park like 2 or 3 RVs. Site 10 has no trees, no shade and no wind protection. These sites are generally very quiet. Unfortunately, the popularity of the sites (maybe it was just the holiday weekend) draw more people than there are sites. People end up driving up the road without knowing availability and then are in a quandary as to where to go. These are first come first serve sites, yet because all sites were taken, some people felt they could just set up camp in my site while I was gone during the day. Pretty annoying when you go to a dispersed site to be away from other people. Texting service with Verizon, no data service I’d stay here again though.

The road getting to this campsite was a VERY bumpy gravel road. When we pulled up to the main camping place, all the campsites were taken (only about 8 or so campsites in the area marked on the map), but the next 9 miles past this main area have clearly marked sites dispersed along the road. A lot of these sites were taken as well but we eventually found one though it did take us about an hour to drive this bumpy road in a Ford Fusion.

Curtis Canyon Campground sits atop a hill about 20 min outside of Jackson in the National Elk Refuge. The drive there offers some of the best panoramic views of the Tetons and is quite breathtaking to witness during sunset. The campsites themselves are spacious and settled in small groves of trees. They each offer a fire pit, picnic table, bathroom, drinkable water fountain, and bear locker —which is essential. My partner and I spent three nights here cooking, roasting marshmallows, and chilling! The grounds has a Camp Host (currently the generous and welcoming Nash and Erin) who are there to answer any questions, offer suggestions, and keep a lookout for your site. Seriously, this spot is amazing!!

The only downside is the road up here can be a little tricky to navigate. Its a rocky road but if you drive smart and slow you’ll make it up fine!

Disbursed camped here in June 2020. We have a lifted Tacoma and RTT. When you come up to the elk refuge - it looks like you're in the wrong place, but just continue down the road and watch for elk and swoon over the Teton views for awhile. The road starts to wind up the hill and before it gets too bumpy you pass the main campground turn off. They have 10 or so spots and bathrooms. The rest of the road up the hill is bumpy, but we did see a few larger campers who had made their way up. There are 16 disbursed spots along the ridge, not all have views of the tetons. We were in the area on a Wednesday and about half of the spots were taken when we pulled in around 8. It's only a 20 minute (maybe?) Drive from Jackson, so I assume it's pretty popular on the weekends. The views were AMAZING, we would definitely go back (and probably pack more bug spray that time lol).

The roads were pretty rough, the camp sites are better for RVs and car parks. No service. But super close to Jackson hole. It was super rainy and cloudy but I could tell it would have been a beautiful view., no bathrooms. Ground is pretty rocky. But also it was free.

My best friend and I enjoy camping in our Eno hammocks and one of the locals from JD Highcountry Outfitters recommenced this place to us. It was easy enough to find, close enough to Jackson Hole, but still far enough away that we were off the beaten path, this is no touristy campground, it had primitive campsites and a long dirt road that wove through them, but the views were beautiful and it had plenty of trees for us to hang up our hammocks. I would highly recommend this campsite and am anticipating my next trip back!

This is was the best campsite I have ever stayed at. It was on top a little hill that was quite the feat to get into (had to back the car down a skinny road to the top) BY FAR the best views of the Tetons and national elk refuge. We saw wolves, elk, goats, whistle pigs, and even a pheasant.

Great option if the Curtis Canyon campground is full, or if you would prefer something a little more remote. High clearance vehicles recommended - forest road 30440 is in pretty rough shape. Town of Jackson is fairly close.

Same great views you'd expect anywhere near the Tetons; trailhead to Goodwin Lake is close by. Full Teton view is better at the trailhead, but its not far. Dispersed sites are spread out with plenty of space; although no one stayed in the site next to us on this rainy evening in June.

To get there, continue past the Curtis Canyon campground in Bridger-Teton National Forest (behind the Elk refuge) as if you were heading to the trail head. You'll start to see marked sites along the extremely rutted forest road. I would not attempt very muddy conditions.