Agency-listedBLM · dispersedUnpriced · confirm
Zapata Falls Srma
Drive-up · Bureau of Land Management · CO · 37.62857, -105.59513
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Bureau of Land Management lists this site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Zapata Falls Srma
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 7,765 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Zapata Falls SrmaNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Zapata Falls Srma · Bureau of Land Management · CO
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel5 mi
- GGrocery5 mi
- AAir-up8 mi
- WWater8 mi
- DDump8 mi
- LLaundry8 mi
- ShShower8 mi
- @Mail14 mi
- MMechanic14 mi
- HHardware17 mi
- EVEV fast charger18 mi
- +Urgent care19 mi
- OOutfitter20 mi
- RxPharmacy20 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 5 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Zapata Falls Srma
Access
Drive-up
Land
Bureau of Land Management · dispersed
Elevation
7,765 ft
Ground slope
10.5% · noticeable
State
CO
Coordinates
37.62857, -105.59513
Cost
Unpriced — no source gives a price; assume it may cost something and confirm before you go
Nearby & resupply — around Zapata Falls Srma · Bureau of Land Management · CO (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureStream · mapped within 1.6 mi
- USGS NHDno named surface water within 1 mi
- Nearest townBlanca · ~14.1 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~5.1 mi
- FuelOasis · ~5.1 mi
- Propane / LPGAirgas · ~20.3 mi
- Dump station~8.3 mi
- GroceriesGreat Sand Dunes Oasis · ~5.1 mi
- PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~19.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicSan Luis Valley Regional Medical Center · ~19.1 mi
- HardwareHardware · ~16.8 mi
EV charging — from Zapata Falls Srma · Bureau of Land Management · CO — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger18.5 mi straight-line SW — HION NETWORK ALAMOSA DC1 · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach5 within 25 mi · 19 within 50 · 91 within 100 · 306 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)18.7 mi — Alamosa, CO - Tesla Supercharger, Alamosa
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)11.2 mi — Rustic Rook Resort, Mosca, CO · EV Connect · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: Mon: 9:00am-8:00pm; Tue: 9:00am-8:00pm; Wed: 9:00am-8:00pm; Thu: 9:00am-9:00pm; Fri: 9:00am-9:00pm; Sat: 9:00am-9:00pm; Sun: 9:00am-9:00pm
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 196303 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Zapata Falls Srma · Bureau of Land Management · CO — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomZapata Falls Restroom Day Use · ~2.0 mi E · BLM
- RestroomZapata Falls Restroom Camping 1 · ~2.0 mi E · BLM
- RestroomZapata Falls Restroom Camping 2 · ~2.1 mi SE · BLM
- RestroomBlanca North Mallard Restroom · ~6.2 mi SW · BLM
Coming out here — Zapata Falls Srma · Bureau of Land Management · CO
- Surface water mapped nearby: Stream. That is wash water at best, and nobody has checked it for you — a creek can be dry and a tank can be mud. Filter or boil anything you drink. USGS maps no named surface water within 1 mi of the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022).
- Ground slope around the pin: about 10.5% — noticeable. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Zapata Falls Srma elsewhere
Other camps near Zapata Falls Srma
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Medano~19.1 mi
Who holds the land at Zapata Falls Srma
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as San Luis Valley Field Office, manager on record: Bureau of Land Management (federal). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
Snow, and when this opens
The nearest automatic snow station is Ute Creek at 10,720 ft, about 12 miles away. It sits about 2,955 ft higher than this camp, so treat it as a guide rather than a reading for this spot. We do not repeat a depth here, because any number we stored would be stale by the time you read it — the station publishes today's.
How we know this — Zapata Falls Srma
Source
Bureau of Land Management recreation data
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
BLM RIDB record, agency-listed. Its fee field is empty -- no fee statement -- so the cost is unpriced (field read 2026-09-19). Access not field-checked (assumed drive-up).
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Zapata Falls Srma
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Zapata Falls Srma
When the high country opens →Winter vs summer roads →Finding water out here →How to read this page →All field notes →