How tough has dispersed camping gotten?

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by cowboyxjon

Ah, interloper1138 already beat me to it. I was just going to post the article from the Colorado Sun.

I know there are a lot of reasons why things are the way they are right now, but I am curious to know how much this “vanlife” movement has to do with it, along with the ability for people to work remotely. It gets sensationalized on social media and places like Reddit and I actually know 2-3 people who are now nomads, living out of expensive sprinter vans. Hopefully these aren’t the people who are causing problems, but it seems way more popular now than it did even 10 years ago.

I’ve also started looking east of Colorado for camping. There isn’t much in the way of dispersed, and it’s not really in the mountains, but there are some nice state parks in Kansas and Nebraska that are a lot lower key, but still interesting in their own way. Yep, the campgrounds are established so it’s a different vibe, but it can still be fun. I know people here generally tend to look down on the plains, but there is a lot of natural beauty there as well.

I agree that if you lose the must-have-mtns/waterfront/canyon attitude, you can find some really nice parks and campgrounds in other regions not far away from the Front Range. I camped at a developed National Grassland campground and was the only one there, with no houses or lights in sight. These days, I wouldn’t bet on nobody else being there, but it probably gets MUCH fewer people than the CO places that fit the Rocky Mountain stereotype. And I spent a week at another state’s huge, beautiful state park. Lose the blinders and you might avoid most of the me-too, selfie-obsessed, Twitterheads and Facedorkers.

In more hyped areas it is hard to avoid either the people or the “trace” they leave, even off season. I’m fed up with their machine-conquers-any-land mindset and the attendant lack of wildland ethics. Dispersed camping is not “discovery” or “adventurous” or “cooler” than camping in designated campgrounds and sites. Hearing people brag about “roughing it” in RVs they claim are self-contained (as they leave poop behind)...that they can camp along any BLM or FS road (FALSE!!!!)...that they “don’t need anything” as they make big hints about being cold at night and wanting real showers...

BS! The cheapness of paying no camp fees is what they REALLY are after.

[cowboyxjon]

Originally Posted by pikabike

BS! The cheapness of paying no camp fees is what they REALLY are after.

In some instances, it could be that! But I also think the fact that it’s VERY difficult to get a weekend reservation in a campground during the summer is another huge reason why dispersed camping has been “discovered.” And then there are those apps like free campsites.net and whatnot that better publicize areas where dispersed camping is permitted, so it’s a lot “easier” to figure out where dispersed camping is permitted.

I do both types of camping. I’ve got a pop up camper and I camp in established campgrounds when I feel like getting outside but not “roughing it” as much (sometimes it’s nice to have an enclosed area like the popup camper if the weather is bad) but I also have a Jeep and a tent and I also camp off of forest service roads and trails that aren’t very accessible with a popup camper. But last year, because I didn’t really plan ahead, I camped in an established campground in Colorado exactly once and that was probably due to a last-minute cancelation on the part of someone else. The rest of my camping in Colorado was dispersed, mostly because I couldn’t reserve anything anywhere, but still wanted to camp.

[MuncherBier]

It's not about being cheap, or cooler than anyone, it's about liking-

This:



More than this:

[pikabike]

Those photos only show the extreme range of “camping.” Most people fall in between.

[parfleche]

End of an era folks.Colorado has been over run.Sold my Jeep after 30 years of Jeeplng had enough.SW CO is full of swarms of atv,ohv nuts speeding everywhere to unsafe anymore.Forest Service has closed off most jeep trails and turned them into atv trails.Even the alpine loop is swarming with them.Even on horseback you can't get away.Checking on a bowhunter in a splkecamp a couple years ago he returned to camp a mountain bike leaning on a tree a dude in his tent going through his stuff dirty under wear and all.Glad I was around to enjoy the good old days.Now I just go to a friends ranch to get away public land is a hot mess.

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by pikabike

I agree that if you lose the must-have-mtns/waterfront/canyon attitude, you can find some really nice parks and campgrounds in other regions not far away from the Front Range. I camped at a developed National Grassland campground and was the only one there, with no houses or lights in sight. These days, I wouldn’t bet on nobody else being there, but it probably gets MUCH fewer people than the CO places that fit the Rocky Mountain stereotype. And I spent a week at another state’s huge, beautiful state park. Lose the blinders and you might avoid most of the me-too, selfie-obsessed, Twitterheads and Facedorkers.

In more hyped areas it is hard to avoid either the people or the “trace” they leave, even off season. I’m fed up with their machine-conquers-any-land mindset and the attendant lack of wildland ethics. Dispersed camping is not “discovery” or “adventurous” or “cooler” than camping in designated campgrounds and sites. Hearing people brag about “roughing it” in RVs they claim are self-contained (as they leave poop behind)...that they can camp along any BLM or FS road (FALSE!!!!)...that they “don’t need anything” as they make big hints about being cold at night and wanting real showers...

BS! The cheapness of paying no camp fees is what they REALLY are after.

I too have difficulty considering camping with an RV to be "roughing it." The "adventure" of staying in your parked RV alongside a road on public lands is about as adventurous as sleeping in your RV in the parking lot at Wally World. I was married for 20 years to a man who worked for the Forest Service and is also an outdoorsman turned journalist who writes for most of the flyfishing rags that are currently being published today. He explained to me his philosophy for (tent) camping early on and I still go by it.

National Parks are almost sacred. Never ever even think of driving off-road in a National Park and you certainly never place a tent or park an RV anywhere other than a designated campground. National Forests generally have less restrictive rules, and many will allow camping off to the sides of designated Forest Roads. However, do not leave the road anywhere you please and cut across fields and meadows in search of adventure and that perfect spot where no one else is camped. In the arid landscape of the Southwest, your wheels can create deep ruts that may well be visible still a hundred years from now - never mind the problems with erosion and other soil loss, as well as degradation of the ecosystem and habitat for both native plants and wildlife. My ex used to point out the remains of old logging roads to me - places where the timber had been cut 75 years ago and the ruts were as visible and deep as ever.

Lands that are under what is generally the mismanagement by the BLM are another story altogether. The BLM mostly caters to ranchers who wish to run their sheep and cattle on the cheap by leasing government land for a song. Ranchers get upset if BLM officials try to limit the number of permits for the animals they are allowed to let run in any given year. As a result, BLM lands are often seriously over-grazed and are often subjected to practices like chaining. This is when two heavy vehicles like bulldozers are outfitted with strong chains which are attached from one vehicle to the other. Off they go, chaining down juniper and especially pinon to clear the land for more grazing. I've seen my share of chained land, and it makes me feel sick. I once knew a BLM official who when I asked said that his job consisted of babysitting cows and nothing more.

In some places, the BLM is attempting to clean up its act and there will be designated campgrounds and other amenities, but mostly BLM land is still all about cows and getting rid of anything that stands in the way of their grazing habits. As a result, I go a bit wild on BLM land. I will follow old logging and other primitive roads in a quest to leave the rest of humanity behind and I've found some pretty good spots to camp out there in the wilds. Even so, I never create my own new road by cutting across the countryside and I do my best to make my campsite appear as if no one had ever been there when I decide to move on.

It comes down to respecting the land as best you can even in places where others don't appear to give a damn about it. It also pays to just use some common sense which seems to be in very short supply among many campers these days - especially the RV "adventure" crowd. I wish they'd just give it up and get their adventure by glamping around the Moab area or maybe driving down to Lake Mead or Lake Powell and watching the bathtub rings appear as the water continues to quickly evaporate from those two reservoirs and into the desert air. My goal is to live long enough to see Glen Canyon again, and at the current rate, I just might.

[pikabike]

Oh, don’t get me going about the gigantic RVs with towed SUVs and boats (sometimes all three) squatting on FS and BLM land for weeks at a time, complete with toys such as multiple ATVs and grills. They take a lot of space, make a lot of noise and dust, and they sure don’t haul out all their trash, not to mention dog poop.

How about the already-struggling ground cover destroyed by so many people driving all over, heedless of anything but their own entertainment gratification? I used to volunteer for a CO county with an impressive and well-managed (at that time) parks and trails system. The word for unofficial foot trails that people took, usually to shortcut switchbacks or to cut over to a viewpoint (of which there were already ample official trails to get there) was “social trails.” The county would block and revegetate them.

I call those ANTIsocial trails: the scattrails left by people who care only about themselves, a.k.a. sociopaths. And they come in all flavors, wheeled or not, motorized or not, local or not. The common denominator is a code of I take what I want.

[COCountrygal]

An article was very recently posted on dispersed camping in Chaffee County (Buena Vista, Salida area)

https://coloradosun.com/2022/02/04/d...haffee-county/

[Melanzana92]

I'm a big fan of dispersed camping because it's free, it doesn't tie me down to one specific spot, and it allows more flexible hiking (starting right from the car, etc.). For me it's still pretty easy to enjoy dispersed camping, as the places I like to go tend to be more low-key.

I understand why the restrictions are coming though. It's a very good thing, in my opinion, that these plans always seem to involve converting newly existing sites instead of blocking them off. Reducing the supply won't solve anything.

I read the article and I'm actually a little surprised there was no mention of the Cottonwood Creek areas. Driving through there on a summer weekend, it's like a huge party!

I also think it's now time for EVERYONE who enjoys dispersed camping to either purchase and bring WAG bags with them, or make their own. Packing out our waste will help keep areas clean.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Melanzana92

I'm a big fan of dispersed camping because it's free, it doesn't tie me down to one specific spot, and it allows more flexible hiking (starting right from the car, etc.). For me it's still pretty easy to enjoy dispersed camping, as the places I like to go tend to be more low-key.

I understand why the restrictions are coming though. It's a very good thing, in my opinion, that these plans always seem to involve converting newly existing sites instead of blocking them off. Reducing the supply won't solve anything.

I read the article and I'm actually a little surprised there was no mention of the Cottonwood Creek areas. Driving through there on a summer weekend, it's like a huge party!

I also think it's now time for EVERYONE who enjoys dispersed camping to either purchase and bring WAG bags with them, or make their own. Packing out our waste will help keep areas clean.

Thank you!!!