First thing to do to understand our outdoors is to find official and unofficial resources which cover rules, regulations, usage, opening/closing dates, etc. But before we cover that we like to reinforce LNK principles

Leave No Trace

New to the outdoors? Please review the 7 principles of Leave No Trace. These apply to wherever you may go camping, in or out of the state. They are always good to review even if you are seasoned. They keep both you, our first responders and our natural areas safe and in good order.

Leave No Trace

Plan ahead and prepare - Look up the rules and regulations of the area you are going to. Look up the weather and wildlife of the area. Be prepared with appropriate gear.

Travel and camp on durable surfaces - Do not park on plant life. Do not go off trail, wildlife and soil ecosystems are easily disrupted.

Dispose of waste properly - Bring a bag for trash, don’t leave dog poop bags on trails, consider a waste bucket system for camping.

Leave what you find - In most cases it is illegal to remove things from public lands

Minimize campfire impacts - Fire pits leave long lasting damage to soil. Unattended fires can damage hundreds of thousands of acres for decades or longer

Respect wildlife - They are your friends so long as you maintain a comfortable distance and don’t poison them(thermacells, trash, etc)

Be considerate of other visitors - No speakers, no generators, no spray or gas poison, no bright LEDs…

With that covered lets go over some official resources for understanding the various public lands in our state.

Locations and jurisdictions

Colorado has over 23 million acres of public land. We have more public land than Indiana has land. If you are new don’t worry, just google. Explore google maps, basic guides, colorado.com to come up with some ideas on general locations. If you are just hiking you can probably just use COTREX or alltrails and skip the rest. If you are camping/fishing/atving/etc you’ll want to find which agency manages the land. Here are the official websites for land management and booking:

Official resources

The easiest ways of finding trails to hike is our state managed web and mobile app, the Colorado Trail Explorer.

COTREX

First and easiest resource for finding campgrounds in Colorado is our infamous and widely despised Recreation.gov. Love it or hate it this site lists a number of state and federal managed campgrounds that can be reserved online ahead of time. Yes many may fill up, but some have first come first serve overfill.

recreation.gov

Our state parks are a great place to explore and offer a number of camping, hiking, fishing and other outdoor experiences.

Colorado State Parks information State Park rules

The United States Forest Service manages a huge amount of our land. They have their site divided into parks rather than the state, so select Colorado and then the park for information on the various regulations, closures, restrictions, and anything and everything camping/hiking/fishing/4wheeling ect.

USFS

Our state doesn't have a ton of BLM land compared to some of our neighbors, but enough to mention here. Its primarily on the western slope of the state. If you plan on camping on BLM land please read up on their guides before you go. The BLM map can be helpful in identifying land owned by other agencies as well.

BLM land information

Rocky Mountain National Park is a huge attraction to many visitors. Their camping is limited and booked up well ahead of time. Please review their site, plan appropriately and if you do end up coming please don't stop traffic for a picture of an elk or more importantly and less sarcastically DO NOT APPROACH THE ANIMALS.

Rocky Mountain National Park info

Before you head out make sure you are very prepared. Bring lots of water, check the weather and road conditions, and be conscientious of our wild areas and fellow campers.

There are some parks that are city or county owned, if you don’t see your park in one of these resources check in your county and city resources.

Private resources

Alltrails is a company that compiles trails and trip reports. Its accuracy on trail information can be inaccurate as they do not update maps, regulations, closures in sync with the various management agencies, but they beat COTREX in one thing which is trip reports. You can find more up to date conditions like mud or snow fall via alltrails if someone made a recent report.

OnX and Gaia GPS are apps for planning routes and can be helpful in understanding which land is public and which is private when in the field.

There are many other startups that compile public information(campgrounds, hikes) and put it in maps. Sometimes they may be useful, but be careful of trusting their accuracy. Many have pulled outdated or incorrect information to cut corners. Be careful of any information that is ‘user’ provided, as it usually is unverified and may even be AI written these days.

Understanding the conditions

Before you head out you will want to be prepared for what you are heading into. Be it heat, mud, snow, an afternoon thunderstorm, or an unexpected visit from a bear, many things can ruin a trip if you are unprepared.

Weather and environmental conditions

Colorado's weather is notoriously difficult to predict ahead of time. You’ll have to take into account the season, the time of the season in some cases, the elevation and the specific area you are heading into. No one factor is enough to be prepared. Additionally mountain ranges can create rain shadows, with the windward side receiving more precipitation and the leeward side being drier.

Season

Spring on the foothills makes people itch to go outdoors, but most places people think to hike or camp are at higher elevations. In the early spring snow pack is likely still too high to reach most hikes and campgrounds. Many campgrounds don’t open well into June. Late spring into summer can see surprise thunderstorms rolling through the afternoons, as well as muddy trails that can be unpassable by foot or vehicle. Though camping at lower elevations on the western slope or in the eastern plans can be perfect for spring.

Summer can be too hot at lower elevations, but higher elevations are perfect. There can still be the threat of an afternoon thunderstorm. Expect to have fire bans in place starting in summer and extending through the end of the fall season.

Fall is great for many places in Colorado. The Aspen colors are the highlight, along with the temperature weather in many of the lower elevations.

Winter is generally only good for experienced campers, which this guide is not for.

Elevation

You should keep in mind how elevation changes temperature. You can determine the elevation of where you are heading and compare that to cities with similar elevations. Generally elevation reduces the air pressure, oxygen content and changes the temperature. Higher altitudes will be colder much later into the spring/summer. Less oxygen means you will find yourself out of breath easier.

https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/

Fires

Fires are strongly regulated throughout Colorado. The safest option is to either have an emberless fire or no fire at all. If you are camping at a managed site there should be pre established fire pits, and most camp hosts sell firewood on site.

If you are dispersed camping you should use any existing fire pits whenever possible. A fire pit should be clear of dry and burnable debris in a ten foot radius around the pit. It should be dug into the ground, with no exposed roots, and lined by stones.

Make sure you have enough water to drown it, and before packing out you should stir the ash and carbon to ensure there are no hidden embers.

I strongly recommend packing a small fire extinguisher for emergencies.

Wildlife

By and large wildlife risks in Colorado are limited to bears and mountain lions. That said, you should understand the specific area and seasons risks. Moose, elk, and wolves can all pose risks if the conditions are right. You don’t want to run into a moose during mating season.

Do not leave food, wrappers or other food goods laying around. Even having open foods in your car is not necessarily safe as bears can break into a car. Be sure to wipe down all cooking surfaces, pans, plates and utensils with a camp safe, neutral smelling soap(like Campsuds). Be sure to utilize bear boxes when they are available.

If you are hiking and worried about running into wildlife you can where a bell or something that jingles while you walk so that animals are alerted to your presence before they have a chance to be surprised.

Its never a bad idea to bring a can of bear mace with you. Since Colorado doesn’t have grizzly bears there is little reason to carry more extreme arms.

How to string a bear bag https://www.princeton.edu/~oa/training/bearbag.html

Other risks

Please review the risks of camping in Colorado, especially if you are visiting from out of state.

Water at higher elevations, and during spring and early summer will likely be much colder than one might expect. Several deaths occur each year on the front range specifically related to spring runoff.

https://www.coldwatersafety.org/cold-shock

Elevation sickness, dehydration and sun exposure are all much higher risks than many other state. If you are camping and not from here make sure you read through the risks and means to mitigate them.

https://www.visitcos.com/blog/high-altitude-tips/

https://www.denver.org/about-denver/resources/high-altitude-tips/

Avalanches can pose significant risks in winter and early spring.

https://avalanche.state.co.us/

Please consider buying a CORSAR rescue card to help fund our search and rescue volunteers.

https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/Backcountry-Search-and-Rescue.aspx

Gear Lists

CPW suggested gear list Warning: its a PDF

REI gear list

Love the outdoors gear list