Did you know camping reservations for many of the popular Colorado campgrounds open six months in advance?
That means reservations are available NOW for July and August, and they go FAST!
We are a camping family, and every year for the last seven years, I always remember too late to reserve the popular campgrounds we'd like to try - but not this year! Except I'm still a month late because I counted wrong, but next year you better believe I'll be ready in December! I've already made two reservations for July, and have reminders set for the sites we'd like to book in August.
How Does it Work?
Most campgrounds open reservations six months out from the start date of your reservation. So if you wanted to go on July 15th, you can log into the reservation system (usually reservation.gov, but look up the campground website for all the specific details) on January 15th at 8:00am. Then you can select the number of nights you'd like to stay.
TIP: There's a very tricky work around people have found to reserve further out. Most campgrounds allow reservations to be made up to 14 days from that start date, which has allowed people to reserve two weeks and then modify the reservation to only really be the last three days. (But they couldn't reserve that for another two weeks, so this allows them to ensure their dates are open. There's no fee, or a very small fee, to modify the existing reservation, and the cancelled nights are refunded.) It's confusing, but worth having a heads up on if you're looking to book campgrounds for the summer.
With the example above, if you wanted to camp July 15th, and didn't try to reserve until January 15th, all the sites might already be reserved because others selected January 2nd as their start date with a 14 day reservation. (This already happened to me with RMNP camping reservations, I'm prepared for my August reservation now though!)
Make a Plan
1. Block out the weekends that you'd like to camp
2. Make a list of campgrounds you'd like to try
3. Add a reminder to your calendar six months in advance for each weekend you'd like to camp (or six months + two weeks if you want to be REALLY sure to get a spot)
4. Head to the reservation website and book your site
Picking Your Site
Campers are secretive about the best spots, so it's hard to research. But there are websites with campsite pictures to help figure out which site might be best. I like to look at these before reserving a campground we've never been to before, you can learn a lot!
What if you missed the opportunity?
Some less popular campgrounds may still have availability. You can search your planned dates on the recreation.gov website to see which campgrounds might still have sites available. There are also websites that will notify you if cancellations are made at campgrounds you've chosen, but I've never used one of these and don't know enough to recommend them.
You can also be adventurous and find free campsites on Bureau of Land Managment (BLM) land. If you do your research you'll find some amazing places to camp with your family - for FREE! (You can take a look at some of our favorites in the family travel guide.)
If you have other specific camping questions, I'm always happy to answer them, just shoot me an email at susantroy@macaronikid.com.
🏕️ Happy Camping, we'll see you out there!
