The U.S. Forest Service plans to convert a popular dispersed camping area along Homestake Road in Eagle County, Colorado, into a fee-based managed campground starting in summer 2026.
The proposed change, which would impact 48 currently designated dispersed campsites, is aimed at protecting sensitive wetland habitats and improving visitor experience in the area.
“We want to notify the public about this change planned for summer 2026 as well as offer a chance to share thoughts and concerns,” Eagle-Holy Cross District Ranger Leanne Veldhuis said, as reported by Vail Daily on August 1.
The Forest Service is currently accepting public comments on the proposed transition.
Homestake Road, located in the White River National Forest’s Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District, currently allows dispersed camping — a form of primitive camping on national forest land outside developed campgrounds.
Though free, the area lacks amenities such as toilets, trash services and picnic tables.
In recent years, the forest service began taking steps to organize the high-volume camping along the corridor, which is located southeast of Minturn and just west of the Homestake Valley. Officials marked out 48 individual sites and added fire rings in an effort to reduce ecological damage.
Veldhuis said the site improvements were necessary due to growing impacts on the region’s streams and wetlands.
The Homestake Valley contains rare peat-forming wetlands known as fens — some more than 10,000 years old. These wetlands help store water, reduce erosion, filter pollutants and store carbon. They make up less than 1% of the Rocky Mountain landscape and are considered highly sensitive ecosystems.
Wilderness Workshop, a conservation group focused on public lands, describes the fens of the Homestake Valley as “a rare and irreplaceable natural resource of outsized importance.”
To further protect the fens and improve site conditions, the forest service proposes transitioning to a fully managed campground operated by American Land and Leisure, a private concessionaire. The company currently manages nearby Gold Park Campground.
“Management by the campground concessionaire, American Land and Leisure, would provide more consistent management, improve public safety, reduce resource damage, and provide the public with a better experience at this increasing popular dispersed camping area,” the forest service indicates.
The new managed campground would include the 48 designated dispersed sites along Homestake Road. Campers would pay nightly fees ranging from $15 to $25 from late May through early October.