The reservations system for popular Routt County campgrounds (Colorado) located at Seedhouse, Hahns Peak Lake, and Dumont Lake has changed this summer.
As per a report, some campgrounds that previously did not have reservations, like Hinman Park, Meadows, and Dry Lake, will soon have reservable sites.
“Our forest, in general, is looking at how we can be more efficient in managing recreation more effectively,” said Brendan Kelly, recreation specialist with the U.S. Forest Service. “We just found that it’s a little better to have more sites at different campgrounds have reservations with some different booking windows.”
All reservations can be made via recreation.gov.
“It actually is a more efficient process for us,” Kelly said. “It reduces the amount of the cash fee collection process we have to do. We’re able to spend more time in the field, servicing sites and engaging with the public.”
In addition, having sites with a two-week booking window allows last-minute planners to visit campsites, even when all the other reservable sites have been booked for months.
Once those sites at the Meadows, Hinman Park, and Dry Lake start having reservations in spring, they will also appear on recreation.gov, allowing more people to learn about the lesser-known camping options.
Before the change, 15 of the 24 sites at the Seedhouse Campground were reservable six months in advance. Now, 18 require reservations while the rest remain first-come, first-served sites. At Dumont, 17 of the 22 sites are now reservable, and at Hahns Peak Lake Campground, 20 of the 26 sites require reservations.
Kelly said this is the first time that the Forest Service has done a two-week booking window. He’s interested to see how this plays out, especially since the six-month window for booking is the most popular.
“We’re going to see how that goes and if it’s popular,” he said. “If it’s not popular, we’ll change it to something different.”
This story originally appeared on Steamboat Pilot & Today.