DENVER — A new reservation is in place that’ll make it easier for you to book campsites at most of Colorado’s State Parks.
Colorado Parks & Wildlife tested its new ‘reservation only camping’ system last year with five of its state parks. After seeing how successful it was, it implemented the system in 15 more.
“Really what it is, is an elimination of the 3 day reservation window folks used to have to do before,” said Travis Duncan with Colorado Parks & Wildlife.
If you wanted to do a last minute camping trip at Colorado’s State Parks, you’d have to risk your chances of finding a site by showing up or calling a park office. Duncan said you’d likely get a ‘spots are available on a first-come, first-serve basis” from someone in an office.
This new system bypasses all of that. Meaning, even the day of — you could logon to CPW’s reservation website and see what’s available and book it right there.
“You can book it right there from your phone. Whether it’s 3am or whatever time you arrive. And you have the spot,” Duncan said.
Like before, you can also try and reserve a campsite six months in advance. Meaning, if you’re looking to camp at a state park on the 4th of July — you better get to it quickly.
“I hear from people all the time who say, ‘I know this one site and campground is popular’,” Duncan said. “So if you are wanting to get into a popular campsite, you can book up to six months in advance – because some of our sites fill up”.
CPW also got rid of its $10 reservation-only camping fee.
Colorado has 41 State Parks. Twenty-five of them are using the new system. Two more parks (Lake Pueblo and Chatfield) will be added to the list in April.
“I anticipate it will spread state-wide eventually,” Duncan added.
The 20 State Parks using the new reservation system include:
Cheyenne Mountain, Eleven Mile, Staunton, St. Vrain, Trinidad Lake, Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, Boyd Lake, Cherry Creek, Golden Gate Canyon, Highline Lake, Jackson Lake, John Martin Reservoir, Lathrop, Mueller, North Sterling, Pearl Lake, Ridgway, State Forest, Steamboat Lake.
To book a site, click here.