Summit County Citizens Voice

Logging is done, restoration under way at riverside camping area

The Blue River campground was clearcut to remove beetle-killed trees, but it re-opens this summer after a two-year closure.

Open for business as of Memorial Day!

SUMMIT COUNTY — After a two-year closure, the Blue River campground, north of Silverthorne, will open for the summer on Memorial Day weekend.

“This campground has been closed to the public the last two years to allow for the removal of the bark beetle-killed trees,” said Ken Waugh, recreation staff officers for the Dillon Ranger District.

All the mature lodgepole trees were killed by the insects and removed, but a few aspen, cottonwood, and spruce trees still present to provide some screening and shade. In mid-May, 3,000 tiny seedling were planted around the campground by volunteers in a project coordinated by the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado.  

Blue River Campground is considered a rustic facility.  Each site has a picnic table, a fire pit, and a parking spur.  There are no RV hookups. The camping fee is $14/site/day.  Some individual campsites will remain closed pending completion of repairs.

The campground is along the Gold Medal trout fishing waters of the Blue River.

Additional information can be obtained by contacting the Dillon Ranger District office at 970-468-5400 or visiting the White River National Forest website.

Watch out for tiny pine seedlings at the Blue River campground and other forest areas, and give them a little drink from your water bottle if it seem dry.

Other campgrounds around Summit County are also preparing for the traditional Memorial Day opening, including popular Heaton Bay, but campers may be surprised to find some waterside campgrounds high and dry. Denver Water has drained water out of Dillon Reservoir in preparation for a huge snowmelt runoff season that hasn’t really started yet, so the water level is likely be below what it usually is for this time of year.

Farther north, some of the camping areas at Green Mountain Reservoir will be affected by a summer construction project aimed at improving access from Highway 9 and improving some campsites. Cow Creek South will probably be closed most of the summer.

Filed under: camping, Colorado, Dillon Ranger District, Dillon Reservoir, Forest health, forests, pine beetles, public lands, recreation, Silverthorne, Summit County Colorado, US Forest Service, White River National Forest Tagged: | Blue River campground, Dillon Ranger District, Friends of the Dillon Ranger District, national forest camping summit county, Summit County Colorado, Summit County News, White River National Forest