Fire Restrictions and Camping Rules, Explained

Western Colorado is a patchwork of BLM, Forest Service, National Park Service and state land, and they set fire restrictions independently. It is entirely normal to be under no restrictions on the Grand Mesa and Stage 1 twenty minutes away at 18 Road, and for the stages to flip within a week. Knowing which you are on is your responsibility, not the campground host's.

Where things stand right now

Note the counterintuitive part: BLM is the stricter of the two, and BLM is the low desert country where most people camp. The GMUG lifted its order on September 3 while still rating fire danger Extreme, so a lifted restriction is not a safe-to-be-careless signal. Every agency in the table was at Stage 2 through most of the summer and can go back up on a few days' notice.

What Stage 1 on BLM actually prohibits

• Campfires only in the agency-built fire grates of developed campgrounds. No fires of any kind, charcoal included, anywhere else. Pressurized liquid and gas devices with a shutoff valve are exempt.
• Smoking only inside an enclosed vehicle or building, in a developed recreation site, or in a barren area cleared of vegetation.
• No explosives, including exploding targets. Fireworks and incendiary ammunition are banned on BLM land year-round.
• No welding or open-flame torch work except in an area cleared of vegetation.
• All internal combustion engines, chainsaws included, require a properly installed, working spark arrestor.

The practical version: under Stage 1 a campfire is legal only in a developed campground's own ring. A camp stove with a valve is fine anywhere. A rock ring at a dispersed site is not, however established it looks. If the stage goes back to 2, campfires are out everywhere, developed campgrounds included, and you cook on gas or you do not cook.

Upper Colorado River Interagency Dispatch: 970-257-4800.

Dispersed camping

On BLM land

• 14 days in any 30-day period at one location.
• After fourteen days you must move at least 30 air miles from where you were. This is stricter than most people assume — driving down the road does not reset the clock.
• No property left unattended more than 48 hours.
• Recreational use only; residential occupancy is prohibited.
• Fires never left unattended and completely extinguished, cool to the touch, before you leave.

Note that BLM's own fact sheet does not state a numeric distance-from-water setback for general BLM land. Do not apply the Forest Service number below to BLM.

In GMUG wilderness

• Camp at least 100 feet from any Forest Service trail and from any lake, stream, pond or river.
• Group size maximum 15 people; combined people and stock maximum 25, with the people limit still 15.
• Open fires and wood stoves prohibited within 100 feet of trails or water, and prohibited above treeline entirely.
• Dogs leashed or under direct verbal control at all times.

Reservations, by campground

Two things that catch people out:

Colorado state parks are reservation-only. CPW states there are no first-come, first-served sites. The stay limit is fourteen days per park in any twenty-eight. And the cancellation schedule is punitive: more than 28 days out you lose 25 percent, 8 to 28 days you lose 50 percent, and within 7 days through arrival you lose the whole thing. A full refund only applies if you cancel within 24 hours of booking and are not arriving that day.

Saddlehorn requires a reservation even for same-day walk-ups. There is no drive-up-and-pay option.

Human waste

Rabbit Valley has a hard rule: every member of the group must use developed toilet facilities or carry a portable, leak-proof, reusable toilet system, or an EPA-approved carry-out bag system. A fire pan and portable toilet are required for dispersed camping there. Sort this out before you leave town.

At 18 Road, the documented requirement is that all trash including dog waste must be packed out, and there is no water and no garbage collection. We could not verify a wag-bag mandate specific to 18 Road; the portable toilet requirement is documented for Rabbit Valley.

Elsewhere in McInnis Canyons: Ruby–Horsethief overnight river permits are required year-round and must be reserved in advance. Primitive camping in the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness is allowed but not within a quarter mile of the Rattlesnake Arches Trail and not at Mee Canyon Alcove.

Winter road closures that affect camping

BLM's Grand Junction Field Office runs annual winter wildlife closures from December 1 to May 1 across Mesa, Delta and Montrose counties, closing named roads to motorized and mechanized travel — which includes bikes. Affected areas include Coal Canyon in the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area, Lands End roads, Blue Mesa, Chalk Mountain, Sink Creek and others.

The useful exception: all of those areas remain open to hiking and horseback riding.

Checked September 10, 2026 by Western Slope Trellis. Fire stages change within days; every line in the table above moved in the first week of September. Verify with the managing agency before every trip.