Family Car Camping

Car camping has to be my favorite way to spend a significant amount of time in the outdoors. There is nothing nicer than hiking in to the perfect camping site with views of elk, marmots and fields of wildflowers, but no sign of human existence. In the same breath, there is also nothing nicer than loading the car full of coolers, tents and chairs, driving directly to your camp site, unloading the car and relaxing in your camping chair thirty minutes after arriving.

Since breaking my ankle earlier this fall I have become quite familiar with easily accessible outdoor activities, and car camping destinations around Boulder have been on the top of my list. In any other town I may have fallen prey to boredom and depression after being cut off from all of my favorite activities, but I’m not sure that is possible in Boulder. Within five minutes it is possible to be in the mountains outside of Boulder with unobstructed views of the Continental Divide at sunset. Within an hour outside of Boulder it is possible to be settled into your very own private campsite in the woods just minutes away from your car, preparing gourmet meals on your Coleman double burner camping stove. All of this is possible to do on crutches, which means these activities also translate well into great family outings, particularly for families with younger members.

The easy access of car camping typically means that you may need to expect neighbors. Luckily, there are a number of easy-access camping destinations that are either beautiful enough that you don’t notice the neighbors, or that still offer privacy being tucked back in the woods. While there is really no camping within the Boulder city limits, there are plenty of options just outside of the city.

When you finally find a weekend that is free of soccer games, play dates and household chores you can load up the car and be set up at your own campsite in the mountains, nestled amongst the pines and aspen within the hour. When you wake up to the sound of the birds and squirrels chirping, perhaps it will also be time for a mandatory two minutes of silence to enjoy all of the noise of the natural world. Once you have had some semblance of morning peace and eaten your fill of oatmeal and bananas (my favorite camping breakfast), you will have a multitude of adventures to choose from, whether it be a day of canoeing and fishing for dinner, hiking to pristine glacier-fed lakes or cruising some scenic single-track bike trails. There are several remote camping destinations in Nederland.
• Indian Peaks Wilderness Area has a number of car camping sites nestled in the woods with easy access to a number of activities-including one that is a rarity in the Colorado mountains: swimmable lakes!
• West Magnolia offers dispersed camping as well as a number of single-track trails for hiking and biking.

There is plenty of camping to be found in Roosevelt National Forest, which borders Rocky Mountain National Park to the North and the East. Consider the following campgrounds north of Denver:
• Olive Ridge in Estes Park for easy access to Rocky Mountain National Park.
• Bellaire Lake in the Red Feather Lakes District for a campsite with a trail leading to the lake which allows canoeing and flatwater kayaking.
• Brown’s Park near Rustic, CO for a beautiful wooded site. Perhaps someone in the family will remember the all-natural absorption benefits provided by the surrounding Aspen trees from their week of practicing wilderness survival skills.

If time is not on your side and you are looking for a quick escape from the sound of the telephone, television-really any sort of telecommunication device-you might explore one of the many Colorado State Parks in the Denver/Boulder-metro area. Several of these parks are frequented by Avid4 Adventure Day Camps as well as the 1-Day Off Campus School Program and 5-day Leadership School Programs.

If your camping interest has been piqued and you are ready to step it up a notch, but aren’t quite prepared for the full logistical responsibility or the very thought of it is just too exhausting, let Avid do the planning for you with one of our Family Camping trips. However you get out there, please remember to ask your kids to teach you some of their favorite wildflowers, take the time to identify some of the animal tracks and scat you come across on the trail and “allow” your kids to help with the cooking and cleaning process in order to get the full camping experience.

Virginia Sanford is a veteran Avid4 staff and specializes in our camps for 5&6 year olds. When she is not snow-shoeing, she is likely rock climbing, hiking, camping, or reading.