The famed Blue Lakes on Colorado’s Western Slope will once again reopen for recreation following a closure in the summer of 2025, and lucky for hikers, there will be no permits required for day-use and overnight camping there until 2027.
Located near Ridgway and Telluride, the Blue Lakes are among the most popular places to hike in the San Juan Mountains thanks to their alluring turquoise waters, robust wildflowers and access to the roughly 14,150-foot Mount Sneffels. The three lakes are so popular, in fact, that the U.S. Forest Service is now implementing a plan to reduce foot traffic to the area in hopes of restoring the natural environment, which has suffered over the years.
In addition to requiring permits in the future, that plan included last summer’s closure, which enabled the agency to upgrade some of the visitor amenities and lay the foundation for future restoration projects in the area, said Dana Gardunio, Ouray District Ranger for the USFS. Crews focused on remediating and re-seeding human-made campsites that eroded the soils, ripping up user-made trails, clearing dead trees, and cleaning up human waste.
“We found a lot of piles of human feces and toilet paper behind almost every tree that was up there,” Gardunio said.
Reducing traffic to the area for one summer may have an impact on the wildlife there, too. Gardunio said crews saw moose at Lower Blue Lake, as well as bears, deer and elk.
As hikers and campers prepare to return this summer, there are new guidelines they should be aware of to avoid overcrowding and to enable more restoration to be done. The forest service and its partners, like the San Juan Mountains Association, will have personnel at the trailhead, along the trail and at the Lower Blue Lake to help ensure compliance, Gardunio said, “because we don’t really want to lose the investment we’ve made in the work if it’s not being respected.”
Here are five things you should know before making the trip to the Blue Lakes in the summer of 2026.
Crowds and conditions
In the past, the Blue Lakes saw about 35,000 visitors per year. Gardunio expects traffic to reach those levels in 2026, though it’s possible there may be an increase as people seek to visit prior to the permit system launch next year.
Peak hiking season runs June 1 through Sept. 30, with the most foot traffic coming through on weekends and holidays. Given the warm and dry conditions Colorado experienced this winter, it’s possible the trail may be accessible earlier than normal. However, Gardunio advised anyone who plans to visit in the spring to monitor the weather and be prepared for evolving conditions in the alpine terrain.
Parking capacity limits
In 2025, forest service crews reconstructed the trailhead parking lot to delineate specific spots for cars and added an overflow lot for oversized vehicles or those with trailers. In total, there are 45 first-come, first-served parking spots, and if they are full, visitors should be prepared to change their plan.
“Right now, the rule is that you should be parking in designated spots only, and if there aren’t spots, then you would leave,” Gardunio said.
Parking is prohibited along County Road 7 leading up to the trailhead, and agency personnel planted trees along the road’s edge to deter drivers from stationing their cars there. “We’re going to be working on trying to watch that and see where we may need to put some more signage or build some little fences, if needed, to try and discourage that use,” Gardunio added.
When nature calls, pack it out
Speaking of the trailhead, hikers will find a new bathroom with more stalls than previously available. The rest of the wilderness, however, is no longer a toilet. Visitors now must pack out their human waste. This requirement comes after unsustainable use and improper burying on the part of innumerable people. That was probably the top issue the environment faced, Gardunio said, as she and her crew found the landscape littered with “little white toilet paper flowers.”
“Typically, you’re supposed to dig a cathole at least six inches deep and bury it,” she said. “The soils up there are really challenging, there’s so many roots and rocks. I was up there trying to plant some of the trees, and it’s really hard to dig in that soil, which is why we decided to do the pack out waste. The environment’s just really not conducive for that.”
Gardunio recommends bringing a WAG Bag or some comparable product to carry and dispose of excrement. And remember, it is also poor form to pee near lakes, which can cause contamination. Leave No Trace principles advise urinating at least 200 feet away from trails, campsites, high-use areas, and water sources.
Camping changes
As people prepare to camp overnight near the Blue Lakes, there are both new and existing rules to consider.
Dispersed camping will still be available near the Lower Blue Lake this year, and while there will not be a cap on the total number of people who stay overnight, the forest service is limiting groups to a maximum of six people. Also new this year, campers are required to carry bear-resistant food storage containers, which must be approved by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.
Camping has long been prohibited at the middle and upper Blue Lakes, and that restriction remains in place. Additionally, camp spots must be at least 100 feet away from both water and trails, and avoid natural areas that are being restored. Those who cannot find a compliant spot should have a secondary plan in mind, Gardunio said.
“There is still a possibility, depending on numbers, that you could get up there and find yourself without a campsite,” she said. “So visitors should still be prepared that is the case and if they don’t have anywhere to camp, they’ll need to have another plan — either not camp up there, go back down the trail or find another spot somewhere else along the trail, which I know there’s not a lot because of how steep it is.”
Another existing rule worth repeating: Campfires are prohibited in the wilderness area. Forest Service personnel dismantled numerous man-made fire rings when they remediated the area, Gardunio said.
What’s next on permits
The forest service is now building a digital permit system and continues to discuss proposed fees. Gardunio said to expect to hear more about the agency’s proposal around June 1, and that there will be a 60-day window to solicit public feedback. The agency’s proposal will likely include a fee that goes back to the local office that is intended to support the management of Mount Sneffels Wilderness and Blue Lakes recreation area, Gardunio said.
In response to criticism about implementing a fee for visitation, Gardunio said she believes this is a necessary strategy to protect the wilderness for future hikers and campers. She also believes it will lead to a better experience in 2027 and thereafter.
“Although it may feel restrictive, the hope is that when you are able to visit those areas, whether it’s with a permit or outside of permitted season, that your experience is a much higher quality without it and that you also have an area to enjoy that doesn’t feel like it’s overrun or degraded to the extent that we’ve seen at Blue Lakes,” she said.
CORRECTION 11:24 a.m. on April 2: A previous version of this story erroneously stated the Forest Service planned to build fire rings at the designated campsites it has identified for future years at Lower Blue Lakes. No fires are allowed in that part of the wilderness.
