Wilderness Winter Camping

Winter Wilderness Backpacking Camping Permits

Wilderness Permits are required to camp in the backcountry of Rocky Mountain National Park year-round. Winter wilderness campsites are plentiful in the park. Permits are issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Advanced reservations are not accepted during the winter season.

Anyone interested in winter backcountry camping is required to obtain a wilderness backpacking camping permit IN PERSON from Rocky Mountain National Park's Wilderness Office. In general, the following rules apply:

• It is not possible to print a permit from home.
• It is not possible to download and save an electronic copy of a permit onto a mobile phone or other electronic device. Electronic copies saved on a mobile device are not recognized as a valid wilderness permit.
• There is ONE exception: Winter camping permits for the West Side of the park ONLY can be secured via phone call to the East Side Wilderness Office. However, you must stop at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center to pick up a paper copy of the wilderness regulations. These regulations are available outside the visitor center front doors.

A physical paper permit must be picked up at the Wilderness Office during business hours. This permit must be carried with you into the backcountry. Your wilderness permit is an officially issued, hard copy, printed permit that must be picked up in person from the Wilderness Office before you begin any backcountry trip.

The administrative fee for winter wilderness permits is $10 per permit. This fee is payable by credit card only, at the time the reservation is made. Cash is not accepted.

Self Registration Boxes are no longer used for Winter Wilderness Backpacking Permits.

Wilderness Office Hours - Winter Backpacking Permits

Wilderness Office near Beaver Meadows Visitor Center (East Side of the Park via Estes Park)

Year-Round: Open 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Seven days a week. Closed New Years Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Indigenous Peoples' Day / Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. To pick up your permit on these holidays, please call ahead to make arrangements.

Wilderness Office located inside Kawuneeche Visitor Center (West Side of the Park via Grand Lake)

The Wilderness Office inside Kawuneeche Visitor Center is closed in winter (October 15 until Memorial Day Weekend). Please contact the East Side Wilderness Office for winter permits and wilderness trip planning assistance (970-586-1242). Winter wilderness permits are available whenever the East Side Wilderness Office is open: 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Seven days a week. Instructions for securing a winter permit are posted on the front door of the Kawuneeche Visitor Center. We advise that you create an account with Recreation.gov BEFORE calling the East Side office for a winter camping permit.

 

General Guidelines for Winter Camping

• Camp safely away from standing dead trees.
• If the designated site has more than 4 inches (10 centimeters) of snow, camp at least 70 adult steps (200 feet/60 meters) away from the site. Do not camp in the site.
• Party size is limited to 12 people.
• Camps must be established:

1. within the designated wilderness winter zone, at least 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the trailhead.
2. at least 70 adult steps (200 feet/60 meters) away from water.
3. on snow or rock only -- never on vegetation or in meadows.
4. out of sight and sound of trails and other campers.

• Fires prohibited. Use portable stoves only.

 

East Side of the Park
Site Code	Drainage Name	Number of Parties
A2	South Fork Cache La Poudre	8
B1	North Fork of Big Thompson	9
B5	Cow Creek	6
C1	Roaring River	6
C2	Fay Lakes	5
C3	Chiquita Creek	4
C4	Fall River	6
C5	Sundance Creek	2
C6	Black Canyon Creek	4
D1	Big Thompson River	9
D2	Gorge Lakes	2
D3	Hayden Creek	5
D4	Hidden River	3
D5	Spruce Creek	3
D6	Fern Creek	3
D7	Beaver Creek	2
E1	Mill Creek	3
E3	Haiyaha Creek	2
E4	Icy Brook	3
E5	Glacier Creek	5
E6	Boulder Brook	4
E7	Wind River	4
F1	Roaring Fork	3
F2	Alpine Brook	6
F3	Inn Brook	2
F4	Cabin Creek	4
G1	North St. Vrain	7
G2	Hunters Creek	2
G3	Campers Creek	2
G4	Sandbeach Lake	2
G5	Ouzel Creek	6
G6	Cony Creek	4
West Side of the Park
H2	Hague Creek	4
H3	Chapin Creek	3
H4	La Poudre River	4
J1	Specimen Creek	3
J2	Colorado River	4
J4	Red Gulch	2
J5	Opposition Creek	2
J6	Big Ditch Creek	2
J7	Sawmill Creek	2
J8	Lulu Creek	3
J9	Bennett Creek	2
K1	Timber Creek	3
K2	Onahu Creek	3
L1	Tonahutu Creek	6
M1	North Inlet	6
M2	Ptarmigan Creek	2
M3	Hallett Creek	2
M4	North Inlet Lakes	2
N1	East Inlet	6
N3	Echo Creek	2
P1	Ranger Creek	2
P2	Pole Creek	2
P3	Columbine Creek	4