Blue Lakes access fees proposed to curb overcrowding in southwest Colorado

A proposed $5-per-hiker fee and $25-per-campsite charge at Blue Lakes would add a new cost to one of southwest Colorado’s most sought-after summer basins, but the bigger change is how people get in at all. The U.S. Forest Service is pairing the fee idea with tighter controls meant to cut crowding, protect the basin and make peak-season trips easier to manage.

Blue Lakes, on the Ouray Ranger District of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, draws an estimated 35,000 visits a year. The Blue Lakes Visitor Use Management Plan covers 16,200 acres near Ridgway and set a peak-season permit window from June 1 through September 30, along with daily limits of 40 day users and 24 overnight users. The plan also set four campsites, with up to six people at each site, as the target for overnight use.

The latest proposal would apply those access charges during the June-through-September season if approved. Recreation.gov would handle reservations, and its processing fees would be added on top of the access charges, currently listed at $1 for day use and $6 for overnight permits. The public comment period opened June 1 and runs through August 31, giving hikers and backpackers a chance to weigh in before the fee structure moves forward.

The push comes after years of damage control in a place where use has far outpaced the terrain. A 2021 study found an average of 164 hikers a day and a peak of 509 in a single day, while campsites were spreading beyond sustainable limits. Phase 1 work in 2025 delivered trailhead and parking reconstruction, infrastructure upgrades, a new restroom and restoration at Lower Blue Lake, following the temporary closure that began June 2, 2025. The rebuilt parking lot is now open, a sign that the access overhaul is already changing the trip before any fee is collected.

New rules tied to the Mount Sneffels Wilderness also begin May 31. Overnight groups are limited to six people, bear-resistant food storage is required, human waste must be packed out, and camping is prohibited at Middle Blue Lake and Upper Blue Lake. Dispersed camping remains available at Lower Blue Lake, though space is limited. The Forest Service says more areas will stay cordoned off while restoration and trail realignment continue, and if visitor spillover shifts pressure elsewhere, the permit system could expand into places like Blaine Basin or the Mt. Sneffels zone. For anyone planning a Blue Lakes trip, the question is no longer just whether the trail is open, but how much friction the basin will carry by the time next summer rolls around.