The USFS also wants to ban camping above treeline and eliminate dispersed camping near the Blue Lakes trailhead.
It’s a 3-mile hike to the first of the three Blue Lakes near Mount Sneffels. That’s the halfway point if you want to visit all three. Pack some gear and stay a night or two to truly enjoy the area. The Blue Lakes, located in the San Juan Mountains between Telluride and Ouray, have become an international destination for hikers and mountaineers seeking to enjoy the Instagram-worthy alpine lakes and scale Mount Sneffels’ 14,150-foot summit.
Gardunio said the number of people hiking to the Blue Lakes and Mount Sneffels has gradually increased over the last decades with significant spikes in visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Forest Service estimates about 35,000 recreate in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness annually, the vast majority of which come from June to October.
The Forest Service released its first draft of this plan in spring 2022 to solicit feedback from the public. Local communities were overall supportive of the need to better manage tourism to the Mount Sneffels Wilderness, Gardunio said. The agency is now opening the plan up for another comment period, which will last 45 days. It expects to make a final decision on its strategies by early 2024.Lower Blue Lake, visible from the trail leading to the other namesake Blue Lakes.
The agency is also proposing to issue up to 24 overnight permits per night, but only for four designated campsites. That means each campsite could have up to six people. Details, such as when date-specific permits will become available for purchase, will be decided at a later date, she added. Anyone hiking to the Blue Lakes without a permit would be subject to a ticket and fine.
The agency plans to reduce the number of camping spots at Lower Blue Lake to four and remediate the rest of the 144 sites that currently exist there. Access to those would be available exclusively to permit holders. Campsites at the trailhead would be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.Additionally, the plan prohibits all camping above treeline and/or in alpine tundra. Anyone who camps in the backcountry would also be required to bring bear-proof food storage under the plan.
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