Irreligion: Making camping criminal

By David Hale | January 1, 2026

David Hale. Courtesy photo

"Pitkin County considering land use code update to prevent highway-side camping." That's the title of the Dec. 20 story in The Aspen Times by Colin Suszynski. It's a well written article where the reporter reports just the facts and never lets on about their own opinions. (Some people call it "fake news.")

Instead, I will tell you what I think: It's like trying to kill a fly with a baseball bat.

Here are the (only) two examples of this dastardly camping behavior given at the county commissioners' meeting by Richard Neiley, the county attorney:

One was a school bus that was parked on the side of Highway 82, "a few minutes out of Aspen most of the summer." Oh my goodness, let's rewrite the land use code because someone got away with something for "most of a summer." Does that mean two months? One month? What were they doing? Does it matter? The message is: They didn't spend any money, and it was an eyesore.

The second egregious camping sin occurred "around the Fourth of July." These bad actors "put up some cones" down by Woody Creek, so they could park there "and hang out." If the proposed code is only supposed to address highway-side camping, why is Woody Creek used as an example? Since when does Highway 82 run through Woody Creek?

So we only have one example given of highway-side camping?

Maybe some of our county commissioners have never slept in their vehicle. Must be nice. Well, I have. Many times. One summer, we were headed to Canada to go climbing. We drove way too late into the night and decided to crash (sleep) in the massive Sun Valley parking lot. Not a car in it. Sleep was not to be had. In the wee morning hours, some rental cop banged on our van and yelled, "Hey you can't sleep here; this is a private lot." It was the closest I have ever come to killing someone. I remember yelling, "Do you like your job? Do you enjoy rousting people in the middle of the night for no reason? Do you brag to your friends that you kicked somebody out of an empty parking lot?"

There were other confrontations.

While commuting back and forth to Denver for graduate work, there were countless futile attempts to drive back to Snowmass after some late night seminar. One night, I crashed out in the parking lot at the trailhead east of Eisenhower Tunnel. I was awakened by an insanely bright light that I thought was a flying saucer about to beam me up. (I hear they do nefarious things to people inside those spaceships.) It was a Colorado State Patroller with his searchlight on my truck. My reaction was only slightly more subdued than the one above (He had a gun). Once again, I remember asking questions in a loud voice. This time, I inquired if he would prefer I fall asleep driving and just kill someone. I didn't ask him about his choice of job occupations (see gun above).

Then there was the job interview in Steamboat at Colorado Mountain College. It was some sort of holiday, and there were no campsites anywhere within a hundred miles. We chose a trailhead parking lot that said "No camping." I ask you, is sleeping in your vehicle really camping? Isn't that something you do with a picnic table, a tent, a campfire, marshmallows, and a view — not in a pull-out? Why is sleeping in your vehicle so upsetting to so many people (like Pitkin County commissioners?). There were two or three other scofflaws in that lot that night. At first light, I was closing the top of the van and — "poof" — there was Ranger Rick writing tickets to weary travelers who desperately needed to sleep somewhere for the night. It was a $100 fine.

In Old Snowmass, there is more than one secret camping area. The Pitkin County Sheriff's Department and U.S. Forest Service law enforcement know about them. I am not going to tell you where they are, but enough people know about them that they can get crowded on the Fourth of July, Jazz Aspen, and the various hunting seasons. As a homeowner in Old Snowmass, I think it's pretty cool we can still let people camp for free. Is that weird or what? I have also never heard any of my neighbors complain. Is it just the residents of Woody Creek and the east side of Aspen that are hyper persnickety?

I really loathe one-size fits all codes, rules, laws, etc. The Pitkin County Road and Bridge website tells me that there are 254 miles of public roads in Pitkin County, including such ungentrified areas such as Avalanche Creek, Redstone, Capitol and Snowmass Creek roads, Sopris Creek, Woody Creek, etc.

Are we next? Rules beget rules. Are the county commissioners going to commit our tax dollars to law enforcement to patrol these areas to make sure people aren't "camping" on the sides of any road?

Good on Francie Jacober for resisting such a short-sighted draconian rule. Let's hope Kelly McNicholas Kury and Patti Clapper will follow through on their initial reluctance and vote "no" on the unnecessary adoption of mean-spirited rules in Pitkin County.