First time camping in bear country in popup.

[TrueBlueKC]

We're heading to RMNP in 2 weeks and staying at East Portal campground in a popup for 3 nights.(Then down to Dillon lake for 2 nights then down to lake Pueblo for a night) I have a couple questions concerning bears.

I know not to cook or eat in the pup and keep a clean site and store food locked in the TV or a bear box. What about using the fridge in the pup?

We usually use a porta-potti in a shower tent and I am thinking that may not be a good idea due to the scent of the chemicals. Should we skip the outhouse?

[Opie431]

We tent camped in bear country for six weeks. We were very careful about food being nowhere except the trunk of the car in a good ice chest, There were other tent campers where we were and none of us had any problems.
Be careful, have good bear spay with everyone. And again, be careful.
When we did dishes we added some bleach to the dishwater so the dishes would not smell like food. Do not dispose of dishwater near popup.
And we did see bear within a mile of the campground.

[covered_wagon]

I encountered a grizzly close up in the rockies. You think they're big, wait till you see one 10 feet away. Your heart will be pounding. You turn into a real good actor in those moments, like your not afraid and they're no big deal. Nothing could be further from the truth but it worked while he left me alone I dawdled around some more before slowly walking back the way I came.

[drsteve]

TrueBlueKC wrote:


We'll have our dog with us and she barks at every critter that comes near us, so I'm a tad worried about moose as mentioned. I've heard they can be aggressive toward dogs. I'd love to see a moose but not in the wrong situation. We'll just watch from a good safe distance.

Moose are notoriously ill-tempered and aggressive towards everything, including humans. You definitely want to keep a respectful distance.

[TrueBlueKC]

Thanks for all the information folks. I think we'll go with the bacon on the neighbors roof trick for an added entertainment on our vacation. Seriously though, with all the activities in the area, we may not be cooking at camp at all. We will have snacks and dog food for sure though that'll go in the crew cab covered with a blanket.

I'm aware of campgrounds elsewhere that have restrictions on pop-ups but I think we're good on this one. This is from their website; "The maximum for all sites is six people; one camping unit (for example: RV camper, pop-up, fifth wheel, truck camper, etc.) with one additional tent or two tents with no camping units."

We'll have our dog with us and she barks at every critter that comes near us, so I'm a tad worried about moose as mentioned. I've heard they can be aggressive toward dogs. I'd love to see a moose but not in the wrong situation. We'll just watch from a good safe distance.

[susan-y]

RPreeb wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:

susan-y wrote:
Most of the "bear" places I camp do not allow soft sided rv's. Have you checked to make sure you can camp there? I'm with the bacon on your neighbor trick 😉

Sorry, but have to call you out on that statement. Please list them. Everytime somebody makes a claim to that effect in an online forum, someone asks for the specific campgrounds and never once have I seen an answer. That is other than Fishing Bridge at Yellowstone which IMO has nothing to do with bears but more to do with the contracted operator wanting to keep the lowly pop ups, tents, and hybrids away from the in crowd.

Bearphobia running rampant. My house is in bear country lol. I have found a few bear piles in the back yard over the years. I have never had one raid the garbage nor lick the gas grill though. Also one has never ripped our back door off and raided the fridge.

I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do hereby leaveth my bear rifle to whatever finds it. It is a good rifle, and killt the bear that killt me. Anyway, I am dead. Yours truly, Hatchet Jack.

It used to be true in most of Yellowstone, and parts of Glacier from time to time. When my wife and I went to Yellowstone back in the mid 90's, there were soft side restrictions in place on some of the campgrounds.

To say that bears don't tear up cabins and cars when the opportunity presents itself is simply denial. It happens every year in the Rockies, from Canada to New Mexico, and not only when the owner has done something to tempt the bear. My brother-in-law owns a four-plex rental apartment building in the Colorado mountains, and the trash dumpster is raided 2 or 3 times a year by bears, even though it's supposedly "bear-proof".

My last campground where I saw the restriction was 2 weeks ago at a National Forest camp just east of Yellowstone.

[afidel]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

susan-y wrote:
Most of the "bear" places I camp do not allow soft sided rv's. Have you checked to make sure you can camp there? I'm with the bacon on your neighbor trick 😉

Sorry, but have to call you out on that statement. Please list them. Everytime somebody makes a claim to that effect in an online forum, someone asks for the specific campgrounds and never once have I seen an answer. That is other than Fishing Bridge at Yellowstone which IMO has nothing to do with bears but more to do with the contracted operator wanting to keep the lowly pop ups, tents, and hybrids away from the in crowd.

Bearphobia running rampant. My house is in bear country lol. I have found a few bear piles in the back yard over the years. I have never had one raid the garbage nor lick the gas grill though. Also one has never ripped our back door off and raided the fridge.

I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do hereby leaveth my bear rifle to whatever finds it. It is a good rifle, and killt the bear that killt me. Anyway, I am dead. Yours truly, Hatchet Jack.

Russian River, Teklanika, Hyder in Alaska all have seasonal bans on soft sided campers. Lake Louise in Banff has an area for tents and soft sided campers that's ringed with electric fence to keep the bears away. That was in about 45 seconds with Google. I'm sure there are other areas in bear country with similar restrictions.

[RPreeb]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

susan-y wrote:
Most of the "bear" places I camp do not allow soft sided rv's. Have you checked to make sure you can camp there? I'm with the bacon on your neighbor trick 😉

Sorry, but have to call you out on that statement. Please list them. Everytime somebody makes a claim to that effect in an online forum, someone asks for the specific campgrounds and never once have I seen an answer. That is other than Fishing Bridge at Yellowstone which IMO has nothing to do with bears but more to do with the contracted operator wanting to keep the lowly pop ups, tents, and hybrids away from the in crowd.

Bearphobia running rampant. My house is in bear country lol. I have found a few bear piles in the back yard over the years. I have never had one raid the garbage nor lick the gas grill though. Also one has never ripped our back door off and raided the fridge.

I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do hereby leaveth my bear rifle to whatever finds it. It is a good rifle, and killt the bear that killt me. Anyway, I am dead. Yours truly, Hatchet Jack.

It used to be true in most of Yellowstone, and parts of Glacier from time to time. When my wife and I went to Yellowstone back in the mid 90's, there were soft side restrictions in place on some of the campgrounds.

To say that bears don't tear up cabins and cars when the opportunity presents itself is simply denial. It happens every year in the Rockies, from Canada to New Mexico, and not only when the owner has done something to tempt the bear. My brother-in-law owns a four-plex rental apartment building in the Colorado mountains, and the trash dumpster is raided 2 or 3 times a year by bears, even though it's supposedly "bear-proof".

[OldRadios]

Couple of years ago here in upstate NY a black bear ripped one side of a hybrid off during the night in the site just down from me. They had been using their kitchen. The two little kids that had been sleeping on that side I'm betting will never want to go camping again. Smart bear. He came to my site and was pushing on my door. I just turned on the outside light and yelled at him and he wandered off. DEC was there the next day planning to tranquilize him and relocate him.

[Ralph_Cramden]

susan-y wrote:
Most of the "bear" places I camp do not allow soft sided rv's. Have you checked to make sure you can camp there? I'm with the bacon on your neighbor trick 😉

Sorry, but have to call you out on that statement. Please list them. Everytime somebody makes a claim to that effect in an online forum, someone asks for the specific campgrounds and never once have I seen an answer. That is other than Fishing Bridge at Yellowstone which IMO has nothing to do with bears but more to do with the contracted operator wanting to keep the lowly pop ups, tents, and hybrids away from the in crowd.

Bearphobia running rampant. My house is in bear country lol. I have found a few bear piles in the back yard over the years. I have never had one raid the garbage nor lick the gas grill though. Also one has never ripped our back door off and raided the fridge.

I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do hereby leaveth my bear rifle to whatever finds it. It is a good rifle, and killt the bear that killt me. Anyway, I am dead. Yours truly, Hatchet Jack.

[RAS43]

And be sure to close all windows and lock the doors of your vehicle. With the increase in bear(people) problems this year there has been video in the media showing bears opening unlocked doors or breaking partially open windows.

[garyhaupt]

We have a couple bears right in the main areas of Penticton. As a matter of fact...Wal-Mart is a haunt for one of them. For those of you that park there.


Gary Haupt

[RPreeb]

TrueBlueKC wrote:
We're heading to RMNP in 2 weeks and staying at East Portal campground in a popup for 3 nights.(Then down to Dillon lake for 2 nights then down to lake Pueblo for a night) I have a couple questions concerning bears.

I know not to cook or eat in the pup and keep a clean site and store food locked in the TV or a bear box. What about using the fridge in the pup?

We usually use a porta-potti in a shower tent and I am thinking that may not be a good idea due to the scent of the chemicals. Should we skip the outhouse?

I've been living and hiking and camping in Colorado since 1973, and this year I saw a bear for the first time here (I'd seen them in Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, and Canada before). I was up a back road (not quite a Jeep trail), and as I was driving back down I saw a black bear running through a clearing in the woods. He was in sight for all of 5 seconds.

In my opinion, bears are the last thing you need to worry about. Moose are more likely to be around than bears, and they can be cranky. Keep a clean campsite and you should have no problems.

[Thom02099]

A matter of clarification...


The East Portal CG at Estes Park is a commercial campground. It's not in RMNP. It caters to the smaller trailers/tent campers, very few spots for bigger units. As a commercial campground, they also have restrooms there. You may want to check with them to see if the outside potty is even allowed/needed. Also check with the office to see if there have been in bear sightings in that area. It's at the dead end of the road up there, with trails that lead in to the park, so it is somewhat isolated.

Camped there years ago when I had a popup. At that time there were no bear problems in that area. However, this season, all over Colorado, there have been reports of issues with bears, and so far, in this area of northern Colorado, 3 bears have had to be put down, because of close and continued contact with humans.

[campingliz]

California bears not only recognize coolers, but also grocery bags. Guidelines here include hiding any grocery bags that have not food items in them (like sweaters!)

If there is a bear box, use it!! We put our dirty outdoor stove in the bear box, too. Trunk of the car is OK alternative IF there are not bear boxes.

When we used to camp in a hybrid TT (canvas ends) we double bagged everything in the fridge.

Happy Camping!