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?

[Tal_IL]

Been bear hunting in Canada a couple of times. We slept in a tent for a week each time. All food was stored and all cooking/eating was done in a second tent about 50 feet away.

[nineoaks2004]

TNGW1500SE wrote:
Throw a pound of bacon on top of the neighbors RV???

I don't know but I'd be worried about it too.

Years ago in the 40's in Blue Ridge MTS. my uncle and a Park Ranger did just that to some unruly "guests" they hung the bacon on the tent, the "guests" were gone the next morning.

[drsteve]

We had bears outside our tent nearly every night while camping in the backcountry in Michigan's Porcupine Mountains. Food was hanging high in a tree a hundred or so yards away, so they never bothered us.

We did find out that squirrels can walk right down the rope to your chow, though...

[afidel]

seaeagle2 wrote:
In some areas the bears get in cars even if they're locked. They have issues like someone left a box of donuts in a black Civic. For the next week, every black Civic gets broken into by the bears.

Saw a Suzuki Swift opened up like a tin can, owner left a big bag of pistachios in the vehicle, black bear decided they wanted them, put their claws at the top door seal and pulled back. Glass shatters and they can get in and grab the tasty food. Looked like this:



That same trip we had a black bear come within about a foot of our tent, no food as it was in the bear boxes and nothing scented in the tent. He was just mozying through camp. He took off like a rocket when the neighbors dog started barking, fastest I've ever seen a bear move and that includes a mother Grizzly running from a kill in Yellowstone when a big male came around.

[TyroneandGladys]

[MrWizard]

don't goto bed smelling like fruit
don't use sweet fruity smelling soaps and shampoos
nothing berry or fruity, on you or in the pup

one july night at Mount Lassen, I saw Deer tearing up a campsite eating bread and veggies, standing on the picnic table
and beating the cooler with their hooves, until they broke it

[seaeagle2]

In some areas the bears get in cars even if they're locked. They have issues like someone left a box of donuts in a black Civic. For the next week, every black Civic gets broken into by the bears.

[DC8Captain]

I live in the Denver area and camped in a PUP for over 12 years before getting a TT. I had the same question when I first bought the PUP too. There are no guarantees in life but we never had a problem with bears. Yes they occasionally walked through our campground in the middle of the night, never stopping though. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife keeps a close watch on bears and if one becomes a nuisance in a campground they trap and relocate the bear ASAP. Just follow the recommendations listed here. Besides food be sure to not keep toothpaste or other things that have an odor in the PUP.

Have a great trip

Dale

[donkeydew]

eat lots of salty food,the bears like their food salted.
i would make a phone call before towing to be sure they will allow pop-ups
its a long ways to go to get turned away and no reservation any where else.

[toedtoes]

The fridge in the pup should be fine. Contrary to common belief, bears get into many ice chests not because of smell but because they recognize that ice chests tend to hold good things to eat (think Yogi Bear and the "I see a pic-a-nic basket"). The fridge is not commonly recognized by bears at this point.

You should be fine with the porta-potty, but it wouldn't hurt to just call up the ranger station and ask them to verify. They may have some practical suggestions for you as to placement, etc.

When storing food in the TV, make sure everything is covered. Again, bears can easily identify an ice chest as "potential food source" and will go for it even if they can't smell anything. In some areas, the bears now recognize cars as a potential food source - so watch the notices at the campground and follow the guidelines.

Other than that, don't worry. Just keep your site cleaned up. Dump your garbage every evening before going to bed. Once at a campground where I was staying, a kid had left her empty juicebox on the picnic table. That was enough to bring the bear in for a good inspection of the campsite.

If a bear does enter your campsite, making loud noises (banging pots and pans) is usually all it takes to get it to leave if you've done everything right (not leaving food, etc., out).

Oh, and lock the doors to your TV. A friend has a cabin in a bear area. One evening, she heard some noise outside and found that a bear had climbed into her (empty) car to check it out. The door was unlocked. As the bear moved around inside, the movement caused the door to shut, locking the bear into the car. When the rangers came out, there was a lot of "no you do it!" discussion while they watched the bear tear up the car - no one really wanted to be the person to open the car door. Fortunately, the bear finally got the door opened himself and left in a bad mood. The car was totaled. Had she locked the door, the bear wouldn't have gone into the car in the first place.

[Dennis12]

Practice screaming. That's how we lost my Husband-in-law. Husband-in-law ??? That's the guy who married my Ex-wife

[NCWriter]

We were in RMNP Moraine Park CG last month and flyers were posted everywhere including bathroom doors saying there were bears seen in the CG, with reminders of the guidelines.

Tent campers (not young people, probably in late 50s or older) across from our site were traveling with relatives in an RV In the next site over. They all came back mid-evening, cooked dinner, and ignored the guidelines to put boxes in the trunk, not visible in the car itself. They also left a cooler, cooking pots and other items on the RV site's picnic table. A bear came along in the night, opened the tent site's car door to remove a food storage box inside, and proceeded to have a picnic. His dusty paw marks were visible next to the door handle.

I came out to walk the dog at 5:30 a.m. and there was trash all over their campsite. The tent woman later said they heard noises but were afraid to go out. She emerged later in the night to go to the bathroom and saw car door standing open and a coyote nearby finishing beef jerky the bear left behind. I wish people could just follow park rules so the bears don't become acclimated to people and then pay the price.

It's good to know you are not one of those oblivious people and are thinking ahead. If I were you, I'd just ask the Park Rangers for those items you aren't sure about.

Enjoy RMNP! It's beautiful.

[Crowe]

Keep scented products such as deodorant, toothpaste, etc., in the TV and NEVER use strawberry scented shampoo! I speak from experience on the shampoo part! If the bears are active, it's also a good idea not to wear clothes you have cooked in or spilled food on inside the tent. Most likely you'll have no issue but if you are nervous ask at the kiosk when you check in for further suggested precautions.

[drsteve]

RMNP has no grizzlies, only black bears. While they can be a nuisance, they are generally shy and very unlikely to attack people. Follow common sense precautions and you'll be fine.

RMNP bear safety guidelines

[garyhaupt]

Yes..long before there were RV's...there were tents and even just sleeping on the ground under a tarp. Most of all..keep a clean campsite. Don't cook a bunch of meat then leave the grill just sitting there.


Gary Haupt