Boyd Lake State Park – Vacationers planning to make camping a part of their holiday weekend can expect full campgrounds and a record number of cars on the roads.
“It’s going to be mad,” said Chuck Hood, a camp host at Boyd Lake near Loveland. “We’re full. People are not going to find a place.”
Most state parks were booked up a week and a half before the Fourth of July weekend.
As of Thursday, six of the state’s 41 parks had open spots.
Jeff Glazaway of Louisville decided to take his family to Boyd Lake during the week to avoid the weekend traffic on the roads and on the lake.
“This place is usually packed,” said Glazaway, who did not have to make reservations to stay during the workweek. “We thought if we could sneak up during the week, we would enjoy it here.”
Kyle Patterson, spokeswoman for Rocky Mountain National Park, said she expects the 577 campsites to be full by today.
As of Thursday afternoon, only Park County state parks were under fire bans. Only propane grills or stoves with an on-and-off fuel switch are permitted.
Campers are reminded to check each individual park’s rules and regulations on fires.
Fireworks are not allowed in national forests and in state and national parks and can carry a $1,000 fine.
Lyle Laverty, director of Colorado State Parks, said most parks were in good shape for the fire season because of a wet June.
“We want people to be safe,” Laverty said, telling campers to restrict fires to designated sites.
AAA is expecting the long weekend to be the busiest holiday weekend ever for the roads.
The automobile association is forecasting nearly 34 million travelers on the road, a 2.6 percent increase from last July Fourth.
“This long weekend will actually put more American vacationers on the road than even the granddaddy of holiday travel weekends – Thanksgiving,” said Sandra Barnes, AAA Colorado’s travel director.
Stacey Stegman, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said most construction will be halted from noon today until 5 a.m. Tuesday to avoid affecting the holiday traffic.
Last July, more than 1 million vehicles went through the Eisenhower Tunnel on Interstate 70.
More than 168,000 cars went through the tunnel last July Fourth weekend, and Stegman said CDOT expects this year’s number to be higher.
Staff writer Christopher Ortiz can be reached at 303-820-1201 or cortiz@denverpost.com.
