Anyone around here been staying at Illium for the past few years?
Anyone stayed exclusively at Illium consistently?
Has anyone tried the other campgrounds and found they preferred Illium?
:8
Been at Illium the last four years. Planning on staying there again this year, and unless I get lucky with TP in the lottery sometime, I’ll be staying there for the foreseeable future. It’s lots of fun down there.
Good question, Is it better than Lawson Hill?
I dunno, having never stayed there before. We’ve never considered Lawson for camping because of the lack of shade. I love being able to crawl under a tree at Illium if it gets too sunny.
Starting in 2000, I stayed in Sheep’s Corral for 4 years (which was just down the road from Mary E). I really liked it because of all the trees and the river that ran right by. It was kind of a pain packing all your stuff for the day at the festival (i.e. warm clothes for after dark, rain gear, chair, etc). I never wanted to take the time to shuttle all the way back in the middle of the day because I didn’t want to miss any music 
But I liked the serenity of being in the woods.
The next year I camped at Lawson - I really didn’t like it. After that, somehow I’ve managed to get TP tickets, which is the best by far :cheers
I’ve been spoiled over the last few years, being so close to the festival. I decided that if I didn’t TP tickets this year that I would probably try for Warner or the high school, just for the convenience of being close.
Back in the day 1991…stay there had a blast !
except the morning I woke up Hungover and went face first into the River !
Arggh …
:cheers
im not a veteran
this is my first time coming to telluride and ive been trying to come for the last three years
finally was able to afford the tickets and get the time off to make the trek from asheville
theres a good chance im gonna be making the drive to telluride on my own and camping at illium solo. i got an extra ticket and camping pass in hopes that i can find someone to come with me, but… ya never know…
i guess writing in an effort to make some messageboard friends before june so that i can have some people to hang out with, or at least be on the look out for when i get there. ive had great luck meeting people with the sunshine daydream board for festivals in west virginia and thought id give a shot here…
listening to: my psyc463 professor for now…
:wave don’t fret too much Dayton
You’ll find the TBF festivarians to be a very congenial bunch, I gaurantee you’ll make some lifelong friends and connections even if you come solo.
:peace
thanks hippie
im sure that’ll be the case. some of the best friends i have ever made and still have to this day are folks from festivals.
im actually gonna be meeting up with some friends who currently live in nederland who i hadnt seen in a couple years. they got town park camping though so ill definetly be seeing them in the day…
does illium get pretty full with tride attendants?
since i dont know too much about it, my expectations are a nat’l park with trees for shade…
the shade and the potential to be in a natl park is what sold me…
Hola! I posted a couple shots of Mary E. Ilium Campground over here. IMHO I wouldn’t characterize it as a national park - it’s a little rougher than that, and the amount of shade varies with where you set up.
Ilium is where it’s at for me! Expect fun and goodness. Maybe dirty feet too.
It’s as beautiful as a National Park! Telluride, Colorado is actually within the San Juan National Forest (if I’m reading the alas correctly).
Welcome to the insanity Dayton. I’m just down the road in Nashville. :wave Nice to have a neighbor headed in the same direction this June. You’ll have tons of Festival Friends on the road trip home this year and it won’t matter where you’re camping. Illium and all the campgrounds mentioned on the Planet’s web site are for T’ride Festivarians during the festival and TBF Vols. man the campground entrances from open to close of the party.
Looking forward to meetin’ ya!
Auntie Hope :festivarian2 :green
thanks auntie hope and dude
those pics just add some more icing on the cake, maybe some confetti vanilla icing, ya know the good kind with the colored sprinkles…
maaaaannnnnn, i really can’t wait!
…for the music, the tride mountains, and good people having a good time!
is illium a reasonable bike ride away from the fest?
i was thinking about bringing my bike if that is the case…
I wouldn’t want to bike it after the festival at night, but it would probably be doable during the day. Just long and a lot of uphill.
I’ll go out on a limb and say that most people would find it unreasonable.
Of course that depends on your definition of “reasonable”. If you’re tuned to riding narrow busy mountain roads at 9,000 ft for say 10 - 20 miles one way (how far out is Ilium, any way?) in the heat of the day and the chill of the night while there are 10,000 people partying in the immediate area, then it might not be unreasonable for you.
But you’d be missing out on the shuttles and meeting new people.
I think its only 6 miles… but its uphill both ways 
it’s not advisable…
It is possible if you are a veteran trail rider, but the elevation is the “x factor”…
I wouldn’t advise the ride back in the dark…that could be a recipe for some serious injury.
thanks ya’ll, that really answers my question
and i wasn’t thinkin about meeting people on the shuttle either,cause i want to be doing that, so, maybe leave the bike at home and ride the shuttle instead… sounds good to me
:wave I’ll keep my eye out for ya! The fam and I are all about meeting new folks! :wave
We should all wear shirts or name tags with our “forumn names” at the festival
Then when we see Dayton (for instance) almost passed out on the bus we can say: Now arent you glad you didnt ride that bike?