One more thing, we are arriving Thursday as soon as possible, driving in early from Denver. Do you think we will be able to find a place to set up our tent or do you have any advice. I’m a bit worried. It’s just two of us.
If it’s just 2 of you, you’ll be fine but you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for open spots. By that time what might look like too small of a spot at first glance could work. Ask around, this is a friendly crew and they’ll point you in the right direction.
If you get there and can’t find anyone to help, come look me up at Camp Trailer Smash in Bear Creek near the waterfall. If I’m not around, just respond to this thread or send me a PM and I’ll keep an eye out for your message. I PMed you my cell number as well :thumbsup
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Dumb question here but was wondering if there were any posted schedule for shows inside town park late night?
If I do not have a TBGF ticket, can I still camp in Town Park from Saturday-Wednesday? I plan to leave Telluride on Thursday morning. Thanks for explaining!
Although people can visit Town Park during that period it’s quite likely you will be asked to leave by Wednesday without a wristband. :cheers
This will be my second year coming to Telluride for the Bluegrass Festival and camping in Town Park. Last year we got there late Wednesday and barely found a spot to put our tents. This year, we are not messing around. We plan to be there bright and early Saturday for the land rush.
Question: since we are planning to arrive in town on Friday before the land rush, what is our best option for accommodations before Town Park opens to campers? If we arrive on Friday, would we be able to camp out in Town Park overnight before the rush? Or should we plan to find an AirBnB or something in town for Friday night?
Good call. You will not be disappointed. While I love the festival, pre-fest Saturday to Wednesday are my favorite days.
Town Park is usually full with ABGATers that Friday, so there won’t be spots available. You’d need to talk to camps and ask if they have free space. With 2 people and 1 small tent, that may be feasible.
In the past, I’ve camped outside Telluride, as far away as Ridgway state park, slept in my car at the end of the valley (not recommended/legal), or stayed at motels outside town to save money (e.g. Montrose, Norwood). Lately I haven’t wanted to do the early morning drive and have enjoyed “one last night in a bed”, so have been finding a place in town. AirBnBs can be tough to find for 1 night. I’ve stayed at the Mountainside Inn and find it comfortable for a reasonable price.
What a GREAT overview of TP camping! One thing to add for TBF rookies: You can NOT buy bottles of water at the fest. Water is FREE so bring something to fill up. Water spray bottles are also handy during the hot afternoons!
Sustainable Festy tips from @whiskeypondlnt ! https://instagram.com/whiskeypondlnt?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
We’ve been lucky enough to make friends with so many Cleanest Campsite Challenge winners, and we won in 2019! It’s been a long time coming to use those prize tickets, and we’re stoked to see your sustainable selves soon 
In the spirit of Leave No Trace, we present our best fest tips with the 7 LNT principles: https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/
Plan ahead and Prepare
This one is big for us. Sure, we start planning for the following year somewhere around Saturday afternoon of the fest, but you can get started now, too. Check the recommended packing list to see what folks bring.
Shop reclaimed and second hand for gear, borrow when available, and use what you have. We learned the hard way that a cheap camp chair is just that, and it’ll break soon and have to be tossed. When possible, pick durable repairable equipment and keep it functioning.
Repair your busted stuff - there’s likely still life in it, and delaying replacement saves resources. Someone in your campground probably knows how to fix it, too - there are a ton of ingenious folk all around. The number of engineers and duct tape wizards continues to surprise me. (Broken tent pole? Bring a beer + said pole to Whiskey Pond and the Frogs will show you our beer-tent-fix.)
Pack your supplies to minimize waste - sure PB had done a phenomenal job of building a sustainable fest, but it’s important to consider doing the most with less - so theres less waste for the Sustainable Festivation folk have fewer dumpsters to haul out. Take stuff out of the box that you’re gonna toss when you get there, don’t overpack food that’s gonna go to waste, coordinate with your group to bring unduplicated supplies, and plan to carry your stuff back home with you.
Pack reusable dishes and wash up daily instead of using throwaway plates/cups/bowls/forks/spoons.
Carpool! PB + Mountainsmith even have a prize for carpool camps - it’s so easy, you might as well enter: https://www.facebook.com/planetbluegrass/photos/a.95448836539/10158231015136540/?type=3. There’s limited parking, you’re not gonna drive around during the fest anyway, and holy mackerel gas is so expensive.
Invariably we forget something. The first place we shop? The free box in town. This box is legendary for giving goddess walk dresses, work briefcases, mountain biking shoes, boatin shorts, vintage Patagonia polypro, spare tent walls, kitchen organizers, gifts for the baby shower you skipped to festivate… but also be sure that you’re NOT planning to ditch all your single use bigbox gear there on your way out. Real people have to maintain the box and it’s a lot of work to clear out unwanted “donations”.
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
PB has a lot of this in the bag already - we’re limiting impact in Zone 1 and there’s revegetation happening, too. Respect the reveg areas and don’t trample plants.
When hanging your hammocks/awnings/camp signage, take care to hang from established trees, and consider padding your anchors and bike locks and whatnot if they’re going to rub thin bark.
When traipsing around camp, stick to the established paths!
Consider a kitchen floor in your camp family room - less dust, and less scuffing the grass means it will bounce back faster.
Dispose of Waste Properly
There will be trash, recycling, and compost bins throughout campsites and the festival, and the Susty Festy peeps are great at helping you figure out what goes where. This is easy. On your end, just keep your trash, recycling, and compost sorted and buttoned down in your camp - so it doesn’t blow away or get invaded by critters.
Some stuff isn’t recyclable in our local MRF (materials recovery facility, aka recycling plant BUT it is reclaimable material.
Camp Trailer Smash (LNT Campsite winners in 2018!), for example, is collecting ice bags and plastic film. The MRF doesn’t like it because the bags get wrapped around the equipment, causing frequent shutdowns, but the material IS recyclable!
Whiskey Pond and Trailer Smash will be hosting a number of Terracycle bins for hard to recycle materials, likely including batteries, earplugs, bottle caps, corks, snack/bar wrappers and more. Look for details on the corner by the waterfall and also on @whiskeypondlnt on Instagram.
Come chat recycling / sustainability / LNT nerd stuff with us when you see us!
This also means pee and poop in the portapotties (or the real porcelain when you get a chance). Don’t put trash in the portapotties.
Wash your dishes in the designated area for your campsite.
Leave What You Find
You’re in the most incredible box canyon for 4-20 days, and there are suddenly loads of people all together. Know that impacts multiply quickly, and leave your campsite, trails, and exploration areas as undisturbed as possible.
Minimize Campfire Impacts
PB has this one buttoned up, too. No campfires in the campsites, but (unless there are fire bans) propane fire bowls are allowed when attended by an adult. Be super careful with these for both the safety of campers around you and also the health of the nature we’re camping in.
Respect Wildlife
Not only does this mean “don’t pet the big game” if you encounter a critter, but also keep your kitchen tidy so as not to attract hungry nature. Close your snacks, put stuff back in your kitchen bins and coolers, and keep the squirrels from drinking all your booze.
Be Considerate of Others
We’re all here to have a good time, and this is a community that’s super good at looking out for each other. This one I know y’all got figured out already. xoxo whiskeypondlnt
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Jen these are absolutely incredible tips, thank you for taking the time to put this together. I’ve linked to this comment in my main post and have called out more attention to LNT and the Hippie Jerry Campsite Challenge. We won in 2018, Whiskey Pond won in 2019, who will win in 2022!?
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This info is top notch Lucas! Not much to change for 2023. Has there been any confirmation on how Landrush will be handled this year? With another year of Z1 passes, I’m guess they’ll separate the two landrushes again. That seemed to cause a cluster of problems especially for the people waiting for primitive and regular campground. If I remember correctly they had some sort of lottery for landrush line numbers???
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Here’s precisely what Planet Bluegrass has communicated about all of that:
Remember, the Town Park Campground opens to Bluegrass Campers on Saturday, June 10th, 2023. There will be a random lottery lineup and load in for Zone 1 and Town Park, just like last year. You can expect the Zone 1 lineup and load in to begin in the morning on June 10th and the Town park lineup and load in to begin in the afternoon on June 10th. We will send out more details and specific timings as we get closer!
In the meantime, we wanted to share some information for those of you hoping to camp with the Town of Telluride in Town Park, prior to Bluegrass takeover. If you’re not planning to do this, then you don’t need to worry about anything below!
Just like last year, if you have purchased a site from the Town of Telluride for Friday June 9th, you will be allowed to remain in that site through Bluegrass takeover on Saturday afternoon. REMEMBER - this only applies to designated Town Park Campground sites. If you want to camp in Zone 1, Primitive beyond the existing sites, or outside any designated site boundary, you will need to participate in our lottery load in.
Sounds pretty darn similar to last year which left a little to be desired but I also couldn’t come up with a better way to do it myself given that the campground itself remains under the town’s control until 2pm on Saturday when all non-TBF campers need to be out of there.
It’s not that bad. We always leave town at about 1pm.
2023 hard-to-recycle items update!
Tribute + Whiskey Pond have TWO hard-to-recycle stations this year!
We’re collecting
- green propane canisters (preferably empty but also can take partials)
- isopro/isobutane canisters (we have a crunch-it for the truly empty and can also take partials)
- batteries
- plastic film (ice bags & whatnot)
- foil lined wrappers (bars, some chips, and similar)
Recycle your things and spread the word!
PS, we might have an answer about how to recycle other things you’d like to recycle! Send questions to me and/or Cathy 
