“Everyone hates you.”
“You are RUINING public lands.”

These are a few of the kinder comments I’ve received since launching Here to Camp. And honestly? I get it.

The dispersed camping community has spent years quietly loving these places — finding hidden spots, leaving no trace, protecting what they discovered. The last thing they want is someone like me handing out a map to the masses and profiting from it. To anyone who feels that way: I hear you, and I’ve thought about this deeply.

Today I want to share my perspective on why I feel obliged to put this information out there — even while knowing many in the camping community would be initially against it.

The Real Threat Isn’t More Campers

The threat to your secret spot isn’t me, or the masses finding out about dispersed camping. The real problem is that not enough people love these places to fight for them.

Right now, public lands across the country are under a real threat — not from campers, but from political and economic forces moving to strip protections, open up protected spaces, and remove these places from public hands entirely. And the only defense against that threat is more people — more voices, more stewards, more people like you and me. Those who have stood at the edge of an alpine lake at sunrise, who have watched a thunderstorm roll across a canyon from a ridgeline, who have sat around a fire in a meadow so quiet you can hear the creek a quarter mile away. People who know, in their bones, what we stand to lose if these lands are taken from us. That’s who fights. That’s who shows up.

Our Bigger Vision

But preventing the loss of protected land is just the first step. We need to protect what we have AND fight for more — more wilderness, more open space, more places like your favorite spot that exist free from development and exploitation. Think of it this way: right now we’re all fighting over the same small pie. What we should be doing is fighting to make that pie bigger — more land protected, more places preserved, more areas to truly connect with the beauty of nature.

Why We Do What We Do

We can’t win that fight by keeping the outdoors a secret — and that’s exactly why I started Here to Camp. Get people out there. Make dispersed camping more accessible, easier to find, and let the great outdoors do the rest (we all know how amazing dispersed camping is!). People who have felt what we feel out there, don’t need to be convinced to protect these places. They’ll fall in love and become passionate about them, just like we did. They just need to find them first.

That is my ultimate goal, to make dispersed camping more accessible, so more folks experience the pure beauty of nature, and then help us protect it for generations to come. Now, I fully sympathize with the feelings of having someone else show up at your favorite spot, but to me it’s bigger than that. By sharing dispersed camping, it’s a way to get kids outside, to help busy, disconnected people fall in love with public lands the same way you and I did — and in doing so, grow our collective voice to protect these lands.

But enjoyment without responsibility isn’t enough. As we welcome more people into these spaces, we have an obligation to teach them how to be there — Leave No Trace principles, fire safety, respecting wildlife, packing out what you pack in. Growing this community means growing a culture of stewardship, not just access. Every new person we bring out here is either someone who will care for these places, or someone who won’t. That’s on all of us to get right.

A Short Backstory

I showed up to Colorado in 2017 with a dream in my heart and an image in my mind. I pictured myself in a tent, along a river, wildflowers everywhere, drastic peaks in the background and the dinging of my phone notifications muted by my remote location. It was a really nice yet naive thought. Every campground within two hours of Denver was booked solid. I didn’t know dispersed camping existed, let alone how to find it. A friend pointed me toward a spot outside Allenspark, and that was it — I was hooked.

Over the next few years I fell completely in love with public lands, not just as a place to camp, but as something worth caring for and protecting. This business is my attempt to do for others what that friend did for me. To open a door that most people don’t even know is there.

How You Can Help Us

So let’s stop fighting over who can experience dispersed camping. Instead, grab your neighbor. Grab a friend. Show them what you see out there and how to experience the pure joy, beauty, and peace that comes from the outdoors. Teach them to leave it better than they found it. Bring them into our community — because we need them.

Protecting these lands isn’t somewhere down the road, and it isn’t someone else’s problem. It’s happening right now — decisions are being made today that will determine what exists tomorrow. It’s up to us. You and me. We need people who are emotionally invested, who will make calls, show up, speak up, and vote like these places matter. The more people who truly love and care for these lands, the louder our voice when we fight to protect them. And then, together, we can make a real difference.

I’m so glad you’re also HERE TO CAMP!