New day use fees and reservable campgrounds coming to White River National Forest

With the summer season beginning in White River National Forest, forest officials are alerting the public to changes coming this year to improve site management and visitor experience.  

New day use fees will be charged at several sites that are now being operated by the White River National Forest’s new campground concessionaire, American Land and Leisure. An $8 per-vehicle day use fee is currently in place at the Difficult Day Use area south of Aspen and will be in effect later this summer at Rocky Fork Day Use area near Ruedi Reservoir and Yeoman Day Use site south of Eagle. 

American Land and Leisure will add these to the sites they manage, which includes cleaning and pumping the bathrooms, maintaining signs and replacing features like tables and fire rings to bring them up to standard. 

“Having the concessionaire manage these sites will help ensure they are more frequently cleaned and maintained, which will lead to a better experience for visitors,” said Paula Peterson, a recreation program manager with the U.S. Forest Service.

American Land and Leisure offers a day-use season pass for those who frequently visit the White River National Forest’s day-use sites for $150. Those interested should call American Land and Leisure at 801-226-3564. 

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By midsummer, visitors will be able to make reservations at Recreation.gov to camp at two additional campgrounds: South Fork Campground west of Meeker and Yeoman Park Campground south of Eagle. Yeoman will maintain Loop B on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

And also by midsummer, visitors will be able to pay for day-use sites as well as first-come, first-serve campsites on-site using the Recreation.gov mobile app. Visitors need to download the app at Recreation.gov while they have cellular coverage before going to the site. 

For a complete list of developed sites visit FS.usda.gov/whiteriver.