Council talks Taylor campsite management, future directions

The City of Gunnison is seeking new partners for the management of the Campfire Ranch on the Taylor camping site near Almont following the unexpected dissolution of Campfire Ranch LLC, the city’s former partner in managing the campground.

As Gunnison Mayor Diego Plata explained at a July 7 city council meeting, the city initiated a partnership with Campfire Ranch to manage the campground, with the most recent contract between the two set to end in 2028.

However, he said, Campfire Ranch dissolved in June, leaving the city with management challenges for the campground.

Parks and Recreation Director Dan Vollendorf said that, since the dissolution, Gunnison has been working to honor the approximately 120 previous reservations made through Campfire Ranch and answering questions, including concerns about whether the campground was closed or their reservations were voided.

He said that city staff have also done upkeep at the campsite; emptying trash cans, cleaning bathrooms and posting which guests are reserved for which campsites.

Vollendorf said that he wanted to ensure the council was comfortable with this direction and to get the council’s direction on managing the site for the 2027 season, especially since it has received inquiries from local businesses about the next steps for the campground.

Mayor Pro Tem Marisela Ballesteros asked whether the campsite is still taking reservations for the 2026 season or whether the city is only honoring previous reservations while not allowing new ones.

Vollendorf said that the city is allowing people without previous reservations to use open spots in the campground but has not established a reservation system as it currently lacks a fee schedule for the campground.

The city has not received many inquiries from people interested in camping at the site, he said.

Ballesteros said that Campfire provided gear to campers to allow them to set up their tents and asked if the city is also doing this or if it needs to establish a partnership with another organization to provide this service.

Vollendorf said that the city is currently not providing any equipment or firewood to campers.

“Not saying that we couldn’t, but that’s not how we’re operating at the moment,” he said.

“Frankly, I’ll just sort of say on the record my disappointment in how this has all transpired, and frankly the lack of messaging and the rapidity of that messaging when it did and didn’t happen is quite shocking to me,” said Councilor Loren Ahonen. “So not really a great demonstration of a strong partnership, but not by the city, by the other parties involved and so I appreciate, Dan, you leaning in personally to try and pick up that staff.”

Ahonen and Plata both voiced support for moving forward with managing the campsite in a “bare bones” manner for the time being, given the limited resources available.

Ballesteros asked whether Campfire Ranch had an agreement to work with the U.S. Forest Service, including pine beetle mitigation, around the park.

Vollendorf said that Campfire Ranch did complete placing pheromone packets to mitigate pine beetles before it left the property and that the city would keep picking up these packets.

Ballesteros asked again about whether it is currently possible for guests to reserve campsites.

Vollendorf said that he is currently attempting to manage camping at the site to ensure that groups do not overlap or seek conflicting sites, which does involve taking inquiries and reserving spaces for groups.

Councilor Matt Schwartz said that he does not believe that the effort involved in collecting minimal fees for the site would be worthwhile and that he felt management of the campsite should continue as the city is currently managing it.

Ballesteros said she would want the opinion of Gunnison County’s Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation (STOR) committee on how to structure fees before moving forward with anything, although she added that fees could be valuable to help maintain the site in the long term.

Councilor Audrey Zahradka, who represents the city on the STOR committee, said that she would look at having the issue placed on the committee’s next agenda.

In response to a question from Ahonen, Ballesteros clarified that she would want STOR’s feedback before the council decided how to manage the site in the future.

Plata and City Attorney Kathleen Fogo said that, at the moment, staff were seeking authorization to put out a request for proposals (RFP) for managing the campsite in 2027.

Schwartz said that his comments about keeping the campsite free and having the city manage it only applied to the remainder of 2026 and that he would want future management to be determined by an RFP process.

The council then unanimously voted to authorize staff to move forward with drafting an RFP managing the campsite in 2027 for the council’s future consideration and approval.