Many hands make light work! Check the info about volunteering, learn more about the teams and roles, and sign up for volunteer shifts. We have so many volunteer spots left, so if you sign up early, you’ll get your pick of a shift that works just for you!
Work shifts run from 1-3 hours and are a great way to meet other campers, enjoy the space, and find out about all the fun activities going on over the weekend.
<3 We can’t wait to camp with you, queers!
We would love for you to join us for a weekend of fun, camping, community, and nature!
We are doing a tiered registration process:
This tiered registration allows us to make Queer Campout more accessible to queer folx for whom camping is often inaccessible.
All Queer campers who want to join us for Queer Campout, click here to register!
May 20-23 and July 8-11
Subscribe to our email list to be notified when registration opens.
To prevent our emails from going to your spam folder, please add the following email address to your contacts, and ideally, create a rule or filter for this address:
Thank you for making Queer Campout such a great success this year! We want to share the feedback we got from the Sunday morning planning session (8/15) and post-event survey. Here’s what we learned…
What went well
The majority of folks shared that the main motivation in coming to Queer Campout was to connect with other queer folks…and we feel like this was a success! Folks had the opportunity to see old friends and make new ones.
For us organizers, having folks pre-register was a huge help, as was having volunteers sign up in advance. We’ll definitely do that again for future campouts.
The gate greeters were a huge success! Folks felt welcomed and that helped set the tone for the weekend.
The community fire we had on Saturday night was a hit as well. We may start doing one on Friday as well.
Campsites were left in great shape! Y’all did an excellent job disposing of trash and taking all your stuff with you. We didn’t have a lost and found box to bring back with us.
No one had an encounter with the mamma bear and cub that were reported to be in the area—phew!
The weather was beautiful!
Folks enjoyed the privacy of the campground and being surrounded by trees (though more shade would be nice.)
Your donations helped cover the cost of this event and then some! We have enough left over to buy some much-needed equipment and to cover the campground rental fee for the next event.
What we can improve or do more of
Folks felt that 4-hour work shifts were way too long, and we agree! In the future, work shifts will be 1-2 hours long, and for some positions we’ll have two folks working together. We’ll also have thorough descriptions of what each position entails, what tasks need to get done when (e.g. we need someone to safely store away the shared food in the Community Pavilion every night).
We had a ton of leftover firewood, and shared food and water. None of it went to waste though! The food and water were donated to the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico, and the firewood was left behind for the next group of campers. Nonetheless, we’ll try to coordinate so that we have fewer leftovers at the next event.
We’ll adjust the quiet hours so that folks in Rowdy Town can stay up making noise later, and sleep in the next morning.
Several folks asked for more structured activities planned ahead of time to provide opportunities for folks to meet and interact with each other. Some proposed ideas include hikes, potlucks, yoga, and specific get-to-know-you activities; as well as ways to integrate folks who may be camping alone, are shy, introverted, new to queer community or camping, etc.
We’ll be better prepared for handling emergencies—we’ll develop a plan for what to do in different severity scenarios, from minor scrapes to major injuries, and how to avoid attracting bears and other wildlife.
We want to find ways to streamline the registration process—how do we make it easy and accessible while also thorough and secure?
Now that we’re more used to living in a pandemic, we’ll be better able to begin organizing earlier and more efficiently (with a shared calendar, leadership roles and assignments, etc.)
Thank you for making August ‘21 Queer Campout a success!
Registration is now open for Queer Campout in August. We’ll be camping from Friday the 13th to Monday the 16th. You’re welcome to camp for just one night or the entire weekend, or just stop by for a day visit. Check out our FAQ page for details. Registration will close on August 1st.
Over the next few weeks, we will be updating our website with information about the event we have planned for this year. Subscribe to our email list if you want to receive the news in your inbox!
After careful consideration, and in light of the ongoing COVID-19 developments, we are postponing Queer Campout to 2021.
We remain excited to host you next year and will get back to you with more information. Receiving announcements by email is the best way to stay in the loop. Click here to subscribe to our mailing list.
We look forward to camping with you next year. Until then, stay safe and healthy!
Planning Meeting for the August 2020 Queer Campout! Want to help make this awesome event happen? If you’d like to be involved in any part of organizing, this meeting is the place to come do that. Come talk about it!
When: July 12, 2020 12:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tf–trjgvGNGGHn8Yb-5ekFzkDrb7nAiO
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
BIG UPDATE:
Hey everybody! Yesterday Kat received an email that our campsite reservation had been cancelled and that our money was being refunded. This was devastating. We did not want to cancel Queer Camp Out! We sprung to action to figure out what the hell had happened and figure out a plan B. We later found out that there is a small fire 4 miles up the road and that our original location is now basecamp for the firefighters for the next two weeks.
It was a rough night. We looked at all the public group campsites in New Mexico and found out that they had all been booked in advance. We found a few private campsites that lacked toilets and considered them, but we didn’t have time to ensure their safety for our people.
Matie and Jess drove up to Paliza this morning. After a lot of communication, charm, persistence, and support from our favorite camp-host, we have worked out a solution. The campground up the road is a first come, first served site that does not usually allow private camping – but they have kindly agreed to reserve the north loop of the campsite for us to hold a private event. This is the best possible outcome we could hope for.
Big Points:
This event is being made possible through the spirit of compromise and flexibility. We acknowledge that this alternate venue is not completely ideal, and we would love to offer campers more room with more privacy, but this is the very best outcome we were able to negotiate in this last minute crisis. Since the alternative was cancelling it altogether, we ask for your help in making this gathering the best it can be!
We’ll be posting some updates on expectations and values later tonight!
https://www.facebook.com/events/415438972601985/
Planning Meeting for the May Queer Campout! Want to help make this awesome event happen? If you’d like to be involved in any part of organizing, this meeting is the place to come do that. Want to make an opening ceremony, lead a hike, organize some games? Got something special you want to bring or would like to see? Come talk about it!
Potluck & great company! (please label your ingredients for food sensitive folks!)
Thursday, May 9th
6-9 pm
Self Serve’s awesome new classroom space!
112 Morningside NE
no need to RSVP, just show up!