Volunteers Needed!

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!

Volunteers needed!

General Registration NOW OPEN for Queer Campout in Tijeras on May 20-23

We would love for you to join us for a weekend of fun, camping, community, and nature!

We are doing a tiered registration process:

  • Early registration for BIPOC, Trans feminine/Trans women, and folx with disabilities/disabled folx: Sunday, March 20 to Saturday, April 2nd
  • General registration: Sunday, April 3rd to Friday, May 6
  • Registration closes at the end of day Friday, May 6

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!

2022 Campout Dates Announced!

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:

Graphic with background in pastel green, pink and purple with text that says: Save the date. Queer campout 2022. May 20-23 and July 8-11. There is a graphic of a camping tent with text that says Camping Time.

August ‘21 Queer Campout Report

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!

Queer Campout is postponed to 2021

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!

Second Planning Meeting for Queer Campout 2020!

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.

Important Update for August 2019 Campout!

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:

  • Queer Camp Out is being moved to the Northern Loop of the Paliza Family Campground.
  • We will have less space than we planned but it will be all ours.
  • We imagine the northern loop will feel more like festival-camping with tents closer together.
  • If you are parking your car in the North Loop you do not have to pay the campground for your car. If you want more privacy, quieter camping, or need a generator please camp in any open spot in general camping (south loop and mid site). The cost for any camping in any spot not in the North Loop is $8 per vehicle per night. If you are able to chip in for the cost of the North Loop rental please give cash to Kat (unless you pre-paid). If you can’t pay please come anyway and stay in the North Loop.
  • The North Loop has a gate which will be marked with a sign for Queer Camp Out. You can drive up to the gate and come inside; it will be unlocked but appear closed. Park off on the shoulder of the road so other vehicles can get by. We can camp anywhere we want to within the loop that doesn’t disturb a baby ponderosa pine tree. There are also spots on the ridge behind the site and back in the woods.
  • There is space for a community area but it lacks chairs, shade, and enough tables for us to spread out. Would you be able to bring some chairs, pop-ups, or tables?
  • All people must remain clothed during the event. We were able to find spaces that are suitable for workshop activities, but presently there is nowhere private enough for a dedicated kink space. The North Loop is not completely out of the view of the road, and while this space is reserved for us it is possible that people might walk through the campground or hikers could come through while walking on the ridgeline.
  • Quiet hours at the campground are 10pm-6am. We are somewhat removed from general camping but we will need to be quieter than we have been in the past late at night.

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!

Planning Meeting for 2019!

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!