If you can’t join us this time, please !
Table of Contents
- Accessibility
- Activities
- Carpooling
- Check-In & Check-Out
- COVID-19 Precautions
- Forum
- Kids
- Location & Directions
- Medics
- Photos & Videos
- Scent Areas & Scent-Free Camping
- Supporting Queer Campout
- Volunteering
- Weather & Road Conditions
- What to Bring
- What Not to Bring
For more information and answers to FAQs: Information Hub
Accessibility
Our Disability & Accessibility Resource Team (DART) put in a ton of preparatory work to ensure Campout is as accessible as possible for all campers! From having ASL interpreters for different activities to scent-free campsites, the DART Team Leads worked to consider as much as possible. Below, see more about:
- Pre-Planned Activity Schedule
- COVID-19 Precautions
- Scent Areas & Scent-Free Camping
Activities
At each QCO, campers host all sorts of fun games and activities, from kink workshops and play parties to yoga classes, talking circles, and topless watermelon eating.
We’re excited to have an activities schedule ahead of camp this year!
A link to the schedule was sent out to registrants.
Thank you to DART, Activities & Engagement, and event hosts for their time and energy commitments to make the schedule happen.
There will still be opportunities for impromptu activities at camp.
Carpooling & Parking
Parking is very limited! Carpooling is necessary.
Please use the forum to coordinate rides with other campers.
Check-In/Check-Out
Check-In begins Friday, September 8 at 3:00pm
Folks are welcome to come and go throughout the weekend. Most campers arriving between 9am & 7pm should expect to be met at the campgrounds’ entrance by Queer Campout Greeters. They’ll check your name off the registration list, provide you with basic info re: the campground layout and activities, and confirm your volunteer roles (or direct you to the Community Pavilion where you will sign-up for shifts).
Check-Out must finish by 11:00am on Monday, September 11
COVID-19 Precautions
All campers are expected to take a COVID test before coming to camp.
COVID continues to present a very real health risk and cases are on the rise. Help us uphold our QCO Values through practicing COVID safety:
- Take a COVID test before camp. If you cannot access a test before QCO, let us know so we can find a solution together.
- Keep a mask on you at all times.
- Offer to wear a mask when joining a campsite or group.
- Practice hand hygiene throughout camp.
- If you feel sick during the campout, please let the on-site medic know so you can take a rapid COVID test and your temperature.
- Please do everything you can to employ COVID-Conscious Practices* during the weeks leading up to Queer Campout.
REMEMBER: If you test positive, feel sick, or were (even possibly) exposed to COVID in the last two weeks, stay home!!
Learn more about our COVID-19 Precaution expectations.
*Namely: wear a mask in public, in groups, and when indoors with anyone you don’t live with; don’t go out to eat, attend large events, or attend events with high-risk of exposure; wash your hands & use hand sanitizer; and social distance.
Forum
We encourage all campers to use the Website Forum to coordinate rides & carpooling, borrow & offer gear, plan group meals, and anything else!
To access the forum, make sure to create a QCO website account.
Kids
Children & young people are attending QCO. A couple key details:
- Adults with young people are responsible for those young people 24/7 throughout camp. Other adults must give enthusiastic, informed consent to supervising young folks.
- If you are an adult who loves kids and you want to offer supervision or activities, let us know!
- Those who don’t want to hang with kids, own your NO! Childcare is not an obligation or expectation.
- QCO is a body-, kink-, and sex-positive space, which means that we can all expect to see nudity in spaces across the campground at any given moment. Families should ensure their young people are prepared for and comfortable with this and all campers should feel comfortable wearing (or not) what feels best for them.
Learn more about kids at Queer Campout.
Location & Directions
Your registration confirmation email contains the campground’s location & we will email this information to registrants a few days before campout.Medics
While some campers have generously volunteered to be medics for this campout, we cannot guarantee 24/7 medical attention. A stocked first aid kit will be accessible to anyone in the Community Pavilion.
Information regarding nearby emergency services will be provided to campers via email & at campout.Photos & Videos
Private Photos: Campers are encouraged to take photos and videos throughout the weekend and then to upload these to a private Google Album shared after campout & accessible only to those who attend.
Please ask for everyone’s consent to be photographed or recorded.
Public Photos: We will have an official camp photographer. If you do not want photos or videos of yourself used on our website or Instagram page, please make yourself a “No Photos” button in the Community Pavilion and wear it at all times.
Scent Areas & Scent-Free Camping
Some campers are highly allergic or sensitive to chemicals and sprays. To help us make the campout more accessible, please do not use bug sprays, sunscreen sprays, and other highly-scented items near or in communal areas. To support community care, please also use a sticker or lanyard to indicate any scents you’re wearing. Best practice is to either avoid all scents or apply these inside of your tent or vehicle.
There will be a designated Scent-Free camping area where scents are not allowed at all.
Learn more about QCO Scent-Free Camping.
Supporting Queer Campout
Bring supplies or take recycling back with you
Use the community forum to sign-up for bringing water or firewood or take a recycling bag back to the city when you leave the campout.
Donate money
Financial donations help us pay for the campground rental, supplies, equipment, website hosting, and other operating expenses. We’ll collect donations at campout.
As of 2022, we donate $100 per campout to an Indigenous organization in New Mexico. After every campout (and covering operating costs), we give an additional 20%.
Donate gear
We aspire to build a gear library! Good quality camping gear is expensive, thus inaccessible or not be worth the investment for some folks. We happily welcome your donations of new or used camping gear. Please get in touch with us to coordinate.
Volunteering
In the spirit of co-creation, everyone who attends Q*Campout should plan to volunteer for at least one shift.
At check-in, campers can select volunteer shifts from a variety of crews such as Camp Upkeep Crew, Campfire Crew and Answer Keepers. Folks are also encouraged to help out with empty shifts throughout camp if they can.
Every QCO needs some campers to prepare together before camp starts. The Organizing Team, Care Bears, Disability and Access Resource Team (DART), Camp Setup & Teardown Crew, & the Medic Team were all formed ahead of time, though some may still have room for additional support!
Learn more about volunteering.
Weather & Road Conditions
According to the weather forecast, we will have partly cloudy skies throughout the weekend, and temperatures will range between 79-86° during the day to 55-57° at night. Please come prepared for all sorts of weather—rain, cold, and heat. See what else to bring.
There is a section of well-maintained dirt road on the way into camp, so be conscientious of this if it rains or you have a vehicle with low road clearance. We recommend trying to arrive before dark so it’s easy to see signage.
What to Bring
- Learn what you should bring to QCO.
- Use the forum to coordinate lending/borrowing camping gear with other campers.
- If you need to rent or purchase gear, check out this page.
What Not to Bring
- Pets: Please leave your animal friends a home. Only service animals are permitted.
- Firearms: Please leave your guns at home. Only camping tools like knives and hatchets are permitted.
