Essential Backcountry Safety: Navigating Colorado’s Fire, Water, and Wildlife Risks

Drought has pushed bear activity to record levels, and active wildfires have turned dry grass into a match head. Treat the backcountry like a working environment, not a vacation backdrop.

Fire almost always starts at the trailhead

Every August some tourist pulls off a forest road, parks on cured cheatgrass, and walks off while a glowing catalytic cooler incinerates a drainage. CPW flags it directly: hot exhaust systems ignite vegetation, dragging chains spark, and a tossed cigarette does the rest.

If you're driving to a Colorado trailhead right now, park on gravel, asphalt, or wet ground. Check current fire restrictions before you leave the house, not when you're unloading packs. Use established metal fire rings where permitted, drown your fire until the ashes are cold to the touch, and never walk away from live coals. Most backcountry fire reports trace back to three things: vehicles, abandoned campfires, or chainsaw work without a permit. None of those are acts of God.

Water: nobody is coming to rescue you

Colorado waters don't have lifeguards. CPW's Boating Safety and Registrations Program Manager Grant Brown said it bluntly: a properly worn life jacket is the gear that keeps you alive when panic sets in, and that applies to paddleboards and kayaks, not just motorboats.

For runners and hikers, the bigger water story is dead simple. CPW recommends carrying more than you think you'll need, including enough for your dog. Heavy rainfall can spike river flows in minutes, so if you're planning a canyon descent or river traverse, check flows before you commit and stay within conditions that match your actual ability, not the fitness you had on a calm day last month. Clean, drain, and dry your gear between drainages. Aquatic invasive species don't care how strong your legs are. If you're tracking serious August heat in the foothills, pairing your miles with a running watch that handles training load and recovery tracking lets you see dehydration and cumulative fatigue stack up before your legs cash the check.

Bears are working harder than you are

Drought has cratered natural forage. CPW estimates 17,000 to 20,000 black bears are roaming the state right now, and activity is running above normal. Hungry bears travel farther, take bigger risks, and show up in campgrounds and trail corridors they normally wouldn't. KOAA reports state wildlife officials are ramping up bear safety outreach as record activity continues.

Don't feed them. Don't leave food, trash, or scented items in your tent or pack. Leash your dog. Pack out everything. Keep bear spray on your body, not buried in your pack, and practice deploying it before you need it. If a black bear closes distance, do not run. Back away slowly, make yourself look big, and use a firm voice. If contact happens, fight back. Playing dead is for grizzlies in the wrong range, not this fight.

Before you drive anywhere, run your route through CPW's State Park Finder and Colorado Trail Explorer. Trail closures, fire restrictions, and water levels change daily in this kind of drought. Showing up prepared is not a personality trait. It's the minimum standard for sharing the range with everything else that lives there.