CO BHA 17th Annual Rendezvous - Gunnison, CO

Event Start Date: 7/31/2026

Event End Date: 8/2/2026

• The Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) 17th annual Rendezvous is scheduled for July 31-Aug. 1, 2026. We’ll set up camp in the Gunnison National Forest south of the rugged West Elk Wilderness at the Soap Creek Campground (see related information/links below).

The Soap Creek Campground (SCC) has 21 first-come first-served sites. Each site includes a picnic table and fire-ring (the campground hand-pump was not working last year, so bring water). There’s also a vault toilet.

Not far from the campground is the Soap Creek Corral Dispersed Camping Area, which is another option (within SCC walking distance) for nearby camping if sites aren’t available in the campground. For additional camping/Rendezvous information see: Soap Creek Campground; USFS/Soap Creek Corral/Coal Mesa Horse Camp; Soap Creek Corral Dispersed Camping.

Directions: From east of the divide, take Highway 50 approximately 27 miles west from Gunnison to Highway 92. Turn north and follow 92 about a mile and a half, across the dam, to Gunnison County Road 721. Take CR 721 approximately 7.5 miles to the Soap Creek Corrals. When you arrive, look for the BHA pop-up tent/shelter: Rendezvous HQ for the weekend.

Schedule

• Thursday: Head to Rendezvous and get there a day early!
• Friday: Do yer’ thing - hike, ride, fish, or just chill in camp, soaking up the scenery. Join us around the campfire for tall tales and comradery that evening.
• Saturday: in the afternoon we’ll have a question-and-answer session (starting at 2:30 pm) with a local CPW District or Area Wildlife Manager.
  • 4:30 pm, we’ll start a general membership meeting, where we can exchange ideas, congrats, frustrations, etc. --The membership meeting will be followed by a group wild game cookout, with Colorado BHA supplying sides (i.e., chips/dip) and you (members), hopefully, sharing some of your hard-earned wild game.
• Sunday: Wet a line one more time, pack-up, say goodbye to old and new friends, and drive safely!

If you plan to attend, please RSVP or let Colorado BHA co-chair David Lien (dlien2@yahoo.com) know a few weeks in advance (if possible). In addition, if you are willing/able to contribute any of the following, also let us know:

1. Firewood.
2. Extra water jugs to assist with extinguishing campfires.
3. We always seem to come up short on propane stoves (Coleman two-burners will do) for group cooking and an extra table or two will likely be useful for meal preparation.
4. Again, any wild game you can contribute will be greatly appreciated.
5. If anyone happens to have a spare pop-up shelter (Colorado BHA will have at least one set up tentatively), one or more of these might come in handy.