This Colorado company wants to reinvent American campgrounds

DENVER — A Colorado company is on a mission to reimagine the country’s campgrounds and it’s starting by building tent- and trailer-friendly accommodations near the state’s national parks.

In 2023, Ramble opened its first campground on a 640-acre plot near the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Alamosa. It features 25 camping sites each equipped with amenities like a smokeless fire pit, chairs, and a built-in camp stove. It’s preparing to debut its second location in Cortez near Mesa Verde National Park this spring.

The Golden-based company’s goal, according to founder and CEO Matt Oesterle, is to create an option between dispersed camping and glamping that meets the needs of modern campers — something Oesterle felt like he lacked during a cross-country roadtrip with his family in 2020.

“We rented an RV and stayed at a bunch of traditional, parking lot-style campgrounds, and I was very disappointed with the experience. Just a lot of people with very little space, lots of noise and light pollution. In general, it didn’t feel like being outdoors,” Oesterle said. “I came back from that trip with a goal to start a chain of campgrounds across the United States where at every Ramble location you can sit at your campsite and feel like you’re in nature.”

Inspired by the likes of Disney World, Oesterle aims to standardize Ramble campgrounds and their amenities so travelers know what to expect every time they stay there, no matter which location they visit. He does so through partnerships with Pollywood, which makes the furniture; Camp Chef, which provides the stoves; and Solo Stove, which makes the fire pits.

Providing chairs, cooking equipment and self-contained fire pits makes camping accessible to a wider range of campers, Oesterle said. Sites always include a shade...