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Rainbow Family Gathering Appears To Be Planned For Routt County, Facebook Post Says

June 14, 2022 / 9:47 PM MDT / CBS Colorado

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ROUTT COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - A new Facebook post indicates the group called Rainbow Family Gathering plans to meet in Routt County, outside of Craig, next month. In April, CBS4's Conor McCue first covered rumors of an annual, unsanctioned gathering of thousands of people.

This year will be the 50th year the group has met. Thousands of people gather from all over the world for days or weeks in the name of love and community.

The culmination of the yearly Rainbow Family gathering takes place at noon on the Fourth of July as thousands gather to break their silent meditation, raising their hands to let out a collective Om and sending up a prayer for peace, in Mt. Tabor, Vt., July 4, 2016. Each year, for a few weeks in summer, a loose confederation of like-minded souls called the Rainbow Family of Living Light quietly converts a site in a public forest somewhere in the United States into a communal living space for thousands. Campsites are established, latrines are dug, and an elaborate water filtration system is erected to bring water from nearby streams. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

"Some people are expecting as few as 10,000, others of us are thinking we might get as many as 30,000," Gary Stubbs, a previous attendee, told McCue in April.

The group's last gathering in Colorado was in Routt County in 2006. Rangers issued hundreds of tickets for drug violations and illegal camping.

On top of those concerns, officials worry of fire danger and potential impact to the land.

"We're pretty liberal about a lot of stuff, but we are dead serious about fire precautions," said Stubbs.

A Facebook post from one of the planning groups shared directions to Adams Park in the Routt National Forest. The gathering is planned for July 1 through July 7.