Gil Folsom views Colorado’s outdoor craze from his home near Golden.

“I live on the side of a mountain. I see I-70 in the distance,” he says. “When you look at the traffic going up into the mountains, it’s just ridiculous.”

As summer approaches, that’ll be the sight of campers with reservations and others hoping to snag their favorite spot. Yes, from Folsom’s view, camping has boomed in recent years — and with it the need for planning more than ever. Or hoping more than ever.

“I don’t know what to do about that,” Folsom says. “All I can do is to give the best information I can.”

As he has in “Colorado Campgrounds: The 100 Best and All the Rest,” the guidebook in its fifth edition. Folsom started writing it in 2000. He has ever since heard a common refrain: “A lot of people accuse me of giving away their favorite spots.”

Same for Monica Stockbridge, author of “Best Tent Camping: Colorado,” which details 50 campgrounds around the state. She has countered critics: “This is not a guidebook to the secret, undiscovered places to Colorado.”

And there’s something to be said about the education and inspiration that can be gained from the book, Stockbridge thinks. The Denver native thinks about the book meeting “an influx of energy” around camping in recent years.

“And my hope is that we embrace that and say, ‘Yes, these are places for everyone, and everyone is welcome to these places,’” she says.

As for the best places? That was the impossible question we asked her and other guidebook authors.

Gil Folsom, “Colorado Campgrounds: The 100 Best and All the Rest”

• Bogan Flats Campground: Near Redstone and Marble, Folsom calls it “a really classic river campground.” Anglers are drawn to the Crystal River that runs between aspen and pine, providing shade and serenity around the well-spaced campsites. Visitors listen for bugling elk and look for bighorn sheep on adjacent mountainsides. The local dip known as Penny Hot Springs is close by.

FYI: Reservations at Recreation.gov; sites for tents, trailers and RVs; fire rings, picnic tables; no hookups; vault toilets.

• East Portal Campground: Just past the entrance station at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, a road steeply drops to the Gunnison River and a small collection of campsites tucked between box elder trees. “It’s a magical place,” Folsom says. But it’s only for those lucky to find one of the 15 tent sites open.

FYI: First-come, first-served sites, 10 walk-in and five accessed by vehicle; sites with fire pits, grills and picnic tables; vault toilets; no vehicles longer than 22 feet on steep roads

• Matterhorn Campground: Off Colorado 145 near Telluride, Folsom likes the proximity to town and to a wide range of hiking, biking and off-roading possibilities. The long, scenic Galloping Goose Trail runs out of the campground, and Lizard Head Wilderness is not far. Folsom prefers a spot by the creek. A bonus: “They even have showers.”

FYI: Reservations at Recreation.gov and first-come, first-served sites; sites with picnic tables and fire rings, some with full RV hookups.

Monica Stockbridge, “Best Tent Camping: Colorado”

• Alvarado Campground: Near Westcliffe, the campground is split between sites along a lower creek and upper slope overlooking the Wet Mountain Valley. “It’s not too hard to get to, it’s not super well known, and it’s a really nice place to feel like you’re getting far away from the city,” Stockbridge says. Plus a “robust” trail system and stargazing worthy of DarkSky International status.

FYI: Reservations at Recreation.gov and first-come, first-served; tents and RVs; no hookups.

• Crow Valley Campground: ”I like to remind people there’s really great camping on the plains,” Stockbridge says. On Pawnee National Grassland near Ault, she recommends Crow Valley as a convenient getaway for families who might enjoy the sports field, horseshoe pit and outdoor farm museum nearby. Weather on the northeast plains can be unpredictable, but Stockbridge goes back for the birdsong and sunrises.

FYI: Reservations at Recreation.gov and first-come, first-served; fire rings and picnic tables; vault toilets and drinking water; group area with a grill and hookups.

• Pearl Lake State Park: The larger Steamboat Lake bustles with motors and water sports, while Pearl Lake offers a much different retreat. “If you can get a spot by the lake, it just feels wild and quiet, and it’s sweet for paddleboarding,” Stockbridge says. She notes Mount Zirkel Wilderness is nearby, along with mountain town spoils in Steamboat Springs.

FYI: Reservations at cpw.state.co.us, including two yurts; fire rings, picnic tables; some hookups; vault and flush toilets.

Melinda Crow, “Camping Colorado”

• Bear Lake and Blue Lake campgrounds: These are for campers seeking solitude and altitude. “A bit off the beaten track,” Crow calls the campgrounds perched around 10,500 feet off the Highway of Legends that runs into the mountains outside La Veta. In the summer, go fishing and hiking along trails that connect the campgrounds. In the fall, go for the aspen colors.

FYI: Reservations at Recreation.gov and first come, first-served; picnic tables and fire rings; no hookups; vault toilets and drinking water.

• Deerlodge Park Campground: It’s a primitive, tent-only spot for the sturdy adventurer. At the head of Yampa Canyon, beneath the cottonwoods lining the Yampa River, one becomes immersed in the geologic wonder of Dinosaur National Monument in far northwest Colorado. The campground is off a rugged road on the national monument’s eastern boundary, more than an hour away from the main attraction: the display of fossils in Quarry Visitor Center.

FYI: Campground can flood in high-water seasons; seven first-come, first-served sites; picnic tables and fire pits; no hookups; vault toilets and drinking water.

• Mancos State Park: A reservoir for fishing and non-motorized boating is the main draw at this state park surrounded by the state’s southwest San Juan Mountains. Crow also likes the hiking and scenic driving nearby, along with Mesa Verde National Park: “I love going to Mesa Verde, but camping there is kind of a parking lot. So camping at Mancos and then going to visit Mesa Verde is the way to do it.”

FYI: Reservations at cpw.state.co.us, including two yurts; fire rings, picnic tables; no hookups; vault toilets.

Joshua Berman, “Colorado Camping: The Complete Guide to Tent and RV Camping”

• Larimer County campgrounds: The northern Colorado county maintains a network of 400-plus campsites. Some of Berman’s favorites are at Horsetooth Reservoir and Carter Lake, affording cool escapes in the summer. Horsetooth is one of the busiest reservoirs in the state, capturing boating and water sport masses around Fort Collins, while Carter Lake can feel a bit more secluded in the foothills of Loveland.

FYI: Reservations at larimer.gov and first-come, first-served; fire rings, picnic tables, restrooms; hookups.

• Saddlehorn Campground: Colorado National Monument’s only developed campground includes 79 sites along the rim of the soaring, red rock landmark between Grand Junction and Fruita. Says Berman: “People just drive by going to and from Moab, not realizing one of the most spectacular Park Service campgrounds in the country as far as I’m concerned is right here.”

FYI: Reservations at Recreation.gov; picnic tables and charcoal grills; no hookups; flush toilets.

• Staunton State Park: ”I love that it’s relatively close,” Berman says of the park near Pine. “And it’s one of our newer state parks, so it’s maybe a little bit lesser known.” But every year since the park’s 2013 establishment, people have been falling more in love with the mosaic of meadows, conifers and granite. And did we mention Elk Falls? It’s considered the tallest waterfall closest to Denver, reached via lengthy hike.

FYI: Walk-in sites reserved at cpw.state.co.us; tent pads, picnic tables; vault toilets.