Bob & Cindy's 2016 Travel Web Site
Location Links
For SW Colorado
SW Colorado - Mid-Aug thru mid Oct
Almost every summer we have included parts of Colorado in our travels, usually in the SW part of the state (Durango, Creed, Gunnison,
Ouray, Ridgway, and Grand Junction). We especially like Sept/Oct because the aspen color is usually outstanding. This
year was no exception to that. It has become "comfortable" knowing the places we like, where to eat, jeep roads, and
we always take some time to explore some new things in the areas we visit.
This year we left Spicewood and traveled through Lubbock and Santa Fe to get to a new campground spot in northern NM, Hopewell Lake.
It's at 9500 feet and very quiet. All was looking good .. then a fellow camper bumped into our Jeep (minor damage) and the second
day we were camped it started raining like hell. Turns out we had a leak with the driving rain which (because the rain didn't
stop), eventually forced us to hurriedly break camp in the dark and drive down the mountain to Chama. We were lucky to find
a camping spot and also lucky that it wasn't raining in Chama. The next day I fixed the leak with lap seal that I had carried
with us forever (eventually these things come in handy). Glad to report we had no other problems with the leak issue.
Our spot at Hopewell Lake .. peaceful and open spaces. We heard Elk bugling the only night we stayed there.
So after our water leak issue at Hopewell Lake, we spent a few days in Chama, NM. Chama is one of the stops for the Cumbres
Pass train that runs across the mountains to Antonito, Colorado.
From Chama we did some exploring for other campgrounds and found one in Colorado only about 30 miles away. This turned into
a gem and we'll be revisiting in the future. Very spread out spaces and not a lot of campers.
We did some jeep roading and went up to visit the area around a little town called Platoro. Not much there, a dude ranch
and a bunch of ATV riders who stay in the lodge. Pretty scenery though.
The big town of Platoro .. kind of junky too but a nice day for riding around.
Back at the campground ... fires, wine, and fixing all of the world's problems.
From our previous camp spot, we drove up to Gunnison, CO to visit some friends which was a nice catch up. Then we drove on up
to Fruita, CO for Labor Day weekend. Just outside of Fruita is Colorado National Monument ... a well kept secret.
Cindy and the ranger. Most of the rangers we meet are knowledgeable and very helpful. This one shared some history, favorite
trails, and told us how to look for bighorn sheep down in the canyons.
Sure enough, we spotted some. We could actually hear them butting horns from deep in the canyon, about 1,000 feet down.
Just another wonderful day taking in the sites.
From Fruita, we went to a special place up on Grand Mesa, just about 50 miles away. It's in an area called Mesa Lakes and we
can take many hikes that come off of the campground road.
Our camping spot, this time with electricity and we need it because the nights get down in the 30's.
One of our hikes went out of the campground and across several open grassy areas, eventually climbing up to the edge of
the Mesa where we could look down on the valley floor where Grand Junction is located. About 5000 feet in elevation difference.
Luckily, we had great weather and did some exploring on the jeep roads. At this lake we met a local couple from Cedaredge out
for a drive who advised us to NOT take the road we were planing to go back to the campground due to almost impassable conditions.
Most days we would at least walk around the lakes that are spread out in the area. The aspens were beginning to turn in the
higher elevations.
Close to the campground was a jeep road that went up so we took it hoping to find better color (picky, picky). It looks fairly
drivable, and it was, but almost solid rock the whole way so it was a slow slog up and back.
But when we got just a short way in we began to hit color, lots of aspen color. Almost magical driving through the trees.
Colorado dreaming!! This was a cold day and yet we saw several hunting camps pitched back in the woods.