Looking for recommendations for Southwest Colorado campsites for the end of June, beginning of July.
We've already got 3 nights booked up at Moraine Campground at RMNP (C Loop). From RMNP we'll be heading down to the Durango area to see Mesa Verde, Silverton, etc.
We've got a 33 foot travel trailer, 3/4 ton truck, have generator and extra water storage tanks, so we certainly don't need FHU, and in fact would greatly prefer less crowded and more rural mountain settings.
We're a hiking family (youngest is 13 yrs old) and we'd love to have a base camp for 3-4 days while down in the area.
Priest Gulch in Dolores looks quite nice (but we'd certainly welcome more remote options with fewer services). We've not decided on a firm place, so Durango is just a general area we'd like to be close to.
We could also certainly head back up North and stay a few more nights in RMNP, so if you have any favorite spots, please feel free to share.
For what its worth, the National Parks website makes it very difficult to get a strong sense of any specific area, so if you've had a good experience at a campground that is within the national parks, please let me know which park and if you have photos would love to see them!
Thanks all!
Darren
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We stayed at Morefield campground in Mesa Verde. There are 15 full hookup sites that need to be reserved to guarantee a spot, but there were lots of open no-hookup sites when we were there in July 2010. The campground is a little hilly with scrubby trees, but we liked the proximity to the sights. We really enjoyed Mesa Verde.
To find camping spots, I usually go to US Campgrounds to find out what is in the area and Forest Camping to get more detail. Once I narrow it down, I come here and search for reviews and find threads such as San Juan Forest
I'm headed there in September and would love to see a trip report before I go!
2008 Ford F250 diesel
2013 Keystone Sprinter 277RLS
We also stayed inside Mesa Verde last summer. It's a really big campground without some of the atmosphere other NP CGs have, but it is cheap and can be reserved ahead if you want. You could probably get a site without res.
Otherwise, you can stay in Cortez for more money and drive up onto the Mesa. if you have any extra time, there is a wonderful one day seminar at Crow Canyon Archeology Center that gives you a great understanding of the area's ancestral pueblo people. It is just a few minutes from Cortez and a lot of fun for all ages.They take you out to a dig in the afternoon.
The MV CG store has showers and supplies plus very expensive gas. Last summer, we reserved a very low cost tour, maybe $25, through Aramark at the camp store, called the Far View Explorer. The tour left right from the campground, (which by the way is about 45 minutes drive from the main archeological sites.) very convenient.
Almost a full day with a guide in a van with 5 other people, and even included a nice box lunch. If they still offer it, that was a great intro to MV without having to drive your own vehicle. The guide took us down into one of the cliff dwellings, to the museum, to many overlooks, and to surface sites we otherwise wouldn't have stopped to see.
Haviland Lake national forest campground is just north of Durango. It's fabulous! Some sites have electric. No showers. Would recommend a reservation. Our 40' motorhome & Jeep fit into many of the sites. Have fun and don't forget to go up to Silverton - boondocking places and campgrounds. They put on spectacular July 4 fireworks/parade festivities. Definitely reserve for that weekend if using an RV park.
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Does anyone know if the Train Ride to from Durango to Silverton is a "one day" trip? It looks like the arrival of the train into Silverton and the departure back to Durango only leaves about 2 hours in Silverton. Is that enough, or should we plan for an overnight in Silverton?
Everything you want to walk to in Silverton can be done during the train layover. Have lunch at Ramon's. Best Mexican food in the San Juans. The train trip is worth it just for the ride up and down the Animas River canyon. Silverton is a bonus.
You will probably want to take the truck and go back to Silverton (over Molas Pass) and maybe on over the Million Dollar Highway to Ouray. If you have 4-wheel drive, take the side trip up to the Camp Bird Mine ruins. You can buy a map book at the Miner's Museum in Ouray that points out mile-by-mile what you are seeing. On the way back to Durango, stop and poke around at the Yankee Girl hoist house and/or at the Idarado Ruins.
DO NOT GO ONTO OR INTO ANY MINE STRUCTURES OR OPENINGS! (The drop can be 600 feet straight down.)
In addition to Mesa Verde the kids might like the exhibits at the Anasazi Cultural Center in Delores. It is part of the Canyon of the Ancients historical area that stretches all the way to Chaco Canyon (N.M.)
Aztec Ruins National Monument (near Farmington) is neat and easily accessible.
And, of course, there are trails, back roads, mines, mountains, and ghost towns everywhere.
We love that corner of the world. Have fun
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Martha, Allen, & Blackjack
2006 Chevy 3500 D/A LB SRW, RVND 7710
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"Real Trucks Don't Have Sparkplugs"
Allworth wrote: Everything you want to walk to in Silverton can be done during the train layover. Have lunch at Ramon's. Best Mexican food in the San Juans. The train trip is worth it just for the ride up and down the Animas River canyon. Silverton is a bonus.
You will probably want to take the truck and go back to Silverton (over Molas Pass) and maybe on over the Million Dollar Highway to Ouray. If you have 4-wheel drive, take the side trip up to the Camp Bird Mine ruins. You can buy a map book at the Miner's Museum in Ouray that points out mile-by-mile what you are seeing. On the way back to Durango, stop and poke around at the Yankee Girl hoist house and/or at the Idarado Ruins.
DO NOT GO ONTO OR INTO ANY MINE STRUCTURES OR OPENINGS! (The drop can be 600 feet straight down.)
In addition to Mesa Verde the kids might like the exhibits at the Anasazi Cultural Center in Delores. It is part of the Canyon of the Ancients historical area that stretches all the way to Chaco Canyon (N.M.)
Aztec Ruins National Monument (near Farmington) is neat and easily accessible.
And, of course, there are trails, back roads, mines, mountains, and ghost towns everywhere.
We love that corner of the world. Have fun
Thanks for the scoop Allworth! Just what I was looking for - and being a southern California and long time Arizona guy, who now lives in Minnesota, we are known for planning entire vacations around getting back to good Mexican food! Minnesota, home of the ground beef chimichanga (with a side of peas!)
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