4-Week August Family Trip

mekkerl wrote:
Thank you for the recommendation Enzo!
I am looking at Four Seasons and also BigHorn a little further from Salida.
Plans while in that location is to have one day (or 1/2 day) at Great Sand Dunes NP. And the second day doing a family float on the river...or maybe horseback riding, etc.
Any recommendations there?!

Sand Dunes will be very hot. If you can tolerate the heat, sandboarding down the dunes is a lot of fun.

There should still be enough water to raft the Arkansas River on Brown's Canyon section, Parkdale section and Royal Gorge section. Royal Gorge is the most difficult section but most scenic and you can also hang out at the bridge park there. Royal Gorge is about 40 minutes east of Salida
http://royalgorgebridge.com/

Another cool family fun place is Mr. Princeton Hot Springs, 20 minutes north of Salida. You can soak in creek side rocky pools, and kids can play in the 400 ft long slide, all fed by hot spring water.
https://mtprinceton.com/colorado/upper-pools-water-slide/

For Mammoth Cave, we used our Thousand Trails membership and stayed at Diamond Caverns Golf and RV Resort. We've been there twice and were happy both times.

The national park campground looks amazing, but for smaller rigs and no hookups.

I'll agree to the Domes and Dripstones Tour and booking early. We aren't much of planners so we took what we could get. Each time we were there in the off-season, so it wasn't too bad.

Our favorite tour at Mammoth Cave was the Domes and Dripstones Tour.

We took several tours. Be sure to book in plenty of time if you want your whole group on the same tour ;)

We stayed at Singing Hills Campground (great people!). About 5 minutes or so away from the campground is horseback riding and the other direction a place with something like 300 different kinds of fudge ;)

The campground also has free catch and release at their pond. Very relaxed.

Sounds like FUN!!!

Timing has to be right for a float trip. June with snowmelt is better than August with low water.

Buena Vista is the prime spot for river running. Lots of choices for outfitters/guides.

My choices of campgrounds in Buena Vista are the KOA -- Great view of Mount Princeton and hiking right out of the campground.

and Arrowhead Point about 5 miles north of the city--a nice quiet RV park near the river.

Thank you for the recommendation Enzo!
I am looking at Four Seasons and also BigHorn a little further from Salida.
Plans while in that location is to have one day (or 1/2 day) at Great Sand Dunes NP. And the second day doing a family float on the river...or maybe horseback riding, etc.
Any recommendations there?!

mekkerl wrote:

We have all campgrounds booked, except for Salida and Mammoth Cave...as those two stops are in question. And I can't seem to find a solid choice for camping in Salida.

We have stayed at Mt. Princeton RV Park in Buena Vista, and Four Seasons RV Park in Salida. Both are places we will go back.

Mt. Princeton has gorgeous view of Mt. Princeton (a 14'er), and a mile from town so quiet. http://mtprincetonrvpark.com/

Four Seasons is right on the Arkansas River 1/2 south of Salida. River side camps are really nice there. It's a little nosier due to proximity to hwy 50. http://www.fourseasonsrvresort.com/

(On edit)

My bad ..... I did not see your revised. I like it MUCH better. We spend a lot of time in CO in the summer and focus on Buena Vista and Ouray and Carbondale.

We lived in Estes 8 years. Moved out in 2003 and would not go back there for anything anymore.

Given your time constraints for the whole trip, you have it planned well. You can always return to your favorite areas for more in-depth exploring. Have a good one!

This is where we stand right now...potentially hitting 10-National Parks:

Day 1-5 – Drive to Grand Canyon
Day 6-7 – Grand Canyon NP (2 full days)
Day 8 – Drive to Lake Powell
Day 9 – Lake Powell (1 full day)
Day 10 – Drive to Zion NP
Day 11-12 – Zion NP (2 full days)
Day 13 – Drive to Bryce Canyon NP
Day 14-15 – Bryce Canyon NP (2 full days)
Day 16 – Drive to Moab
Day 17-18 – Arches NP / Canyonlands NP (2 full days)
Day 19 – Drive to Mesa Verde NP
Day 20 – Mesa Verde NP (1 full day)
Day 21 – Drive to Ouray, CO
Day 22-23 – Ouray/Telluride (2 full days)
Day 24 – Drive to Salida/Buena Vista, CO
Day 25-26 Salida/Buena Vista, CO (2 full days)
Day 27-28 – Drive to Mammoth Cave KY
Day 29 – Mammoth Cave NP (1 full Day)
Day 30 – Drive to Cleveland, OH
Day 31 – Drive to Rochester, NY

We have all campgrounds booked, except for Salida and Mammoth Cave...as those two stops are in question. And I can't seem to find a solid choice for camping in Salida.

I have tickets for the Firey Furnace hike in Arches.
We will stop at the Mesa Verde Visitor Center right when we arrive to get tickets for the Guided Cliff Dwellings hike...as you can't get those online ahead of time.
We plan to hike a lot in the parks. And in Ouray/Salida we will relax a little and use the Hot Springs, check out Box Canyon, rent UTV for off-roading, white-water raft, tubing. While also getting to Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Great Sand Dunes NP while in those areas. If driving goes well, maybe a quick stop at Capitol Reef NP.

I have reached out to most locations for visitor guides and starting to get those in the mail.

I'll DEFINITELY be printing ahead of time (or see if the Parks will mail) the Junior Ranger materials.

Still some final tweaks to do, but this forum has been the most help!!

NOW I JUST NEED TO STOP MYSELF FROM SECOND GUESSING OUR ROUTE!!
(but I'll be doing that from now and for long after we return from the trip)