Westcliffe, CO

Lauren wrote:
Anyone ever spent any time there?

Hey Lauren,

Yup, been there as well! But it's been a while since I've been there. I was actually down there looking to buy some property, as it was quite cheap at the time, and from what I hear/read, it still is relatively. Didn't go through with it, though. Westcliffe and it's neighbour town Silver Cliff barely have 1000 between them, maybe up to around 1200 or so now. Not a lot of growth in that area; the whole county (Custer County) has slightly more than 4000 residents. The 2 towns were just a bit too small for me. It's about an hour drive west of Pueblo; Canon City isn't too far away.

There is, however, some incredibly beautiful scenery there. The Wet Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo mountains surround the towns, and it's a high valley, not unlike South Park around Fairplay, or Walden/Jackson County. Goodly elevation there as well, as I recall, Westcliffe is around 8000 feet or so. There's some hiking to be found in the Sangres, as you're on the back side of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Quite a few 14'ers in the Sangres. There's also some bike trails there IIRC.

There's a few commercial campgrounds in the area, but I can't give you any insight into how good they are. I know that there's some good reviews on them, and it's an area that I'd like to return to to visit; just a bit too isolated for me to consider anything longer term. Might be a great place to spend a week, if for nothing else than the scenery.

Lauren wrote:
Anyone ever spent any time there?

Yes (wouldn't you expect it of me???). We go through there several times a year.

Westcliffe and Silver Cliff abut one another. There's a museum in Silver Cliff open weekend afternoons. Never been through there when it was open. There have gotten to be several art shops in Westcliffe. The restaurants seem to come and go, but we generally only stop in town long enough to use the bathroom in the park. (Thanks, Westcliffe!)

There are interesting trails in the Sangre's. But many are pretty steep, just like the range itself. The rocks are mostly conglomerates, quite different than most rocks in CO. Because of that, in some areas there aren't many trees. You might want to avoid the Venable-Comanche loop trail. There's a one mile section or so called the Phantom Terrace where the trail has been cut into a very steep rock face (maybe greater than 60 degrees?). Knowing that exposure doesn't suit you anymore, it would be a good place to avoid. Do a virtual walk with this video.

Do be aware that a few of the trails get very busy with peak baggers. South Colony Lakes 4x4 trail (which many hike to preserve their vehicles) is a main route to the Crestones.

If you're in the area, head east on CO 96 then south on CO 165 around 10 miles to Bishops Castle. Free admission and an amazing example of what one man can do given enough time and will power. If you stop to see it, remember that the first time I saw it, the walls were no more than 6' high! I think it's 165' tall now.

Over in the Wet Mountains, you could try hiking up to Greenhorn Peak. You can drive most of the way, but you still have a couple of miles or so to the 12,352' summit. Not very steep nor technical at all. Even if you don't make it to the top, the wildflowers are great and the views of the southern Sangres quite nice. To get there, turn off CO 165 at the Ophir Creek CG and head to the divide, then take a left on the Greenhorn Road. This is all graded/gravel so travels isn't very fast. But it's fine back country with a chance to see lots of deer. Blue lakes just before the end of the road is a nice place for a picnic. We once saw a large herd of elk grazing right along the highest ridges just north of the summit.

But the towns themselves are fairly small with only a few tourists (compared to the hordes in many other CO mountain towns).

OMG, two of my best and most trusted friends on here and I did not acknowledge this great information.

My sincerely apologies to you both.

Plans call for three nights there but am thinking of adding another one or two. Staying at Grape Valley.

Your thoughts on that?

Thanks and so sorry once again.

Lauren

Lauren wrote:
Anyone ever spent any time there?

Like most others I only have a drive through experience - but when we drove through we did not know of Bishops Castle, I would love to see it as I have heard so much about it.

IMHO, the lack of Trees/Forest would make this difficult for me to spend more than a night, But...... that's just me.

On this trip are you spending time in Buena Vista and Crested Butte? Those two would be much easier to spend time exploring and finding things that are more to My preference, but again just me......

Not sure how much you have gotten back into the Collegiates but they Rival the San Juan's and because they have so many gravel access roads, you could spend weeks without having to double back on anything but the main roads, and a base camp will give you good Wi Fi and access to many locals, who will share the special spots that are hard to find.

However you spend this year's expedition be sure to post it so we can all share your Adventure, as I am sure it will be great.

Best of Luck,

On Edit discovered Grape Creek Listing
Thom - still looking?

To you CO folks - or others. Westcliff used to have an annual Jazz festival. Still ??

We have stayed at Grape Creek RV Park several times. Just an overnight for us, on the way to Buena Vista or Gunnison. It was fine for that, and probably would be a good place to spend more time than we ever have.

cruiserjs wrote:
To you CO folks - or others. Westcliff used to have an annual Jazz festival. Still ??

Been going through there for years and never knew of it. According to the website, it's July 7-10 this year. We'll be passing through that Sunday, probably about the time the whole thing is wrapping up.