Camping in Southern Colorado - Ideas??

More good info. Thanks! Yes, we haven't updated our profile in several years. We have been running a 43ft Tag for the last few years. We have a TOAD to get around in. We've run that route in years past but a lot less weight! It was our old excursion and 4 wheeler trailer ;)

Here's something that may help. Part of a long review from our last trip to Colorado. Hope it helps and,

Happy Camping!

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/18519210.cfm

Pardon me, but I thought I saw motorhome in your post...let me say that pulling a 5th wheel would be equally distasteful. That said, semi-tractors are on the road every day. That makes it all the more "interesting".

I would recommend staying at Mesa Verde for a couple of days. The campground is nice (not a resort) and will allow you to explore the park with minimal travel. Elevation is moderately high so temperature will cool off nicely at night.
Silverton is very interesting, but I highly doubt someone from Louisiana flatlands would find much joy in piloting a motorhome from Durango to Silverton and even less between Ouray and Silverton. That road has great scenery but is a bit of a tense drive for us flatlanders.

Well, still planning to head to Co. Working out a plan B just in case that won't cook us in 110F heat ;) we have enough of that in Louisiana!

Im in Durango today 6/30 sunday am and today I could see the mountain tops,Smoke is a big issue for me.I come out west every 3rd year for two months and enjoy the Rockies. But because of the fires, smoke also becomes a health problem too..But if you can work around road closures (rt160 just opened)and the haze of smoke in the state then come here with a second set of plans just in case..Im still amazed by the beauty this state has for yesterday I traveled rt550 into Silverton and Ouray to ck out the sites there and smoke was not a problem but 550 was for my Wife!

Very good posts all. We spent some time in the Salida area a number of years back and really enjoyed it. I appreciate the feedback about the fires. We don't 'have' to go do Co this year, it's just on our list of places for the kids. With that in mind, if the fires/weather are a problem, we may need to think about 'plan b'.

Thanks again.

We just spent 9 days in Durango at the KOA. Yes it is dry and dusty but we went on a 2 hour rafting trip and did not have any issues were we had to carry the raft due to low water levels. The lower Animas river is low for this time of year so there are only a couple of rapids that are class 2. The upper Animas out of Ouray has a bit more water and still has some class 3 and 4 rapids.

The only problem we had with the KOA was a water shortage for one day. They have to truck in their water and one day the demand was higher than normal so they ran out for a couple hours.

We have only stayed in two campgrounds in Durango. The KOA and Lightner Creek. Lightner Creek has asphalt drives and parking pads but they only have a few 50 amp sites. Would prefer Lightner Creek but there is some major road construction going up to Lightner Creek to widen a bridge and it is very hard to get a large rig through there.

If you are thinking of going this year, might I suggest somewhere else? We just got back from that part of the state and it is in the worst drought I can remember. Of course there's the fires around Pagosa Springs. As I understand it, they finally opened Wolf Creek Pass (US 160) for the first time in a week or more. We had to curtail that portion of our trip as we couldn't get through. Likewise, the fire south of Lake City has that part of the mountains enveloped in smoke. In Durango, people who were trying to float the Las Animas through town were dragging butt in their inner tubes. More like September than June. Even in and around Silverton, the snow patches that usually are there until fall are all gone. The flowers are blooming about a month early. Only cook stoves are allowed. No fires of any kind even in campgrounds. Scary dry IMHO.

We finally ended up in Salida where we saw a bit more snow on the high peaks and quite a bit more water in the streams and rivers. While there is no Mesa Verde there, you can float on tubes right through town and there's also raft trips with a bit more adventure. Or swim at one of the hot springs pools in the area. Head up to St. Elmo to see a real ghost town. Further up the road is the Mary Murphy Mine. Numerous other gold mines in the area. Rent a jeep and do the loop over Hancock Pass, through Tincup and back over Tincup pass to St. Elmo. (Lots of people ATV this section too -- we saw nearly a hundred ready to head up there when we left this morning.). On the west side of that loop, make sure you drive up to the west portal of the Alpine Tunnel, the first tunnel through the continental divide. Great history lesson. Lots of other mining history up by Leadville. A lot cooler up there at 10,000' too. The Comanche Drive In just west of Buena Vista still shows films at dusk.

The central and northern parts of the state seem to have more snow and water in the rivers. I'd strongly suggest heading to Chaffee County (Salida, Buena Vista, Leadville) as an alternative to southern CO this year. Of course this can all change if another fire breaks out somewhere. This is current as of our trip over the last three weeks.

double post. sorry