Steamboat State Park or Canon City, Co?

[dawolfes8]

Hello,

I am planning a last minute trip to Colorado. Or I should say, I'm trying to, but I need help

Some background: My older son, who is getting old enough that he won't be camping with us much longer, wants to go to Colorado. He has been talking about going to Denver all summer. Why Denver? I don't know. I have been more focused on finding a campground that has things to do for my five kids ages 11 through 20. or at least with in driving distance of various sites and activities. We tend to all like "foresty" camp sites. We would definitely like to go rafting, and zip lining would be an added bonus.

For both of those activities, and an available campground, I narrowed the search to the Canon City area. There is a campground and those two activities are available. I thought I was done.

But then I noticed that Steamboat Springs State Park popped up on several past posts for campground recommendations, and they have a few available sites. But I'm not sure about the activities in that area, besides rafting. We have five days; if we stay there, are there any other suggestions for things to do?

And then my final obstacle. My husband is concerned about the drive in Colorado. All of our past "big" camping trips have been with a pop-up being pulled by our Excursion. We have a new truck (Ram 3500) to pull our new trailer with (27 ft). Having never pulled this trailer that far, he is wondering about the route to either of these destinations. Anything we should take into consideration?

I apologize for the length... I couldn't figure out how to make this shorter and still make sense. Any help would be appreciated!

[Busskipper]

dawolfes8 wrote:

4runnerguy wrote:
First I must ask how you, your husband, and five teenagers are going to fit in your truck???


Check this link for lots of info on things to do: Now This Is Colorado

4runnerguy...
You caught that the math didn't work, eh? 😉 First of all, I forgot that the oldest of the clan coming with us is 22. The older two kids will be driving separately. We bought the truck thinking that their traveling days with us were over, or at least minimal. But after our successful West Virginia trip last year, no one was willing to miss this one, as they are all anticipating that this will be better.

Thanks for the website link, too. I have to ask... One the homepage there is a quick YouTube video, but it doesn't say where that is. Do you know the answer? Because THAT is where I need to take the family!

Thanks to all the other responses, as well. I wish I would have thought to post this weeks ago!

Looks like the video is of downtown Salida -- just zoom in on Google earth and you should see the River right in the middle of town.

Sure looks different than it did just a few years ago.

Combine the River with the Mountains and you should have a great time.

BOL,

[kmbernstein]

I may be wrong but that looks like the river park through salida co. They have really made that park a beautiful place to be. Hubby grew up in Salida. We have been there many times and have watched the town grow from a railroad town to more of a tourist town. You will love it.

[dawolfes8]

4runnerguy wrote:
First I must ask how you, your husband, and five teenagers are going to fit in your truck???


Check this link for lots of info on things to do: Now This Is Colorado

4runnerguy...
You caught that the math didn't work, eh? 😉 First of all, I forgot that the oldest of the clan coming with us is 22. The older two kids will be driving separately. We bought the truck thinking that their traveling days with us were over, or at least minimal. But after our successful West Virginia trip last year, no one was willing to miss this one, as they are all anticipating that this will be better.

Thanks for the website link, too. I have to ask... One the homepage there is a quick YouTube video, but it doesn't say where that is. Do you know the answer? Because THAT is where I need to take the family!

Thanks to all the other responses, as well. I wish I would have thought to post this weeks ago!

[rexlion]

4runnerguy just about has me convinced to go to that Buena Vista - Leadville area myself! Just got a new tent, and I'm itching to try it out.

[kmbernstein]

I have to agree with 4runner guy. Additionally, the Royal Gorge suffered a huge wildfire last year. Most of the visitor activities have been destroyed and although the gorge is open, rebuilding will take a while. Around Steamboat, the forests have been ravaged by the pine beetle. When we were there last fall, it was very obvious. The Buena Vista Leadville Salida area is one of our favorites... and we are Colorado natives. You should enjoy it much more than either steamboat or canon city areas. Feel free to PM me if you have some questions I can directly answer for you.

[Busskipper]

4runnerguy wrote:
First I must ask how you, your husband, and five teenagers are going to fit in your truck???

Canon City will be hot this time of year. Even Royal Gorge gets quite toasty.

Steamboat Springs area is nice, but can get buggy this time of year.

I know it's not what your asked about, but might I suggest the Salida/Buena Vista/Leadville area? Higher up in elevation so cooler. Come up US 50 from Pueblo and there are no mountain passes to negotiate. The Arkansas River has some of the finest rafting in the country. Amazing hiking, mountain biking, fishing, ghost towns, amazing wild flowers -- there's even a place called Captain Zipline which I can't comment on since I'm not brave enough for that type of adventure. This area is one of our favorite places to go play, and it's where we often take guests. Numerous NFS CG's from Turquoise Lake near Leadville, down through the CG's in Chalk Creek Canyon above Nathrop to several CG's around Salida.

Check this link for lots of info on things to do: Now This Is Colorado

We've already been to the Salida/BV area several times this year and will be heading back there again tomorrow for a few days camping and mountain biking with the SIL and teenage nieces. I'm a CO native and have explored every nook and cranny of this state, and for teenagers, there's really nowhere else comparable.

If you want to top West Virginia -- follow this advice - Buena Vista and The Collegiate's with the Arkansas River will likely be a great spot to satisfy every one in the group. Throw in K's Tastee Freeze for a couple of meals and you may not go back home.

If you make a decision do an advanced search using 4runnerguy as the poster and you will open up a wealth of information on Colorado.

BOL,

[4runnerguy]

First I must ask how you, your husband, and five teenagers are going to fit in your truck???

Canon City will be hot this time of year. Even Royal Gorge gets quite toasty.

Steamboat Springs area is nice, but can get buggy this time of year.

I know it's not what your asked about, but might I suggest the Salida/Buena Vista/Leadville area? Higher up in elevation so cooler. Come up US 50 from Pueblo and there are no mountain passes to negotiate. The Arkansas River has some of the finest rafting in the country. Amazing hiking, mountain biking, fishing, ghost towns, amazing wild flowers -- there's even a place called Captain Zipline which I can't comment on since I'm not brave enough for that type of adventure. This area is one of our favorite places to go play, and it's where we often take guests. Numerous NFS CG's from Turquoise Lake near Leadville, down through the CG's in Chalk Creek Canyon above Nathrop to several CG's around Salida.

Check this link for lots of info on things to do: Now This Is Colorado

We've already been to the Salida/BV area several times this year and will be heading back there again tomorrow for a few days camping and mountain biking with the SIL and teenage nieces. I'm a CO native and have explored every nook and cranny of this state, and for teenagers, there's really nowhere else comparable.

[donut_dave]

check out the Colorado springs/ pike's peak area. tons of stuff to do for all age groups. Mueller state park (south of divide) is a better campground than Cheyenne mtn (more trees)and very nice. you would have to check and see what's available for site availability.

[dawolfes8]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

"My older son, who is getting old enough that he won't be camping with us much longer, wants to go to Colorado. He has been talking about going to Denver all summer. Why Denver?"

.............is this the 20 yr. old?

LINK

As for which area..........we really enjoyed being around Canon City Area.

That RAM won't have nay problems regardless of route taken.

Enjoy the trip!

OMG... that never even crossed my mind! Actually, it's the 18 year old, and knowing him...well, that's an interesting thought. I just about bust a gut laughing! And thanks for the Family Travel website link. That is a wealth of information there, which I will be studying closely.

Thanks for all the other responses thus far. As far as my son's fixation with Denver goes, I think he just thinks Denver and Colorado are the same thing. And this is why I've just been trying to focus on finding a place where we can do those things that I know will keep everyone happy. My 20 year old daughter is the outdoorsy, active, nature-loving type, as is the 18 year old. When we went to West Virginia last year, they spent most of their time hopping in the cheap raft we bought to float down the steam next to our campsite. That was, by far, the best camping trip we've had and will be a tough one to follow!

If we did go to Steamboat Lake, tubing in the Yampa was on my list. And there is a skate-park in Steamboat (plus for the 18 year old). I did find information for rafting as well. And that is it. A day of just relaxing at the campsite is okay, too, as long there are things to keep the kids occupied.

Are there any day trips from that spot, or is it too far? Because it has been so difficult to find spots, I did make reservations, but I'm not concerned about losing the first night fee if I cancel. I just want to keep everyone occupied!

I hadn't really looked at Glenwood Springs. I think I will be up late again tonight searching the web!

[Bionic_Man]

I'm more familar with Steamboat than Canon City, so I will comment there.

The drive isn't bad coming from Denver. Coming from Chicago, I assume you would go I80 across, and down from Laramie through Walden. If you went this way, you would only have Rabbit Ears pass. If you went a little further west on I80 and dropped down into Craig it would be a little further distance but I think you would miss most of the passes.

As was stated, Steamboat Lake is a long ways from Denver - around 4 hours pulling the RV. And while it used to be forest camping, the pine beetle devastated the area and they cut down most of the trees in the campground several years back.

If you went into the town of Steamboat, you could tube the Yampa river, but I am not aware of any real rafting in the area, or a zip line.

Don't get me wrong, I love the area, but I really don't think it fits the bill of what you are looking for.

If you want forest camping in an area with a zip line and river rafting, look up towards Glenwood Springs. There are some National Forest campgrounds up there that would be better for forest camping, I am pretty sure there is a zip line up there, and I know there is rafting on the Colorado River.

Good luck with your journey.

[Thom02099]

The two choices, Canon City and Steamboat Lake SP are in significantly different areas of the state. Both are popular for different reasons.

Canon City is considered the Gateway to the Royal Gorge area, and there is indeed much to see and do there...or was. There has been destruction from a fire in 2013 that did damage to some of the sights around the Royal Gorge Bridge, but fortunately, not the Bridge itself. Many of the support attractions were destroyed, but they are rebuilding the area. It may be a couple of seasons until it's back to the way it was before the fire.

Royal Gorge Story

That said, there's still a lot to see and do in the area, and could be a base for exploring other areas in southern Colorado. It's not far from the Wet Mountain Valley area, and of course there's the Arkansas River Valley area to explore.

Steamboat Lake SP is in NW Colorado, west of Steamboat Springs. It's about a 30 minute drive from town to the SP. It's a beautiful area, it's somewhat isolated, and it's also very popular...as are most Colorado State Parks. What few remaining sites that are currently available, may be less desirable sites, and even those can go fast. It's an outdoorsy area, reportedly good fishing there and at Pearl Lake, and hiking in the area. But...you're not close to town at all, there's no retail areas or restaurants around in that area.

Neither are remotely close to Denver...several hours from either location to Denver. As was previously suggested, Colorado Springs could be a good alternative as there is much to see and do there, it's about an hour south of Denver (depending on traffic), and there are a lot of private campgrounds in the area. Not very likely to get a spot in either Cheyenne Mountain or Mueller State Parks on short notice.

As for driving, Canon City is on the east side of the mountains and therefore easily accessible to your tow vehicle and trailer. No problems getting there at all. Set up camp there, and use your truck for exploring the area. Same thing goes for Colorado Springs area. Although some of the Springs campgrounds are located up US 24 toward Woodland Park area, it's not a difficult drive when towing. You'll be fine in any of the areas along the east face of the Rockies, along the Front Range. Same thing for Denver.

Getting to Steamboat Lake SP...there WILL be mountains! One can take I-70 over to Summit County area (Frisco/Dillon/Silverthorne) and go north through Kremmling and on to Steamboat Springs. But there will be a lot of mountain driving, including some tunnels and passes.

OR you can go north all the way to Fort Collins and take CO 14 all the way up Poudre Canyon to Walden and on over to US 40. You'll have beautiful canyon driving as well as a couple of passes to cross before getting to Steamboat.

These are the two major routes coming from the east to get to Steamboat Lake SP. I'm sure there are other, less travelled ways to get there, say, from coming in from the north from Wyoming.

[padredw]

I would suggest a closer look at Colorado Springs because of the great variety of sights and activities for the varied ages of your children.
If you could get a campsite in the Cheyenne Mountain State Park, that would be ideal, but that is not likely on such short notice.

Another area to consider would be Salida/Buena Vista/Leadville, especially if you children would enjoy river rafting in the Arkansas. Many good hikes or drives in the area and ghost towns. You could drive over Cottonwood Pass to the Taylor River and Crested Butte for the day. Another drive would be over to Aspen (definitely NOT towing) for the day.

I could go on with other possibilities, but you may want to consider these.

[Busskipper]

dawolfes8 wrote:
Hello,

I am planning a last minute trip to Colorado. Or I should say, I'm trying to, but I need help

Some background: My older son, who is getting old enough that he won't be camping with us much longer, wants to go to Colorado. He has been talking about going to Denver all summer. Why Denver? I don't know. I have been more focused on finding a campground that has things to do for my five kids ages 11 through 20. or at least with in driving distance of various sites and activities. We tend to all like "foresty" camp sites. We would definitely like to go rafting, and zip lining would be an added bonus.

For both of those activities, and an available campground, I narrowed the search to the Canon City area. There is a campground and those two activities are available. I thought I was done.

But then I noticed that Steamboat Springs State Park popped up on several past posts for campground recommendations, and they have a few available sites. But I'm not sure about the activities in that area, besides rafting. We have five days; if we stay there, are there any other suggestions for things to do?

And then my final obstacle. My husband is concerned about the drive in Colorado. All of our past "big" camping trips have been with a pop-up being pulled by our Excursion. We have a new truck (Ram 3500) to pull our new trailer with (27 ft). Having never pulled this trailer that far, he is wondering about the route to either of these destinations. Anything we should take into consideration?

I apologize for the length... I couldn't figure out how to make this shorter and still make sense. Any help would be appreciated!

Take a look at this site Family Travel it might give you some Ideas.

You do know that neither of these locations are in Denver.

You will not have a problem IMHO, anywhere in Colorado with your rig.

20 year old and wants to see Colorado, My suggestion, not all camping,
Boulder Farmers Market -- Golden's Clear Creek right in town with tube's for all, bring your own floating device -- Golden Gate Park -- CU and DU two great schools -- Bring Bikes -- Hike in one of any of the many trail heads that are everywhere between Denver and Boulder -- last if you still have time Maybe Leadville and Buena Vista for some great 4x4 trails and hikes and more tubing.

Out of your two Choices Steamboat would be my choice but I would vote for a few two or three day stays in different CG's.

BOL,

[lovemytt]

Colorado is beautiful and I'm truly sad pot is the way they are thought of now. I agree with your choice of truck you will be able to climb any mountain. Show care in filling up with gas with the 27 foot trailer and it will be fine.