SP Campground Review – James M Robb State Park, Fruita, CO

Looking across the Colorado River and into the Colorado National Monument at Fruita Section of the James M Robb Park

A pristine campground with views of the Colorado River and National Monument in Fruita, CO in Western Colorado.

Link to campground here: James M Robb State Park, Fruita, CO
Link to map location here: James M Robb State Park, Fruita, CO

1. Site Quality = 5/5
   These are probably the most pristine sites I’ve seen in a state park. Perfectly flat, large, manicured sites with central concrete section (for support), beautiful “sitting areas” with fire-pit, picnic table and shelters, good separation and absolutely lovely, green grounds. There’s a selection of full hookup (50Amp/water/sewer) or electric (30Amp/water). Sites at the outer end 36-44 have the bonus of lake and stunning monument views
2.  Facilities = 4/5
   Excellent facilities here. There are flush toilets, large showers (only ding is that they are pay only, $1 for 4 mins), and modern laundry (book-swap there too). Park also has several on-site lakes, a swim beach (indefinitely closed due to e-coli problems while we were there), boat ramp, picnic areas, fishing and trails. On-site dump station.
3. Location = 5/5
   Lovely location here. You are right next to lakes and the Colorado River as well as within sight of the gorgeous Colorado National Monument. Nearby Grand Junction has restaurants and all major shopping needs.
4. Pet Friendliness = 4/5
   Good doggie spot. On-site hiking trails and space to “play” by the river. Only dings are that the lake was closed to swimming while we were there, plus some of the trails were closed from damage and needed re-work. A short drive to McInnis Canyons BLM (just across the river) provides masses of additional pooch-friendly hiking. Poo bags provided on-site.

Overall Rating = 4.4
BONUS ALERT = Camp with stunning views of the Colorado National Monument & McInnis Canyons!

Summary: Well, this turned out to be soooo much nicer than we ever imagined. James M Robb SP actually offers 2 campgrounds in the area, but the one we chose was the Fruita section. The campground is set beautifully by a lake and the Colorado River and has stunning views of the Colorado National Monument in the background. The grounds themselves are more like a fancy RV resort than a state park with manicured grounds, trails, lakes, fishing and simply pristine sites (beautifully flat, large, well-kept pads with selection of full hook-up too!). Lots of green, modern facilities and the draw of the surrounding nature makes this a hidden gem. The only possibly dings I could give it is that the sites closest to the main road (12-19) have some road noise, the swim-beach was closed indefinitely due to e-coli problems and some trails were closed due to flood damage, but overall the campground is simply lovely. This place was miles better than the KOA we stayed at last year and we enjoyed it so much we extended our stay. No doubt when we come back this is where we’ll camp again.

 Extra Info:  Full Verizon signal on both smartphone and aircard. Sites cost $20/night for electric (30Amp/water), $24/night for full hook-up (50Amp/water/sewer). There is an extra daily park fee of $7/day (can be covered with the Colorado Annual Parks Pass). Over 57 sites, all reservable. On site dump station and laundry.

Typical pull-through site (#41 shown)

Typical back-in site (#14 shown)

View down back-end of loop. Our RV in site #40 on right. Lake is off-pic on the right side.

Another view down loop (site #20 on right, #21 on left)

View down middle of campground to the main facilities (showers, laundry etc.)

View of lake and beach

View of playground

Prehistoric Red Rock Beauty – Colorado National Monument,CO

“I came here last year and found these canyons, and they feel like the heart of the world to me. I’m going to stay and build trails and promote this park”
John Otto, 1907

A view to live a dream for

It was an ambitiously crazy dream and it pretty much took a crazy man to pull it off. John Otto was the character to do it. Flamboyant, eccentric, and obsessive, he was locked up three times in his life for “acute mania”, but when he saw the canyons in Fruita his energies found new focus and he knew the rest of his days would be dedicated to them.

Just another gorgeous view-point from the Rim Road

And that’s exactly what Otto did. He lived, breathed and fought for these dramatic red cliffs, living alone in the canyons, building backbreaking trails by hand, petitioning relentlessly and eventually getting the place set aside as a National Monument in 1911.

Posing at the cliffs on Window Rock Trail

He was of course not the first to set foot on these red rocks of beauty. The entire Western Colorado plateau is a veritable multi-hundred-million year history book. Much of the Morrison Formation, as it’s called, was laid down in the Late Jurassic period and remains a rich living source of fossils and prehistoric discoveries. In fact if you’re a paleo-lover it really doesn’t get any better than this, and you can bask away in dinosaur dreams all through the 512-mile Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway that winds through Colorado and Utah. If we weren’t on our way to OR that’s exactly what we’d be doing, but thankfully we got the chance to get a good taste right here in Fruita/Grand Junction.

Red rocks to the horizon at Cold Shivers Point

And what a taste it is! The Colorado National Monument is a stunning tribute to the prehistoric plateau. Red sediment rock eroded by water, wind and ice has created dramatic spires, domes and sheer-walled faces that tower several thousand feet and go back several hundreds of millions of years.

High desert flowers

I honestly can’t believe we missed seeing this when we came through Grand Junction last year. It’s so accessible and yet so drop-dead gorgeous. These are the red rocks of Colorado and they’re truly a hidden gem. You can drive the Rim Road, gawk at the views, hike the trails, and even explore the surrounding BLM areas. We did the drive, but missed doing any major hikes due to the heat (yeah, it’s been hot here), but it’s a stop we’d gladly come back and explore again. Gotta give thanks to Otto’s crazy dream!

Balanced Rock in shadow from the morning sun

Dramatic Independence Monument is one of the gems of the park

View from Book Cliffs

High desert pinyon-juniper

RV Slide Woes & A Total Change in Plans

“When life throws you a curve ball, learn to hit a good slam off it” Anonymous

"The Beast" goes into the shop

There are a bunch of classic quotes centered around the life and curveball theme, but they all got one thing in common.  Sometimes things just don’t work out as planned and so you gotta learn to play the game differently. 

That pretty much summed up what went through my mind after we’d spent 2 full days (that would be 48 hours for those counting) sitting at the RV repair shop only to hear the tech tell us “I’ve tried everything I can think of and I just can’t fix it”.

Bummer!

I can definitely recommend these guys

The thing is, I really believed him. This shop (Humphrey’s RV) in Grand Junction came highly recommended and our experience, apart from the fact that we couldn’t get our problem fixed, had been excellent. The customer service was friendly, the tech and mechanics up-front and honest. They let us stay overnight (with 30Amp) on-site and ended up only charging us for 4 hours of labor (!!) because they felt bad they couldn’t fix the issue. Honestly, I would recommend them wholeheartedly and had nothing (at all) to complain about.

Hanging out at Humphrey's RV

But that still left us with the situation of a broken slide. You know the story of the leak and bend from our “incident” in the mountains, but turns out our slide problem was much more serious than that (and *not* by the way related to the “incident”). Over the past year of RVing the whole slide seems to have somehow gone out of alignment and the back corner was “catching” the side of the RV everytime it came in , bending the RV wall and causing a “pop” on release (yikes!) 

Our free camping spot for the night at Humphrey's

We’d made a note of it about a month ago and thought it could be fixed by a simple alignment. But ohhhhh, nooooo…..the slide was fully aligned, fiddled, checked, taken apart, put together, even had a shimmy put under the back (to raise it 1/4″), but nothing worked. After spending several hours with Monaco on the phone and trying everything they could it looks like we might need a total slide re-build.

OK…not what I had planned…hmmm, what now?

My new "do"...it's been a while

The manufacturer of our coach is in Oregon and looks like that’s the logical next step. That means Idaho is out the window and Oregon in. After feeling rather depressed and decidedly “non-Zen” for an evening, we found some bright spots in the whole ordeal:

• Weather: The weather in Oregon seems fabulous right now. Idaho (at least the southern part which was our plan) is roasting. Ass in the sand and feet in the ocean…oh yeah, I can dig that!
• Hair: The 2 days we spent at the RV shop gave me time to get a haircut of which I was in dire need (my last professional cut being over a year ago). Hairdressers worldwide are rejoicing at my transformation.
• Time: Paul’s got a couple of weeks on his own next month (while I go to Denmark for a family reunion) which will be fruitfully spent getting repairs. Time-wise it’s kinda perfect.
• Money: We have an extended warranty which covers the slide, so it’s not like the financial concern is there.
• Why Not? We’re mobile and fancy free, so why not make the drive?

So all in all we’ve decided run with this curveball and take it where it goes. That means a TOTAL change of driving plans which we’ll be working on over the next 2 days. In any case, Oregon here we come….

SP Campground Review – Ridgway State Park, Ridgway, CO

View of the boat pier from top of Twin Fawn trail in Ridgway State Park

A huge and lovely park by water and mountains in Ridgway CO.

Link to campground here: Ridgway State Park, Ridgway,CO
Link to map location here: Ridgway State Park, Ridgway,CO

1. Site Quality = 3.5/5
   This is a HUGE park with 3 separate campgrounds and over 250 sites. Overall there’s good access and decent separation with a selection from full hookups to electric. All sites are large, asphalt and have lovely “sitting areas” with picnic table, fire-pit and grill. Both back-ins and pull-thoughs available (pull-thoughs tend to be nicer in my opinion). The only real”ding” is that some sites are rather unlevel, and the 2 campgrounds close to the road do get some road noise.
   -> Elk Ridge = this campsite is set furthest away from the road (very quiet) up the mesa-top hill on the reservoir side of the park. There are some views of both the cimarron mountain ranges and the reservoir through the pinyon-juniper trees. Sites are slightly closer together than the other 2 campgrounds, but with bits of shade. Electric hookups only (30 Amp). A few very unlevel sites, but also some outstanding sites with panoramic views (best mountain views from#177, 179, 181, 184, 186 with some decent reservoir views from #82, 87, 89)
   -> Dakota Terraces = this campground is on level with the reservoir and closer to the main road (thus some road noise). Sites are nicely separated, but with less trees than Elk Ridge. Some sites have excellent open views of both the lake and the mountains. Direct access to swim beach and water. Electric hookup only (30 Amp)
   -> Pa-Co-Chu-Pak = this is a separate campground further north and below the reservoir dam (next to the river). Large and relatively flat sites. You do not have the open mountains views of the other two campgrounds here, but you do get full hookups (water/sewer/30Amp). Some road noise from sites closest to the highway.
2.  Facilities = 4.5/5
   Very nice set of facilities here. There are flush toilets, large showers (only ding is that they are pay only, $1 for 4 mins), and  modern laundry. Lots of additional facilities all around the park including picnic areas, swim beach, fishing pier, playground, and boating. On-site dump station at Dakota Terraces.
3. Location = 5/5
   This is a fabulous location. You are right next to a beautiful body of water with miles of hiking within the park, yet you are only a short jaunt from Ridgway (shopping, restaurants) and within easy drive of the entire Million Dollar Highway (Ouray, Mt. Sneffels Wilderness, etc.)
4. Pet Friendliness = 5/5
   Another great doggie spot. Lots of hiking trails, plus easy access to splash in the water especially from the Elk Ridge/Dakota Terrace campgrounds (from Elk Ridge take the Twin Fawn trail down to the water for a nice, secluded water play-area).

Overall Rating = 4.5
BONUS ALERT = Camp with views of water and mountains!

Summary: Ridgway is a huge State Park set in a lovely location right next to Ridgway reservoir at ~7000 feet and within view of the stunning Cimarron mountains. There are 3 campgrounds, 2 of which sit by the reservoir with electric only (Elk Ridge/Dakota Terraces) and one which sits below the dam by the river with full hookup (Pa-Co-Chu-Pak). In general sites are large and easily accessible with pull-throughs being the nicer of the lot. All have lovely “sitting areas” and a few on Elk Ridge/Dakota side have excellent views of the mountains and lake. We stayed at the highest campground (Elk Ridge) as it was furthest away from the road (and thus the quietest). Elk Ridge has a variety of sites from sparse to decent shade, a few nice views (see above), but also a selection of closer-spaced sites and some very uneven sites (we needed to jack up our back on blocks to get level). We thoroughly enjoyed the full range of facilities, miles of hiking and water access at the campground as well as the views. Also, the park was a great base to explore the Million Dollar Highway and surrounding mountains. You are half-way between the high mountains and the high desert of Western CO, so it does heat up here in summer. When we come back we’ll probably stay again at either Elk Ridge or Dakota Terrace, but try to choose one of the more scenic sites.

 Extra Info:  Full Verizon signal at Elk Ridge campground. Sites cost $20/night for electric (30Amp), $24/night for full hook-up (Pa-Co-Chu-Pak only). There is an extra daily park fee of $7/day (can be covered with the Colorado Annual Parks Pass). Over 250 sites, all reservable. On site dump station at Dakota Terraces. On-site laundry.

 Extra, Extra Info – BOONDOCKING: If you’re brave enough to make the drive on the Million Dollar Highway (Hwy 550) there are a few boondocking spots along that stretch. We saw several rigs parked near the entrance to Ironton Park (milemarker 85) just off the highway. Next to Silverton there are apparently 2 popular (= might be crowded) boondocking spots; one east up by the old Eureka townsite and one west along the road to South Mineral NFS CG  (we didn’t visit either of these, but were told about them).

NOTE/ All of my site pics are from Elk Ridge Campground. You can get LOTS more pics of all 3 campgrounds from HERE

Typical back-in site (site #104 shown)

View of our site (#105) in D Loop. We did have a "slice" of mountain view from our side window, but not much shade.

View down our campground loop (our RV on right) showing mountains in the background.

Another view down "D" loop (site #87 on left).

View down "E" loop (site #184 in front with 186 behind). Both these sites have outstanding mountain views to the side.

Another view down "E" loop (site #178 on right)

View of one of the lovely "sitting areas"

View of playground in Elk Ridge

View of main facilities in Elk Ridge

"Arial" view of Dakota Terraces as seen from the highway

Hiking with Polly on one of the many trails

Friends & Goings On – Ridgway, CO

Stunning Lower Blue Lakes in the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness

It’s been a week of friends and goings on here in SW Colorado. The small town of Ridgway sits at ~7,000 feet just west of the craggy peaks of Mt Sneffels Wilderness. Here “America’s Switzerland” drops off rapidly towards Utah’s dry desert with Ridgway as a kind of cross-over between the two -> It’s not quite mountain, not quite desert but a mix of high juniper and rolling valleys with views of beauty.

We came here to explore the Million Dollar Highway, romp around in the oh-so-tourist towns and…as it turns out…meet some friends. All of it totally worked out.

David "Rusty" Ford rocks out some country music

Years ago when I was young and green and first started working my very first boss, David eased me into the whole crazy semiconductor business. Back then he had an RV, not that I had the faintest idea what that was. Well, we stayed in touch and years later he’s a fulltimer with a side-line of rocking out some music. We just happened to hook up as he was giving an impromptu concert in Montrose. How funky is that?

The small railroad museum in downtown Ridgway

That wasn’t the end of our social extravaganza. Sam, one of my blog readers just happened to be staying at Ridgway the same week as us. He came over with his lovely wife Jennifer and a bottle of wine, which we considered more than mighty friendly of him. We had a good chat while he gave us a ton of tips on the area. Cheers, Sam!

View from the road at Ridgway State Park. The Mt.Sneffels Wilderness is peeking out in the back.

As for Ridgeway, it’s a cool little spot. The town itself is more laid back than touristy Ouray and a bit more casual than funky Silverton. On one side the mountains call to hiking, jeeping and wilderness, while on the other Ridgway State Park offers boating and camping. The whole area is, in fact a bit of a jeeper’s paradise with no end of 4×4 roads to get lost in the outdoors. We’ve had a load of fun exploring the area and doing some classic hikes (highly recommend Lower Blue Lakes!). It’s more crowded than our previous location, but it’s got a charm all its own that worth the trip. And you definitely can’t beat the company

Want to see “Rusty” Play? David’s got a full winter schedule starting Nov 4th at Trivetti’s Restaurant in Green Valley, AZ. He’ll be playing every Friday and most Sundays. Be sure to make reservations for when either WhetStone or “Rusty” Ford are playing. If you’re in the area check him out, and let him know Nina say’s “hi”.

Hiking the gorgeous Lower Blue Lakes Trail

The funky old fire-truck in downtown Ridgway

Me and "Rusty" Ford

Wildflowers galore in the mountains

Looking into the valley from Mt Sneffels Wilderness

Polly gets wet at Ridgway State Park