Best of Colorado State Parks #1

This year we decided to return to some of our favorite Colorado State Parks that we’ve stayed in over the years.  Reservations are nearly impossible to get at some of these more urban parks, but fortunately on exactly the 6 month reservation window, we were able to snag some great sites.  Thanks P&D for the online help!

Our first stop is Cheyenne Mountain, just outside of Colorado Springs.  In our list of “best”, this State Park certainly ranks in the top-10.  Beautiful views over Colorado Springs, excellent facilities, well maintained sites and miles and miles of hiking trails. And, it’s literally about a mile to entrance of the NORAD Installation deep within Cheyenne Mountain made famous by movies such as StarGate and War Games.

Cheyenne Mountain State Park

NORAD from War Games

From Cheyenne Mountain we’re off to Mueller State Park.  Not as close to Colorado Springs, but still very busy – this park is located in the western shadow of Pikes Peak, between Divide and Cripple Creek. Campsites are Mueller are uniquely placed along the top of 4 mountain ridges.  With over 35 miles of trails in the park, there’s plenty of places to find beautiful scenery and wildlife.

Mueller State Park, site #35

Mueller State Park, site #40

Mueller State Park, site #41

After a great stay in Mueller, we’re off to Chatfield State Park outside of Denver.  Not necessarily one of our favorites, but this park provides easy access to all things that Denver offers.  Tonight it’s a Brother’s Osborn concert at Fiddlers Green.

Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre, Greenwood Village, CO

From Chatfield we’re headed home for a weekend, then up to Lake Pueblo State Park, then to Cheyenne for the 127^th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, carnival and concerts.  More from Cheyenne…

Mueller SP and South Fork Campground

Mueller State Park, site #35

We’re parked in site #35 along Conifer Ridge in Mueller State Park – one of our favorite State Parks.  We last visited Mueller nearly 1 year ago to the date.  Colorado Springs is less than an hour away, making camping reservations (especially with a group) a real challenge.

With friends in sites #30, #31 and #33, we’ve established a convenient group space along the mid-way point of Conifer Ridge.  We like #35, it has a fairly level entry area, plenty of shaded space to the rear and offers a threaded water spigot across the road for any extra water needs.  All though, site #34 is also very nice, with an awesome view towards Pikes Peak.

All sites along Conifer Ridge are electric (30A) only, with the water spigots scattered throughout the campgrounds and at the dump station.  There are vault toilets in each of the 7 main camping areas, plus a large camper service building with hot showers and a laundry room.  There is no apparent WiFi provided by the park, but up here along Conifer Ridge the T-Mobile signal is strong, and provides streaming quality hot spot access.

Mueller State Park, site #34

Mueller State Park, site #34

On Saturday, we visited Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, located only about 12 miles further west near Florissant, CO.  These fossil beds are the petrified remains of nearly 1700 species of insects and plants including huge sequoias that grew here around 35 million years ago on a warm, temperate, wet environment.  Volcanic activity formed the perfect preservation environment for these specimens including the remaining huge sequoia trunks.

Florissant Fossel Beds – The “Big Stump”, 38 feet in circumference!

Florissant Fossel Beds – Giant Sequoia

After 5 nights at Mueller, we’re headed west to South Fork, CO.  We were last in this area in July when we stayed just 10 miles further west outside of Creede.  We’re in site #26 at the South Fork Campground, along the banks of the Rio Grande in a quiet grove of cottonwood trees.  There are about 50 sites here, many are carved out between trees along the perimeter and the central pull-throughs that we’re in. Best sites here would be the back-ins from 8-16 and most any of the riverside sites.  The park offers a small store, propane refills, a dump station, several single tent sites and a group tent area. WiFi is strong, and the free service provided streamable speeds while we were here.

South Fork Campground

South Fork Campground, River Site

South Fork Campground, Site #11

South Fork Campground, Site #26

From South Fork we’ll continue west, over Wolf Creek Pass to Lightner Creek Campground outside of Durango.  More from there…

Mueller State Park

This weekend we’re in sites #37 & #39 at Mueller.  Next time, we’d like to check out sites #122-#124 which appear to be very unique with more privacy and great views to the west.

Mueller State Park Site #39

Views from #123/124

Mueller Site #123

Mueller Site #122

Mueller Site #123

Mueller Site #124

Mueller State Park

Mueller State Park Site #2

Last weekend found us at camping at Mueller State Park.  One of the most popular of all Colorado State Parks, we’ve had our reservations for Mueller since last December.  Mueller is just south of Divide, CO and about 20 minutes outside of Woodland Park. The park boasts over 5000 acres, nearly 50 miles of hiking/biking trails, 132 camp sites (110 with electric service) a beautiful visitors center, camper service center with hot showers and a laundromat and an amphitheater with nightly programs.  Threaded water hydrants are located throughout the campground and there’s an RV dump station.

Campsites are organized along a high ridge with 3 main loops.  We’re in sites #2 & #3 along the first small loop called Peak View.  There are about 20 sites along Conifer Ridge, the next loop, followed by Grouse Mountain with about 40 sites.  Remaining sites are spaced along the main road and in two walk-in tent camping areas. Most of the RV sites are fairly private and can accommodate moderate to large rigs with large and small tent pads.  All sites have a picnic table and a fire ring.  On the Peak View loop there is a water hydrant next to site #1 and one in the middle of the turnaround at the end of the loop.  There is also a vault toilet at the end of the loop next to the trail-head leading to a small pond. Mueller_Campground_Map

We took our mountain bikes down the Peak View trail which intersects with the Elk Meadow trail.  Peak View trail is nearly all downhill, Elk Meadow is all uphill.  With the campground on a high ridge, most trails have aggressive elevation changes.  We probably won’t be biking Mueller’s trails again after walking our bikes back up the hills – much better to bike the main roadway or hike the trails! While our sites worked well, there are many sites that would be just as nice.  Sites on the south side of Conifer Ridge, #34, #36, and #41 offer amazing views.  With shared driveways, sites #44, #45 & #46 & at the end of Conifer Ridge are very private.

The Peak View campgrounds are some of the lowest in the park and didn’t offer any TV signals.  Cellular coverage was spotty at best, our T-Mobile service only worked from higher up on the main road, but we did manage a very week, but connected Verizion Broadband signal in the camper.  Coverage for both cellular and TV may be a bit better in the higher Conifer Ridge or Grouse Mountain sites.  We’ll be back in September, in sites #37 and #39 to check out that theory.

Mueller State Park Site #3

Peak View Ridge

Mueller State Park Site #34

Mueller State Park Site #36

Mueller State Park Site #41

Mueller State Park Site #44

Mueller State Park Site #45

Mueller State Park Site #46

Mueller State Park Site #45

Mueller State Park Site #2