Although Wyoming was nice, we wanted to visit Colorado and explore the state before it became too cold for us to do so comfortably in our RV. So, from Farson Wyoming we drove to a reservoir just inside Colorado’s border. We only stayed there one night and on the next day, we moved to San Isabel National Forest near Buena Vista.
After our time in Buena Vista, we visited Colorado Springs, Pueblo, The Sand Dunes, Crested Butte, and Montros.
We explored Colorado for about 2 months in total. Some of our adventures while there included hiking Mount Elbert, watching the solar eclipse, resolving transmission issues with our truck, and celebrating 1 year of traveling as well as our wedding anniversary.
Colorado has a lot of diversity as far as scenery goes. I mean, we went from hiking one of Colorado’s many 14er’s to sliding down deserty sand dunes to walking through aspen forests covered in yellow and red leaves. We now understand why it is called “Colorful Colorado.”
Although we loved our time in Colorado, we had to keep driving towards warmer climates – especially since cold weather was just around the corner. That’s why, in our next blog, we will be sharing our Utah adventures with you. Stay tuned!
San Isabel National Forest
Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Comments:
We were able to find a lovely spot near a river with a great view of Mount Elbert.
Cell Service:
– Google Fi (combination of US cellar, T-mobile, and Sprint): 4 bars of LTE
– Verizon: 4 LTE bars (with a booster)
Weather:
– High was in the low 80’s
– Low was in the mid 40’s to low 50’s
Time of Year:
Middle of August
Recommended Places to See & Things to do:
– Hike Mount Elbert! There are several trails that you can take. Some are more difficult than others so, do you research.
– You may not find this fun, but we enjoyed challenging our cold water skills and took a dip in the nearby river.
– Try to catch some fish!
Lake Pueblo State Park
Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Comments:
This park is very clean and well kept. Each site comes with a shaded picnic table and a fire pit. There are also some good biking / walking trails within the park and nearby.
Cell Service:
– Google Fi (combination of US cellar, T-mobile, and Sprint): 4 bars of LTE
– Verizon: 4 LTE bars (with a booster)
Weather:
– High was in the upper 80’s
– Low was in the mid 60’s
Time of Year:
Beginning of September
Recommended Places to See & Things to do:
– Go bike riding or walking if you enjoy nature and exercise.
– Make a cozy campfire.
San Luis State Wildlife Area
Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Comments:
We were about 15 minutes (driving distance) from The Sand Dunes National Park entrance. This is obviously very convenient, but also, this place used to be a state park but it isn’t anymore. The set up is very similar to Lake Pueblo State Park.
Cell Service:
– Google Fi (combination of US cellar, T-mobile, and Sprint): 4 bars of LTE
– Verizon: 4 LTE bars (with a booster)
Weather:
– High was in the mid 80’s
– Low was in the mid 50’s to low 60’s
Time of Year:
Middle of September
Recommended Places to See & Things to do:
– Of course, take some time to visit the National Park. You can rent a board while you are there and have a blast sliding down the dunes. We definitely recommend getting a board.
– Every place we go is a place to go walking or riding on bikes.
Gunnison National Forest
Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Comments:
This forest is beautiful in the Fall. We had a great time taking hikes through the colorful forests. Also, we were about 15 minutes from the town of Crested Butte, which is a very neat little ski town.
Cell Service:
– Google Fi (combination of US cellar, T-mobile, and Sprint): 4 bars of LTE
– Verizon: 4 LTE bars (with a booster)
Weather:
– High was in the upper 60s’
– Low was in the mid 20’s
Time of Year:
End of September
Recommended Places to See & Things to do:
– By all means, go hiking.
– Crested Butte allows you to ride the ski lift if you buy tickets. Once you get to the top of the lift, you can hike or bike around the mountain.
– The town offers a lot of site seeing opportunities, coffee shops, delicious local restaurants, and more.
Flat Top OHV Area
Rating:
3 out of 5 stars
Comments:
Although there are a lot of ATVing opportunities and we did enjoy hiking in this area, it was a little too dusty for us. It actually looked very similar to The Sand Dunes from a distance, but the “sand” is dirt.
Cell Service:
– Google Fi (combination of US cellar, T-mobile, and Sprint): 4 bars of LTE
– Verizon: 4 LTE bars (with a booster)
Weather:
– High was in the low 70’s
– Low was in the low 30’s
Time of Year:
Beginning of October
Recommended Places to See & Things to do:
– It was pretty interesting (and a good workout) to hike the humongous mounds of dirt that made up this area.
– Many people come here to ride dirt bikes, ATV’s, and such. It looked like fun!
Follow the adventures!
