We visited the beautiful town of Telluride this past fall, and once again was overwhelmed by it’s beauty. This was our third trip to the Matterhorn Campground. Our first trip was in a tent, the second in our popup, and the third in the Airstream. It has been a progression moving toward glamping over all these years while living in Colorado.
Along the way to Telluride, we stopped at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We have always wanted to see the canyon, but we where afraid to drive in with the camper. We took in the first lookout, then parked at the visitors center and walked out to the lookout. What a view, it was worth driving in! There are campsites within the park, and would be worth going back for a glamping adventure!
During our trip we drove through Ridgeway, and stopped at the Cimarron Coffee & Books, the lattes are wonderful and the pastries are delicious.
One of our destinations was Ouray where we checked out the Amphitheater Campground. This campground was on a very steep, and narrow road. It is like mountain goat camping! The views from campground are wonderful, overlooking the town of Ouray.
Our final destination for the day was Silverton. I’ve always wanted to drive over The Million Dollar Highway, and it was as wonderful as I thought it would be with lots of breath taking views. Although, the road is narrow, and I would not enjoy driving the Airstream over it.
We enjoyed walking around Silverton, and had lunch at Brown Bear Cafe. Our friend really liked Handlebars Food & Saloon.
We arrived back to Telluride and enjoyed the sunset near the campground.
Our plans of hiking and fly fishing were washed away by all of the rain while we where in Telluride. During a break in the clouds, we hiked the Galloping Goose Trail behind the campground. Everyone was getting cabin fever from all the rain, so walked the dirt (muddy!) road behind the campground to Priest Lake in the rain. There were a lot of very small trout in Priest Lake, but I was not quick enough to catch them. If you keep following the road you will come to Trout Lake, which is a larger lake. Once again, the trout were not interested in my fly.
Of course we spent a day in downtown Telluride. TheTelluride Movie Festival was being held the weekend that we were visiting. We saw Meryl Streep right away, and later in the day I saw Laurie Anderson. We stopped in The Coffee Cowboy for a latte. The dogs enjoyed a nice swim in the river before heading to the top of the mountain in the free gondola. We took in the views stopping at St. Sophia Nature Center, located at the top of Coonskin Ridge, overlooking the town of Telluride, before heading back to the camper due to a big storm that was brewing.
We headed toward Rico, CO into the Lizzard Head Wilderness, in search of Kilpacker Trail Head. We hiked for for a few hours along the trail which was surrounded by pine and large aspens. We spotted two Dusky Grouse on the trail, too!
We went past Rico, CO, and fished along the Dolores River (public water). I came across three big bull snakes that surprised me! We also stumbled across Cayton Campground. Half of the sites sit along the river, the other half up in the trees. I think it would be a great location if you want to concentrate on hiking in the Lizard Head Wilderness Area and would like to fish in the beautiful Dolores River.
We also visited Sunshine Campground. Its sites are smaller than Matterhorn.
This was another great trip to Telluride. If you have the time, go and visit the area—we know you will have a great glamping adventure!
When: Fall, 2015
Elevation: 8,500 ft
Reservations: Matterhorn Campground
Site: Level, water, some electric, no dump station, FREE HOT SHOWERS!
Beautiful photos and commentary. Every post you provide gives me another site to visit or reminders of why I want to return. One thing that doesn’t seem to have have changed sine 2005: how happy you look camping! I read your link to the million dollar road and imagining driving it in the snow would bring nightmares.
Richard, I’m glad you liked the Telluride post. It took me awhile to get to it, fall/winter has been so busy for us.
You are 100% correct: we are always happy when we venture into the mountains. Good company and wonderful scenery– how could you not love every moment?