My parents have some land down in South Fork, and have been staying in Creede a couple of times a year on vacation.

I am thinking of flying down this year while they are there in June for about a week, and was curious what all is in the area to see and do? I have been to South Fork and backpacked around there quite a bit, but was curious about something I may have never seen or any good suggestions. They and their friends are mostly into the jeep trails, but I'd rather get out of the car a bit more. Also, not a fan of bumping around a rough trail all day.

Was contemplating driving over to the Great Dunes park and camping out for a night there, so driving a decent distance is an option as long as I would stay the night. Any good parks or trails in the area anyone would recommend?

Also I am seriously considering driving, and taking a couple of weeks off work. Driving from Seattle, stopping in Oregon for a night or two, then stopping in UTah at Arches or Canyonlands for a night or two, and then to Colorado for 4-5 days and then returning to Seattle.

Great Sand Dunes is a great place to see. If you can get a camp site with a veiw of the San Luis Valley, it is spectacular to watch the sun set and the crystal clear air allows you to see forever across the valley. The creek that runs through the park is snow fed, but when it spreads out across the sand it is warmed by the mid day sun. We were there once on a weekend, and people came out like it was an ocean beach. They had umbrellas and the kids played in the water and sand.

If you do get roped into a jeep ride, ride up past the Rio Grande Reservoir to Stony Pass. There is signage there describing the history of the gold rush and the neatest part is, the Rio Grande River starts at a small snow patch there. It is humbling to see the river start as a trickle over the rocks.

If you want to try your hand at fly fishing, there is an incredible annual salmon fly hatch that occurs each year from about June 20 to July 4. I fished in a number of different places with my son, but that is one of our better memories. Duranglers out of Durango moves guides over there for the hatch. Contact them in Durango if that is of interest.

I would suggest spending a day out around the Rio Grande Reservoir. The river below the lake looked about as beautiful and fishy as any water I’ve ever seen, but I was too tired to fish it after getting out of the mountains. Since you are talking about going in June, most of the creeks and rivers are going to be blown out with snow melt though. None of the trails we hiked were anything you haven’t seen before. I think there’s an old ghost town with a lot of old mines a little further down the road from the Reservoir. FYI, the road out there is a little rough when compared to the typical Forest Service Road but any type of a pickup should be ok.

I’m not sure if you’ve been to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, but that is a pretty amazing sight to the northwest of Creede. I’m not sure how far of a drive…maybe 1.5 hours one way.

Colorado

Great live theater there in Creede. One of the tops in the state.

fishing on the Rio Grande can be good. There are also some high mountain streams that are fun to catch little brookies.

The place is surrounded by National Forest, so hiking is pretty much open in any direction.

Spent two summer vacations outside Creede. It was the most fun I'd ever had. Didn't do anything fancy. Just fishing and mountain climbing.

You can go zip lining in Durango or take the train to Silverton (if you end up doing that, I would suggest that you only ride it one way), 4 wheel drive over the pass in Lake City (amazing views and you will proabably encounter hot enough weather for only a t-shirt, rain, and even snow in the same trip), and there is a big waterfall right off the road between Creede and Lake City that is fun to go and see and/or you can drive up to Summitville late in the evening and see the wildlife that is a very short distance from South Fork...

These are just a few of my suggestions. I have been going there all of my life and we did a lot of these things as kids.

my brothers and i drove the alpine loop last year. we did it years ago with my parents. there were tons of 4 wheelers out if that's your thing. it's beautiful up there.

there's some good fly fishing between creede and lake city. we've been vacationing between the two towns for years.

definitely go to the great sand dunes. it's amazing.

Just a quick word of advice. If you're ever thinking of going to camp alone on the Great Sand Dunes in early November, just don't even worry about it.

The wind was insane and I had to pack up and go sleep in the car. I even got really lucky that it didn't rain or snow.

And if you're ever thinking of driving to Creede after that. Don't do that either.

But if you do need a good route to Southfork (west) from the Great Sand Dunes then take a right on Lane 6...Left on Hwy 17...Right on Lane 5...then Right on 160. It works.

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