Best place to take the family? We love hiking, atv riding and fishing. Gold panning would be a fun! Any recommendations?

Creeds a Lake City would be my choice! Been going there for 25 plus years. Can't beat it!!

Lots of options of course. I will put a plug in for my little slice of CO though. Meeker is a neat little town with tons to do. You can rent side by sides and ride 300 miles of trails on BLM and National Forest lands with ease. Tons of fishing opportunities. Trappers Lake is a great day of hiking and fishing. I think the only downside is we only have 4 or 5 places to eat in town, but lots of cabins in the area you can stay with great views and full kitchens if you want to cook your own meals. You could also go horseback riding at Ute Lodge.

Or you can help me put out trail cams but you have to leave your phone in the truck .

You really can't miss with any of the towns in the southern part of the state. They will check all of your boxes.

Ouray even has gold panning in the river (don't expect to find much or anything) and several good mines you can tour and do a little "panning" at too.

Pagosa Springs is my old stomping ground, and you are likely to find amazing weather then. You can do it all there. Driving up to the continental divide in June, you can hike the CDT and the wildflowers should be glorious. It was a favorite of ours every year.

Lake City would be a great option too.

For fishing, June can be hit or miss. If the runoff ja still going, the creeks can be high and muddy. There is likely to be fishable water somewhere, you will just have to hunt for it.

That bottom part sounds like something that would be awesome lol and I'll check that place out. My kids would love renting an ATV and riding.

We will definitely be staying 2 or 3 days in Pagosa. We have never been to Pagosa during June. We have stayed in Pagosa every trip we have made.

Loved Pagosa when we were there the summer before last. Rented a house on a lake with a fishing dock and outdoor jacuzzi. Take the train to Silverton from Durango.

Pagosa and Durango are good options. Easy access to all sorts of outdoor activities. My family and I also go to Winter Park a fair amount during the summer. If you wanted something a little more rustic than a ski town you could head up the highway toward Grand Lake, which is the entrance to the west side of RMNP. One note about Winter Park in June is that it could snow and Trail Ridge Road in RMNP could be closed at higher elevations. When we went a couple years ago, it was 60-65 degrees one afternoon, and then a storm blew through overnight and dumped a few inches of snow by the next morning. A surprise to be sure, but the kids loved it.

Bottom line: It's hard to go wrong in Colorado during the summer.

I know several of the AirBNB folks in town and upriver with cabins so let me know if you need contact info. My email is in my profile. If I am around, I am happy to show you the fishing spots with either fly fishing or casting.

if you can swing it go white water rafting near Beuna Vista. Do a whole day. About the time you get the hang of things you'll stop and it's over and wish you'd done the full day. Instead of getting on the bus back, you stop and they feed you lunch for about an hour and you get back in.

If you're worried about the rough ride, you can book anywhere from easy (level 1 - floating) to hard (level 5 up down all around work to paddle through).

My wife is what we all call a merry-go-round amusement park person. We all ride the roller coasters, she waits and goes on the merry go round.

1st time we went, we booked one that was only supposed to go up to level 3 rapids and she loved it. Next time we booked she picked the higher level (I think mostly 3's and 4's) and she loved it. Never would have expected it and we've been several times now. Kids loved it too. They were 10-14 the first time we went.

I also recommend Estes Park. Lots of good close hiking trails that can be as easy/short or difficult/longer as you want them to be.

Salida is one of our favorites. Great for kids... depending on how old yours are, they can walk around on their own to grab ice cream, go to the arcade, etc. Buena Vista is ~20 minutes away, but we very much prefer to stay in Salida. Both are on the Arkansas River.

- Tons of fishing in the area.
- Hiking everywhere. Plenty of 14ers if you want a serious challenge. There is a guy that does hikes with llamas that our kids loved when they were younger.
- ATVs - go to the Fourmile Recreation Area outside of Buena Vista. Rent RZR's. So much fun, but be careful.
- Hang out by the river in Salida and rent boogie boards/stand up paddle boards/tubes, etc. COLD, but you get used to it.
- Bike rental places if that's your thing.
- Go rafting out of Buena Vista. If you are there in early June, there will be rapids to satisfy everyone.
- On our last trip, my son (13) and I got dropped off in Buena Vista, rented kayaks, rode the river down to Salida where we got out and dropped off the kayaks. Walked back to the rental house.
- Good restaurants and breweries.
- The elevation is not that extreme, and it's warmer than most other areas.

Stay as close to F Street and the river as you can and just walk everywhere.

Alternatively, Ouray and Telluride are both amazing. Absolutely beautiful. You will still encounter a bit of snow in the mountains in June, and most if not all of the passes will be closed.

I would also add checking out the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Totally worth a 1/2 day on your way to or from Pagosa.

In Pagosa:
In June, Williams Creek Resevoir would be a good option for fishing. If the creek below it isn't blowing out with melt; you can catch all the trout you want (smaller ones) by hiking down from the dam. Ski & Bow Rack in town can tell you what flies are working- if Kevin is there tell him Joey sent you. You can also catch some nice fish in the lake. Hiking the Cimmarona Trail is fun from there. There is an arch a couple miles up that is cool, and some UNBELIEVABLE views if you are willing to do a full day out and back (or overnight). Definetly drive up to Lobo Overlook, and check out Treasure Falls.

Buckaroo's Horse Drawn Carriage Rides is run by some of our best friends. They do a PHENOMENAL job, and have access to a beautiful property where they do the rides now. Totally worth it for a really unique experience. Definitely tell Buck or Christine that Joey & Allison sent you. They will take great care of you guys, and are the sweetest and most hard working family ever.

Go to Lake City, rent a jeep or atv(s) and do the alpine loop. Go back the next year and do some offshoot trails that you missed in year one. Then keep going back...

+1 on Creede and Lake City.

www.tahosaranch.com
www.bestcoloradotravel.com

B-1 83 said:

---

Loved Pagosa when we were there the summer before last. Rented a house on a lake with a fishing dock and outdoor jacuzzi. Take the train to Silverton from Durango.

---

care to share a link of said house?

FYI June is the rainy season and three will still be snow high up on some of the hike and jeep trails. Wildflower should be great though. Fishing can be tough in streams and rivers due to melt water flow.

Still, any time you can go is better than not going. Just be prepared for variable weather.

Rainy season means it will rain most days around 3PM. Plan accordingly.

June is usually a bit early for daily rains. It can depend on when he goes, but monsoon season isn't really considered to begin until around the first day of summer (21st), and even then it's effective start of daily rains is typically closer to mid July. Not really a way to know now when it will start this summer though. In terms of precipitation in inches over a month, June is actually the least for a lot of the mountain towns.

We are heading up June 7th and staying a little over a week. My soon to be 8 year old loves shed hunting.. which is why we are going in June lol would may be better?

There could be a lot of snow on the ground in May if this winter keeps going as it is. We have gotten 3ft the last 7 days where I live and I live in a dry part of the state, relatively speaking. Last year was miserable. I wasn't able to put cameras out till July. And I was still trotting through snow getting to my spots.

As far as weather goes, nope June will be better. Not sure when the best time for sheds are so can't help you there.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am also planning a trip with my son this summer to camp, fish and hike. Not sure we'll get all the way to Meeker Hoyt, but if so we'd be happy to help with game cameras!