Chatfield State Park Campground, CO
Sept 23-25, 2022
Written By: J.Couch
Well I think this is the last camping trip of the year. We are coming to the end of summer and we could maybe squeak out a few other weekends if our schedules were clear. But they are not, we are pretty much booked up until early November. That puts us way out of camping season around the Denver area.
For our last camping trip of the year, we chose a place close to home called Chatfield State Park. Keep in mind that if you don’t have a State Park annual pass, it will cost you ten dollars a day for a day pass, along with the camping fee. The park is about 20 miles south of downtown Denver and sits on the Southside of the Chatfield reservoir. It’s a fairly big park and is very popular for day use by walkers, bikers, boaters, picnickers, but they also have a very nice campground. There are four major sections for single camping and a big group camping section too. Loop C and D are dry camping but I believe they both have power. So make sure you fill your tanks if you camp on that side. There is a sewer dump on the way out so you can clean your tanks before heading home. Loop A and B both have electric, water and sewer hook ups, so those go a lot faster when booking them. Book them early if you want a specific week or weekend, especially during the high season. The spots are very spaced out so you have plenty of your own space and privacy. There are not a lot of big trees so it can get pretty hot during the day but when the sun sets behind the mountains it’s very nice. The sky’s are a little darker here so it’s a much better area to see the stars compared to closer to town. There still is a lot of light pollution coming from the north but not too bad.
We got a space in loop B this time, we had a great view of the mountains and we could see a little of the lake and the dam. We got here Friday afternoon since we are so close to home, and set up camp. We made dinner, sat outside at the picnic table and then played a few rounds of Rummikub until it was too dark to see the tiles any more. We called it a night and headed to bed, we didn’t have a camp fire but maybe tomorrow.
We slept in as best we could, got up, made some coffee and sat outside in the morning sun. We slowly got moving and made some breakfast before we went out to explore. We decided to drive south to Waterton and look around. We found the trailhead to Waterton Canyon and decided to take a hike up the road as far as we could. It was warm and sunny and we did have our water but we only made it about 2.5 miles up the road. The trail is really a service road that goes up to Strontia Springs Dam that’s about 6.2 miles up in the mountains. It is very wide and not steep at all and runs along the South Platte River, in fact it used to be a narrow gauge rail line that ran up into the mountains. Waterton was once a thriving train stop on the Denver, South Park & Pacific rail line to Leadville.
About 2.5 plus miles in, we did run into a small herd of bighorn sheep grazing along the road. There were a few smaller baby sheep, the big male was watching us and everyone passing by pretty closely. I was waiting to see him charge at someone but he never did. We walked up a little farther before turning around and heading back. Maybe next time we can hike or bike a little farther up. There were lots of people out hiking and biking all along the trail. Many seem to go up to fish along the way and probably hike or bike up to the reservoir to fish there too. We got back to the car and headed back to camp for some afternoon snacks.
With a full belly of snacks and a quick rest, we took our scooters out to explore the miles of bike trails here in the campground. There is a nice paved trail that wraps along the lake with many areas to pull off and benches to sit and view the lake. South of where we were staying is a small cabin called Slocum cabin that sits on a hill overlooking the lake. The cabin was built in 1852 by an early trapper and is one of the oldest standing structures in the Denver area and probably the state. It was donated to the park and moved here from the Slocum property located in Waterton. Kind of a neat spot to walk out to see some history of the Colorado area.
We made it back to camp with no major scooter injuries and started to make dinner. Heather prepped for vegan lettuce wraps, kind of like the ones that you get at PF Chang’s. While she worked on that I worked on making some vegan spam musubi. It all turned out delicious and was a great camping dinner. After cleaning up we had enough light to get in a quick game of Rummikub again. Once the sun set behind the mountains it cooled off and got dark quickly. It was time to start the fire and sit around and watch the stars come out for the night. With not a cloud in the sky it was a beautiful evening to watch the stars. Maybe we will see a shooting star. The picture below is not a shooting star but a airplane passing by.
We slept in again as best we could. But we were up to see the sun come up over the horizon. It’s another beautiful morning in Colorado, with not a cloud in the blue sky. This morning there were 3 hot air balloons slowly drifting across the front range. Heather made some blueberry pancakes with the peach jam and peach syrup that we got from our last camping trip in Palisades. If you have not read that blog, click here to check it out.
We sat again in the sun and watched the campground come to life. People are waking up, making breakfast and starting to pack up for the day to head home. Speaking of packing up, we are doing the same. Cleaning the trailer and getting ready to winterize it for the season. Time to put it away until next year. It has been a good summer and now for trips via the car and airplanes. Continue to watch for more of our adventures.
Thanks for wandering with us,
The Wandering Couchs
