Ridgway & Glenwood Springs

Our stay in Ridgway State Park was very low-key. We had been close to this beautiful area earlier in the summer, so did not need to venture far from our RV to have a fantastic time. This state park had great campsites with with gorgeous views, trails, and is located right on the Uncompahgre River. We needed to get our Mountain Bikes serviced and found a great bike shop, “Ridgway Wrench” that gave us an excellent tune-up. The mountain biking trails in Ridgway were fabulous and very well maintained. We also visited the nearby town of Ouray, “The Switzerland of America”. We drove the “Million Dollar Highway” and enjoyed a delicious birthday dinner in this charming town.

Ridgway State Park Campsite

Million Dollar Highway

View from Million Dollar Highway

Ridgway State Park Biking Trail

Downtown Ouray

Birthday Dinner in Ouray

Our next stop was Glenwood Springs, CO. We stayed in a wonderful campground and were able to park our RV right next to the Colorado River. This area had an abundance of paved biking trails, so we spent more time on our road bikes. We had a great ride on the Rio Grand trail, and stopped for a lovely lunch along the way in Carbondale, CO. We saw some “working goats” that were being used to chomp down pesky weeds on the trail the old-fashioned way — without herbicides and other chemicals. Pretty Cool! The Glenwood Canyon bike trial was another excellent bike ride in the mountains and along the Colorado River. We rode our mountain bikes in Rifle Mountain Park in the White River National Forest, an area popular for rock climbing. There are several beautiful waterfalls nearby, and we got a chance to see one on a hike to Hanging Lake (video below) and one in Rifle Falls State Park (cover blog photo). We also had a very relaxing time at the Iron Mountain Hot Springs located on the river and surrounded by Rocky Mountain views. It had 16 geothermal soaking pools, a freshwater pool and a jetted spa. What a treat!

Below is a video of Hanging Lake, one of our favorite hikes: