davelauren

Hi, my wife Lauren and I are planning a trip to Colorado for about 8 days this summer (late July). We would like to move around and stay at some hotels or b&b's and camp a little too. Any suggestions for an itinerary? We are mostly interested in fly fishing, hiking, biking and checking out some nice towns and restaurants. Also, anybody have any recommendations for campgrounds that have "some" amenities but are private and in beautiful locations?

Thanks for any help you can give us....

paige

We've camped at Sylvan Lake State Park. Not too far off I-70 between Avon and Glenwood Springs (could be past Glenwood Springs but I don't think so). Has restroom with sinks and toilets, but I don't remember showers. We go to Vail-Beaver Creek for a week each summer and rent a house so I can't give you ideas on B&B or hotels. Our camping was always limited to just one night for the kids. Most of the years the moms went for the cookout and drove back to our comfortable beds and left the dads at Sylvan Lake with the kids!

travellyn

You may not be coming this far south, but just north of Silverton is the Mineral Creek Area. The South Mineral Campground is at the end of a gravel road, right before it turns to 4WD. It's the nicest developed (forest service) campground I've stayed in. I also liked the Tucker Ponds Campground, just east of Wolf Ceek Pass.

Colorado has a lot of public land with few restrictions on camping, so if you want a really great experience, camp off the side of some forest road someplace where you can choose your own spot and a beautiful view.

Some good options:
- Around Lake City and Creede
- Along the Piedra river, just east of Durango
- Off Lime Creek Road, between Durango and Silverton
- Trout Lake and areas between Rico and Stoner, south of Telluride (great fishing around there)

I love the Leadville area, but it gets so busy that camping is restricted in a lot of good places there.

In terms of itenerary, will you be flying or driving to Colorado? You might want to buy the DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer for Colorado to get an idea of your options. It's full of large-scale topo maps of the state, and great for finding good places to go.

Breckboy

Try Summit County. I can't imagine anything more beautiful than camping on the shore of Lake Dillon, and it should be full of water by July. There are over 60 miles of paved bikepath, plus unlimited mountain biking. You can fly fish on the Blue River in Silverthorne, just below the Lake Dillon Dam. If you want, there are numerous B&B's in Breckenridge to get your "city" fix. My other favorite campground is Chapman, over by Carbondale towards Aspen. We are also only about 40 miles to the Vail area. You could easily spend 8 days here and not get bored.

Coskier

Hi Dave and Lauren, yes Summit County has everything your looking for, though can be a bit busy in Summer. A B&B look at http://www.mugginsgulch.com they sit in the midst of National Forest but just a few min drive to Breckenridge. They do a fair bit of wedding business so make sure that one is not going on at the same time. Big plus is the Colorado Trail runs though thier property. They are off Tiger Rd which has access to some of the best MTN biking trails in Summit. Ask for the "Dredge Boat" parking area.

For camping the best book I have found is "Colorado Campgrounds, The 100 best and All the Rest" By Gil Folsom.

We typically do as Travllyn suggested, just find a dirt rd with national Forest access and camp, no amentities, but then no crowds.

Resturants we like, Vail, Sweet Basils for dinner, lunch outside at Up the Creek

Summit County
Lake Dillon Marina the Tiki Bar, only place to eat and drink on the water! Don't bother if you do not like dogs.

Cafe Alpine in Breck.

Have fun! Hopefully this wet spring will mean we can once again have campfires, though of course with much caution.