This was our 2nd visit to this area and we were not disappointed! The camping fees here are hefty. $23.00 to dry camp without the National park senior pass. They do have a full-hookup area for $31.00 a night. We took the dry camp area and noticed there were only 2 rigs in the full hookup sites.
The hillsides were ablaze with color (which we did not see last time) and we did see deer. No wild turkeys this time but a large variety of birds which pleased us. The deer were in the campground and around the area.
They were working on repaving the entire roadway which is large here. Took a few trips out to the various roads to see all the cliff dwellings and do a little hiking. There was much evidence of past fires. Our last visit was same time Oct 1, 2001 and this time Oct 1, 2007. They had 1 fire in 1996 and since then a large fire in 2002 and another in 2003. One fire was quite close to the Morefield campground where we stayed.
This park is high altitude at 7000 to 8000 ft plus. Wonderful views of the surrounding area and on a clear day you can see New Mexico. Our 1st night, they had predicted 30% chance of rain possible. We watched as the clouds moved in and most of the day we had had some wind. Okay, so now it’s who knows what time of night and the wind is howling and shaking us. We could hear glass shaking which is something we don’t hear driving down the road! Yes, we did have some rain but not a lot. Both of us did hear the thunder rolling through although it did not sound too close and we never did see any flashes of lightening. Goodness, both of us were afraid of what we would see in the daylight.
Wouldn’t you know the next morning the sun came out and it was a beautiful day! Very pretty blue skies and warm enough in the sunshine although with a slight breeze and in the shade it could be cool. No evidence of bad weather from the night before EXCEPT when we stopped at the 1st overlook we saw a dusting of snow on the San Juan Mountains east of the park.
