{"id":70,"date":"2026-05-27T15:41:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/?p=70"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:41:26","slug":"northern-colorado-reset-trip-may-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/?p=70","title":{"rendered":"Northern Colorado Reset Trip \u2014 May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 22\u201325 \u2014 Sand Creek Pass Area (Red Feather Lakes Region)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spent the first three nights camped near Sand Creek Road \/ County Road 86<\/strong>, near Sand Creek Pass outside the Red Feather Lakes area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This continues to be one of my favorite spots in northern Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campsite sits up on a ridge with huge views, while a small creek and heavy underbrush sit down below. The dogs absolutely lose their minds up there in the best possible way \u2014 running through the brush, splashing through the creek, and wandering the roads with almost nobody around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this time of year, the area was nearly deserted. I think I saw one other camper the entire time. Many side roads were still closed from winter, and it felt like the main road had only recently opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temperatures were cold:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • freezing overnight<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • rarely above ~60\u00b0F during the day<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Mostly jeans and long sleeves weather the whole time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The site itself is dispersed camping, though there are multiple fire rings spread along the ridge\/pullout area. One downside is that during busier times of year, other campers can move in and effectively take over the area. That happened to me once a few years ago and I ended up relocating. This trip, though, was quiet and perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most days were spent hiking roads with the dogs, relaxing, and just getting away from the shop for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    Vehicle \/ Rig Notes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    One goal of this trip was testing the suspension work recently done by Titan Vans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Unfortunately, after roughly $6,500 in repairs\/work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • the front-end knock is still there<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • the rear squeak is still there<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      At this point I\u2019m beginning to think it may simply be something I have to live with, because the recent work appears to have changed nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Not the result I was hoping for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n\n\n\n

      May 25 \u2014 Lily Pond \/ Brinker Creek Area<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      After leaving Sand Creek Pass, I continued farther along County Road 86 in a direction I\u2019d never explored before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Several roads were marked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n

      \u201cNo winter maintenance\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

      \u2026but were still passable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Eventually I wound up following County Road 103 toward the Lily Pond Lake \/ Laramie River area<\/strong>, where I found a number of excellent dispersed campsites along the river corridor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I camped near Brinker Creek<\/strong>, with the creek running essentially right outside the door of the camper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Completely different feel from Sand Creek:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • fewer dramatic views<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • more enclosed forest<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • quieter<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • creek-focused camping<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        A really enjoyable spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n\n\n\n

        May 26 \u2014 Kelly Flats Campground (Poudre Canyon)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        Rain and thunderstorm forecasts had me concerned about getting stuck if the roads turned muddy, so I moved down canyon to a paved National Forest campground along the Cache la Poudre River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Stayed at Kelly Flats Campground<\/strong> off Highway 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Ironically, the forecast turned out to be completely wrong and it never rained at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Still, it worked out well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        • quiet<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • uncrowded<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • water refill available<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • easy access<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • good place to reset before heading back toward Denver\/Watkins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          This time of year \u2014 especially midweek \u2014 the campground was surprisingly empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          There\u2019s also a really cool 4×4 trail directly across the highway from the campground. Way too steep and rough for the Ekko, but excellent hiking terrain with the dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          One evening we hiked downstream along the river on the opposite side from the highway. Beautiful stretch of canyon and it looks like there may be additional hiking opportunities farther down near Mountain Park Campground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n\n\n\n

          Overall<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

          This trip was mostly about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          • escaping warmer temperatures in Watkins<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • resetting mentally<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • getting away from the shop<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • spending time outside with the dogs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            Nothing dramatic. Just a reminder that northern Colorado still has a lot of excellent places to disappear for a few days without driving halfway across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            May 22\u201325 \u2014 Sand Creek Pass Area (Red Feather Lakes Region) Spent the first three nights camped near Sand Creek Road \/ County Road 86, near Sand Creek Pass outside the Red Feather Lakes area. This continues to be one of my favorite spots in northern Colorado. The campsite sits up on a ridge with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-log"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74,"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beaglebuslog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}