PIKE NATIONAL FOREST - PAINTED ROCKS (June 24, 2005) |
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Our second trip in June was our first dry camping trip of
the year...to Painted Rocks. We were in site 16, which was very shady,
long, and level. After looking at the other 17 sites, we think #16 is
the best. The best pull-thru site is right next door in #15.
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The low hanging branches forced us to keep our awning
lower than we usually do. Since our screen room is highly adjustable,
we were still able to put it up and keep free of pesky flies and gnats that
greeted us upon arrival. The campground host told us that the bugs
were bad this year due to all the rain Colorado has received. Want a
screen room like ours? Click to
RV Screen.com.
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Painted Rocks is located 7 miles north of Woodland park
on CO 67. Painted Rocks is 2 miles north of the South Meadows
campground and about 1/4 mile north of the Colorado campground. We
biked around the Colorado campground and the best site there is #19, but
Colorado is very crowded and much larger than Painted Rocks. The
nearest dump station is at the Diamond RV Park on CO 67.
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This is what greeted us in our backyard of site 16.
Our kids spent a lot of time playing on these rocks.
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Randomly placed around Painted Rocks are these rock
formations. Who put those rocks here?
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Look closely, there are two kiddos on the side of that rock.
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Court forgot her camping shoes, so she spent the entire trip wearing
flip-flops. Her feet were BROWN when we got home.
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Here you see Dad and the kids enjoying some cool
beverages under the awning. Carly is checking the screen room floor
for vermin.
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With few rules while camping, Carly plants herself
wherever she deems most comfortable. Mom doubles here as a comfy
chair.
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We rode our bikes to nearby Manitou Lake. There
were lots of people fishing there on Saturday, and many of them were getting
some bites. We rode the trail all around the lake which took us right
through the Colorado campground. That's how we discovered how crowded
it is.
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Carly runs like a sled dog for the first half of our bike
rides, pulling Dad so much he rarely needs to pedal. After about 20
minutes, Carly has had enough and gets to ride the rest of the way in a
backpack. We get plenty of humorous looks from people we pass by.
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We reserve the Monopoly game for camping trips (since it
takes a few days to complete a game). This time, Courtney was the real
estate tycoon as she whipped Kendal and Cameron well. It was a
fantastic trip, and we will be back without a doubt. Since Painted
Rocks is so close to Woodland Park, yet feels secluded and small, we will
camp there many more times.
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