Rifle Gap State Park

April 29th 2012
We were on our way to utah with some friends and stopped for a night at Rifle Gap State Park. Its about a 2.5 hour drive from Steamboat Springs. The park is a man-made reservoir at a gap in the mountains (hence the name) where rifle creek flows down towards the town of rifle. Further up the creek is Rifle Falls State Park, but we did not have time to explore.
We arrived around 3:30, did some fishing, set up camp and made dinner. We had a fire and went to bed around midnight (maybe later). It got down in the 20s that night and I was pretty chilly. Even Buckley crawled in his sleeping bag. We woke up fairly early and broke camp. We had to meet some more friends in Rifle for the drive to Utah.
We set up the Gore Pass (the smaller of our tents) since we were just staying one night.

Duffy Mountain

Bill and I were really itching to get out there and test out the new tent. So on Saturday we headed to a spot along the Yampa River near Duffy Mountain that is a part of the Yampa River State Park system. Its about 45 mins to an  hour West of Steamboat along the Yampa River. Really out in the middle of Colorado's high desert. We originally planned to go to a spot a bit further down river called Juniper Canyon but we drove by and the spot really wasn't all that appealing plus there was a dead bird in the bathroom with a turd on top so we got a really weird vibe from that particular location.

Duffy Mountain along the Yampa River

Spot 1- Picnic Table and Grill

Duffy Mountain is a river access point along the Yampa and has a day use picnic area as well. When we arrived there was one car there with a family fishing by the river. Otherwise it was empty. It appears that due to the high spring/summer runoff last year, the original river access ramp has been eroded and a small cliff has been left behind. They built a completely new ramp down to the river but when they relocated the ramp they got rid of all of the camping sites. To make up for it they turned the picnic areas into camping sites so for now there are only two spots there. Spot 1 is very large and sits at a point along the river. There is a picnic table and grill and a big grassy area for the tent. "Site 3" (I dont know where site 2 went! maybe it fell into the river) is the other spot left which is also along the river but sits close to the parking area. There is a vault toliet (fancy word for a latrine)at the spot which was an added bonus because the site was labeled as "primitive" and around here that usually means there is a spot to pitch your tent and that's about it. This time there were no dead animals in the bathroom.

The Flying Diamond 8

Buckley chasing a stick

After the family left, we did not see a single person the entire time we were here. We had the place to ourselves other than the "native inhabitants". We saw bald eagles, a crane and a bunch of ducks. The ducks made a racket all night, I seriously think they were having a duck party. Off in the distance we could hear cows from a nearby ranch. During the night we heard a pack of coyotes several times, i think they were tormenting the herd of cows who all had new calves with them. At one point I heard several cattle dogs start barking to scare them off. We fished a little in the river but didn't catch anything. I think it was because Buckley was having a grand time running up and down the river splashing and gulping down the water.



It was a really neat spot and we were surprised none of our camping buddies here had been to it considering the proximity to Steamboat and the beauty of it. Oh well, I guess its our secret spot for now!

Buckley was having a great time

Yampa River with Duffy Mountain in the background

The new river access ramp

The Ranch on the other side of the Yampa

New Tent

We got a new car camping tent last week. Its the Flying Diamond 8 from Big Agnes. They are a local company here in Steamboat and make really good quality tents and equipment. Also they have a lifetime warranty and since they are located here it makes it super easy to get things fixed or replaced if anything happens. The tent is enormous to say the least and definitely overkill for just Bill and I using it most of the time. But its awesome!

Last Sunday since all the snow had melted out of the backyard, we set it up! There is a divider in the tent so it can be separated out into two rooms. There is a full rain-fly with plenty of guy lines so it should be really sturdy in the wind and rain. I wish we would have had this thing at Telluride last year! Cant wait to break it out this summer!