Stillwater Campground

This week we’re staying at Stillwater Campground on the shores of Granby Lake, only about 10 miles from the west entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park. This campground got very mixed reviews online, and while I hemmed and hawed a bit before making a reservation, in the end it seemed like the best option for us in the area. Upon arrival the reason for the mixed reviews was immediately apparent. Once again we are in an area where the pine bark beetle has done a number on the trees. Only this time the campground has no trees at all, and the sites are very open with not an ounce of privacy. The campground is situated on a hill above the lake and the sites at the top of the hill and on the lower south side of the campground have awesome water views. Our site did not. Instead it had a stellar view of the boat ramp and parking lot.

Site #7 at the bottom of the hill

Our parking lot view + a rainbow!

As you can see it’s not a horrible site, and the flower filled meadow next to us was very nice. But if I am going to spend a week at a lakeside campground with not a single tree, then I at least want a water view. Fortunately, after the weekend crowds cleared out we were able to move to a different site at the top of the hill. It’s on the smallish side and we had to squeeze the truck in sideways, but the view can’t be beat. Here is our new site.

Site #12 with a water view

Our site on the hill

Granby Lake (actually a man made reservoir) is yet another gorgeous colorado lake with sparkling blue waters and mountains in the foreground. The water is very low here right now. According to the campground hosts about 40 feet low. The reason is because the water has recently been used to combat some of the nearby forest fires. In case you’re wondering, the water collected in all these reservoirs is used as drinking water for the front range cities (Denver, Colorado Springs, Etc.). The upside to such a low water level is that the once underwater sandy shore is now filled with yellow and white blooming wildflowers.

The yellow shores of Granby Lake

And one more because it’s so pretty. After some searching I’ve determined that this flower is called Yellow Sweet Clover

Phineas is having a blast on the wide sandy beach, and we are having a blast taking him on his daily swims.

Good times at the lake

Next time I’ll share what we’ve been up to outside of the campground…