We arrived in Ridgway on Sunday, June 21st, just in time for check-in which was 1pm. Ridgway State Park was beautiful. The park had three sections of campgrounds and after reading about all of them, we had decided to make reservations for site 108 of the Elk Ridge Loop in the Dutch Charlie section. We decided on this particular site because it had a little shade and was across from the restrooms, bathhouse, & laundry. Due to Covid-19 the showers & laundry had been closed but thankfully reopened two days before we arrived. The showers were no longer pay showers as described in the park info but were on a 4 minute timer that you could reset if needed. The laundry area was very nice and clean and we did take advantage of it the afternoon before we left. The campground hosts were very friendly and even brought us hammock stands to use for our hammocks as there weren't many trees in the area.
We had planned to eat either lunch or dinner out at a local restaurant each day to help support local businesses. Unfortunately, with Covid-19 being what it was at the time, finding somewhere to eat was not as easy as we'd hoped. Using Trip Advisor and Yelp I had narrowed down our top choices but the best places in Ridgway were showing carry-out only and after traveling for two and a half days and eating in the truck or out of the camper galley we were ready for a sit down meal. I expanded my search and found Ouray Brewery allowing dine-in in Ouray, which was only about 20 minutes from Ridgway. https://www.ouraybrewery.com
The town of Ouray was described as a little Switzerland and upon seeing it understood why. It is a beautiful small town with amazing mountain views. The Ouray Brewery was in the middle of downtown and very easy to find. The host of the restaurant was set up outside the entrance and she explained the new 'rules' for dining in which included wearing your mask into the restaurant and any time you were not seated at your table and using hand sanitizer they provided before entering. They were also limiting the number of patrons that could be inside at one time but this did not make our wait for a table very long. We both had the classic brewery burger and fries and it was well worth the 20 minute drive to be able to sit inside a restaurant and eat.
Around midnight I had to go to the bathroom. When I opened the door of the camper and saw the sky I squealed at how beautiful it was and about scared Mike to death. It was the first time I had seen the Milky Way so clearly. It was the most incredible sky I had ever seen thanks to the new moon and a clear sky. I wish I could have taken a picture but it would never have done it justice. It was amazing and I will never forget it!
The following day we headed out to the RAT mountain bike trails after a 3 mile trail run in the park. We knew we had to do everything early as the temps were pretty hot after lunch. The trails were appropriately named as we took The Big Cheese trail to the top of 4 Corners and then Ratical, Speedy Gonzales, & Big Cheese back to the trail head. The trail was very dry so I had to push a lot of the switchbacks. The first couple of miles were uphill so I did a lot of pushing anyway. I still had not acclimated to the higher altitude but it never seemed to bother Mike. There were a lot of really nice views along this trail system and the ride down was well worth the climb. https://www.ridgwayareatrails.com
After our ride, we drove in to downtown Ridgway to pick up some lunch to take back to the campground. I was planning to call our order in at True Grit Cafe but I took a chance and asked if they were allowing inside dining and they were. We were seated outside on a balcony overlooking the town which was nice not only for the views but also because we were dirty and sweaty from riding. We both had buffalo burgers with fries and they were perfect. https://truegritcafe.com
Tuesday morning we did the 3 mile trail run in reverse of the day before and I found it much easier. Afterwards, it was time to shower and pack up for our next Colorado destination. Ridgway was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone looking to mountain bike or just enjoy some time outdoors. There were a lot of things to do that we were not able to take advantage of due to our short time there.
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