Posted by John De Bord on June 16, 2008 at 9:43 AM
One of my friends a fellow photographer, send me this email this AM, and I am not familiar with this area much sooooooo I come seeking advice from you all! :)
"Hey John... I have a question for you. I'm about to head out to CO for a week (7/12-7/21) to the San Juan's. The 550 corridor to be specific (durango to ouray). I know a little about the area, but am far from intimately familiar. Would you have any recommendations for camping, shooting, fishing, or other?"
Thanks all!
Posted by Scott Bacon on June 16, 2008 at 10:00 AM
That will likely be a week or 2 early for the best wildflower blooms, but Yankee Boy, Porphyry Basin, and Ice Lakes Basin are all off that stretch of road - hard to go too wrong. The road to Porphyry Basin has accessible car camping about a mile in from the hwy.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on June 16, 2008 at 10:38 AM
I'm not as familiar with that area as the 10 mile range or collegiate peaks, but here is a little bit to help.
Last fall I had some luck fishing in Andrews Lake near the summit of Molas Pass. I stopped to fish and shoot sunset and was successful on both counts in about a 40 minute window. I would think in mid summer that ant patterns would work well. The fish in this lake appear to be heavily stocked as the 12" rainbow I caught had rounded off fins. It seemed that the fishing was good in the other lakes on Molas Pass as well.
As for forest service campgrounds:
There is some camping in the Durango area around Lemmon Res and also to the west of Durango up Junction Creek. I've used both of these. There is Lime Creek Campground on CR1 (Lime Creek Road). I think there is a campground at Little Molas Lake but it was under construction last fall. Don't know if they finished whatever they were doing before the snows. Then there is the South Mineral Creek Campground. Then in Ouray there is the Amphitheater campground.
As for the photography, I don't think there is any limit to the opportunities. I think it depends on what he wants to do. There are places to shoot from the jeep roads, and from day hikes and from backpacking ventures. As had been stated, he'll probably be a smidge early for the higher more famous wildflowers, but I'm sure there will be flowers blooming in placed during his visit. Obviously there are some highlights. Porphyry Basin and Ice Lakes are on that route and spectacular scenes even if the flowers aren't blooming. Highland Mary Lakes and Stony Pass areas are pretty from what I've seen. Arrastra Gulch leads up to the mining camps at Silver Lake, which is interesting from a historical perspective. As for silver lake, don't bother bringing a fishing pole. Its a dead lake.
Yes, the road into Porphyry is a bit challenging, but there are also some disbursed camping opportunities near the big tailing pile at Ironton and across the highway from the Black Bear Pass road. You trade being close to good shooting spots for a little highway noise.
Posted by John De Bord on June 16, 2008 at 11:56 AM
Ya, sorry I forgot to mention the 4WD roads. I guess that was assumed. And you know what they say about "assume." My bad.
The dispersed camping spots I mentioned along the Porphyry Basin road are not too far from the Hwy and that part of the road is not too bad. This is well before the infamous Pucker Point, which can be a bit intimidating.
Posted by John De Bord on June 17, 2008 at 10:14 AM
hey thanks all! FWD'd this all on to him! Appreciate the suggestions
Discussion
7 replies"Hey John... I have a question for you. I'm about to head out to CO for a week (7/12-7/21) to the San Juan's. The 550 corridor to be specific (durango to ouray). I know a little about the area, but am far from intimately familiar. Would you have any recommendations for camping, shooting, fishing, or other?"
Thanks all!
Last fall I had some luck fishing in Andrews Lake near the summit of Molas Pass. I stopped to fish and shoot sunset and was successful on both counts in about a 40 minute window. I would think in mid summer that ant patterns would work well. The fish in this lake appear to be heavily stocked as the 12" rainbow I caught had rounded off fins. It seemed that the fishing was good in the other lakes on Molas Pass as well.
As for forest service campgrounds:
There is some camping in the Durango area around Lemmon Res and also to the west of Durango up Junction Creek. I've used both of these. There is Lime Creek Campground on CR1 (Lime Creek Road). I think there is a campground at Little Molas Lake but it was under construction last fall. Don't know if they finished whatever they were doing before the snows. Then there is the South Mineral Creek Campground. Then in Ouray there is the Amphitheater campground.
As for the photography, I don't think there is any limit to the opportunities. I think it depends on what he wants to do. There are places to shoot from the jeep roads, and from day hikes and from backpacking ventures. As had been stated, he'll probably be a smidge early for the higher more famous wildflowers, but I'm sure there will be flowers blooming in placed during his visit. Obviously there are some highlights. Porphyry Basin and Ice Lakes are on that route and spectacular scenes even if the flowers aren't blooming. Highland Mary Lakes and Stony Pass areas are pretty from what I've seen. Arrastra Gulch leads up to the mining camps at Silver Lake, which is interesting from a historical perspective. As for silver lake, don't bother bringing a fishing pole. Its a dead lake.
The dispersed camping spots I mentioned along the Porphyry Basin road are not too far from the Hwy and that part of the road is not too bad. This is well before the infamous Pucker Point, which can be a bit intimidating.