Conejas River Camping

 

Some of the best times we enjoyed involved roughing it camping out with the family. It was an inexpensive way to enjoy the outdoors and work together to do all the things necessary to sustain life in the wilderness. Our families camped out together each summer for several years when I was young. Here’s how we did it.

 

Conejas River Camping

 

In the summers of 1955 until about 1960, my family including my Mom, Dad, my brother, Craig, my sister, JerrylDine, and I took one weeks vacation with my Uncle Harold, Aunt Bueldine, and cousins Kristi, Scott, and Ricky and camped out on the Conejas River in the Rio Grande National Forrest in Colorado. We camped at several camp sites, but one we liked was called Park Creek Camp Site. The site was about 40 feet from the river and there was a good rock near the camp that was a hot spot for catching trout. The sites were equipped with a table and a grilled fire pit and there was a three holed outhouse in the immediate area. We would take two adjacent sites and thus we had two tables. We set up a kitchen tent, and three 8 foot by 8 foot sleeping tents. All the boys took one tent and the girls and parents took the other two tents. We all had our own sleeping bags and air mattresses. We hung a parachute for shade and light rain protection and set all the lawn chairs under the parachute. Two Coleman stoves were set up on tables in front of the open fronted kitchen tent to cook our meals. The area was beautiful and we roughed it in the great outdoors for a full week. We had a ten gallon water can and pop coolers with ice for drinks. At night we fired up the Coleman lanterns for our light.

 

In those days they stocked the river once per week so almost anyone could catch the rather naive rainbow trout. We would catch a limit of trout in the morning and fry them up for lunch and go back and catch another limit after lunch. The Park Rangers checked fishing licenses and the quantity of fish you had on hand at the camp site quite frequently so we were careful about not having to many on hand.

 

Stringer of stocker rainbow trout lying on the big rock.

 

 

Many times we would get our fly rods and go upstream to the fly fishing area and catch trout the fun way. We also took many long nature hikes in the area. We often saw deer and other wild life. Occasionally, the cooks would cook a big pot of chili with beans on the grill on the open fire. At night in the tents, the fart music and bad smells went on for hours.

 

While camping one summer, we all rode the narrow gauge railroad from Antonito, Colorado, to Chama, New Mexico. It was a long trip but the scenery over the pass was great even for children.

 

Roughing it camping in the great outdoors kind of gave us a taste of what it would be like living without all the modern conveniences we take for granted. It was fun for a while but we sure wouldn’t want to live that way all the time. It makes you appreciate what our forefathers had to endure to build this great nation of ours. I hope for all our sakes we don’t have to live like that full time again in the future.

 

Entry to Park Creek Camp Ground on the Conejas River in the Rio Grande National Park.

 

 The Park Creek camp ground with a table and grill near the Conejas River. You can see the river just over the table.

 

 

 One of the fly fishing areas on the Conejas River upstream from the camp. That could be my Dad out there about to hook a good one.

 

A tent similar to the ones we used set up near the Conejas River

 

The  narrow gauge railroad tour between Antonito and Chama we enjoyed as youngsters.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for reading Conejas River Camping,
Hawg Jaw Bill