Last week was fantastic. We were fortunate enough to spend the week of 4thof July in Creede, Colorado. IT. IS. BEAUTIFAUL! If you are looking for an area to visit that offers views and outdoor activities and takes pride in itself we give this five stars. The locals are friendly and helpful, the Chamber of Commerce is knowledgeable and easily accessible, and the area is clean and well maintained. One week was not enough time and even the kids wanted to stay.
We spent our days hiking, lounging, fishing, taking in fantastic views, exploring town and the local festival, and scouting for hunting season. We could have easily spent a month here and not seen everything there was to offer or just repeated the activities we took part in and been perfectly content. The history of the community is entwined in everything they do. It’s an old mining town and even their Independence Day Celebration encompasses the Colorado State Mining Competition. There are countless lakes and trails to explore and breathtaking waterfalls to see. One of which is even handicap accessible and the most photographed waterfall in Colorado.
The mining competitions include multiple events on two days. We only caught part of it since we only went into town for one day. We watched part of the team machine drilling (jack-leg) and the spike driving contests. The speed and precision the miners’ posses are quite impressive. I had never seen someone drive 5 spikes into wood in approximately 30 seconds until we watched them. Let alone having to do so with the back end of an axe and two of them above their heads.
On the other side of the park we found an old mining cart. The boys had a blast crawling in and out of the car and playing with the engine. Creede takes pride in it’s history and it’s fun to see it all come alive around you.
There is an underground mining museum that we didn’t explore. It’s on our to-do list when we come back and the boys are a little older. This is an area we plan to visit at least annually so we are in no rush to see it all. If you are spending time in the area and you don’t have young kids I suggest you check it out. It came highly suggested by the locals and most of the reviews for the area, but we chose to spend our time and energy exploring the outside this trip.
While we wandered around down town we found the cutest little gift shop, Creede Trading Post, with homemade fudge. You can read more about it under The Grub Hub tab, all our restaurant and snack reviews are under there, and we definitely suggest you stop in this one. Their downtown is only a few blocks, but it’s packed with unique shops and local restaurants. We showed up in town early and got a great parking place. When we went to leave it was bustling and there wasn’t a parking place to be had. Town is definitely a destination.
Creede and the surrounding areas have some amazing waterfalls. There are many to explore, some more famous named falls and some with no name. We saw three of those closest to where we camped. Two were named, South Clear Creek Falls, and North Clear Creek Falls, and one un-named fall we accidentally found by Brown Lakes as we were heading to explore the area. The one by Brown Lakes and South Clear Creek Falls are a bit of a hike. Both are short hikes, but you need decent footwear and sturdy footing to see them. We carried our youngest part or most of the way to both of these, but we have always done a fair amount of hiking and are both pretty steady on our feet and in mountainous terrain. Our almost four-year-old walked to both on his own. He did have to be carried or lifted in a few places and we held his hand the entire way as both trails are a little steep.
We hiked to the top trail of South Clear Creek Falls and it wasn’t close enough for our adventurous boys. They requested we get close so we took the lower trail and hiked to the bottom. It put us right next to the first pool and we had the beautiful view below..
North Clear Creek Falls is the most photographed falls in Colorado. It was beautiful. The trail is wide, short, and easy to traverse. The incline is mild and anyone should be able to get to the viewing area. Both the boys walked the whole time. Our youngest at the time was turning two the next day, just to give you an idea. The parking lot is small and in the time we were there it stayed pretty full. We never felt rushed or crowded and the quick trip was worth the buckling and unbuckling of the car seats. The boys loved this fall so much we even went back again the next day. We went in the afternoon again and there was even less traffic than the day before. There were people there the whole time we were there, but far fewer than the day before. This fall was a big hit for them!
Hope you enjoy the journey.
Love,
The Drakes
