Exploring Pagosa Springs had been on our radar for a while. We’d driven through a few times, each time saying how we needed to come back.
Summer is a great time to visit Pagosa Springs and our plan was to hike as much as possible. We both had been on the AllTrails app marking trails. Our total was over 20, far too many for our three days in town. We also wanted a horseback ride. Clearly, we didn’t plan enough time for all that we wanted to do.
Our home base was Wolf Creek Run Motorcoach Resort. It’s a beautiful small park along the San Juan River.
Day one started with Mark doing a big bike ride to the bottom of Wolf Creek Pass and back as part of his training for the Hotter Than Hell 100-mile race in Texas the next weekend. That gave me time to take pictures of the RV park, clean the coach and do all the laundry.
After lunch we drove into town to walk around and keep his legs loose then it was off to our horseback ride! We met the guide from Majestic Outfitters just off Highway 160. It was just us and one other pair. He wound us through trails to the top of the lookout where we could see the Blanco Basin. Since it was just the five of us, he treated us to the long way back.
The weather was beautiful and the sun was out so we stopped at Riff Raff on the Rio for a cold beverage before heading back to the campground.
Also on our radar was a day at The Springs Resort and Spa. This was a first for us; a day set aside on vacation for relaxing. The resort is laid out well with ample paths between the various pools. After check-in we meandered from small springs pools to large ones and from warm to hot ones. Each pool has a stated temperature because the temperatures fluctuate. Staff continually checked the temperatures of each pool and updated the temperatures. It was nice to just relax. We ate like we were on vacation, too.
Our last day was a little of everything. We packed the car and headed to Treasure Falls. It’s a short walk to the bridge for a great view of the falls. Since this was August, the flow was much slower than in the spring. It’s still pretty and I love me a waterfall. You can walk back the way you came but we opted to cross the bridge and make the loop back along the primitive trail. It was cool having this trail to ourselves. We were far enough from the highway to not hear it and the wind blew just enough to rustle the trees. We felt a million miles away.
From there we went up to the top of Wolf Creek Pass for a snack. Both of us had marked the Continental Divide Trail. The forecast was for storms off and on every day of our stay so we opted not to hike part of it. We try to avoid thunderstorms while on top of a mountain or ridge. At the top there are picnic tables and a restroom making it a great snack spot.
On the way back down the pass we stopped at the overlook made famous in the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie. It’s a beautiful look down the valley, the rocks reminded me of the Mogollon Rim in our local mountains.
The next trail was the hike Silver Falls. We exited the highway onto US Forest Service Road 667 that ran along the East Fork San Juan River. We passed a campground and several spots that would be great to dry camp with our dirt bikes and RZR. It’s a pretty drive with some rough sections. We found the perfect Christmas Tree, even better than the one in Christmas Vacation! This trail used to be the only way to cross the Continental Divide between Stony Pass and the New Mexico Border. Wolf Creek Pass opened in 1916 becoming the main route. The best landmark for the trailhead is the old Silver Falls Guard Station.
The trail is short but steep. There are several good photo spots as you climb the trail just off the side of the waterfall. We thought we had a good stopping point for lunch but spied a wet trail just ahead. This part was really steep but so worth it. This lunch spot was on the rocks at the small pool separating the falls. Way more gooder betterer as our boys used to say as toddlers.
Our next hike was on the other side of town. Piedra Falls is tucked north of Pagosa Springs past Sportsman’s Campground & Mountain Cabins.
It’s about a mile hike depending on where you park. It’s an out and back trail along a good path. There are some rocky spots so be sure to have good hiking shoes. The waterfall at the back is worth every single step.
No cooking this night, we wanted to eat out. Our first stop was Mountain Pizza and Taproom for a beer. This is a cool place where you buy your beer or wine by the ounce. You read that right. We poured our own from a long wall of taps and enjoyed them on their nice patio.
Dinner was at Kip’s Grill just a few steps down the street from Mountain Pizza. The place was hopping, thank goodness we were a party of two and got seated faster. We shared the roasted green chiles appetizer which was amazing! Mark had the El Diablo tacos and I chowed down my fish tacos. This was a nice way to finish our stay. We ended the night with a rousing game of Play Nine.
The folder about staying here remains on Mark’s laptop because we will be back. Next time for a longer stay if I get my way.