Our Weekend at Molas Lake and Silverton Colorado
Our favorite camping trip we have ever been on was when we traveled to Molas Lake Campground. It's located right outside the small town of Silverton, Colorado.
While in Santa Fe, we decided to visit this beautiful campground over a holiday weekend. One of our friends who loves hiking said it was a must.
We were able to make a reservation online for a campsite and it was very inexpensive, even for a holiday weekend. So after work, we drove the five hours up there, on the Highway of the Giants up through Molas Pass and couldn’t have been more thrilled.
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Day 1
Since it was already late, our first day involved driving and setting up camp. It is a harrowing drive up there, especially when you add in darkness and huge rainstorms but we made it ok.
For having very little lighting and dirt roads, the campsite is pretty well marked off. Thanks to a map given from the front office we found our site pretty easily.
The tent sites are located right on the lake or scattered throughout. Since we booked online with plenty of time in advance we were able to get a site about 20 ft from the lake.
It made the view from our tent perfect. We set up camp in a rainstorm but we have become pretty efficient with our setup of campsites (probably from Kelsey’s dad always taking her on Boy Scout camping trips) so we were in our tent and dry not long after we arrived.
There is also a lot of tree cover that helped give us some protection from the elements. There are also some RV friendly sites around the Molas Lake Campground too in case you want to take your tiny home up the mountain.
Most of the sites are more suitable for tent camping rather than RV's, especially larger RV's. If you are like us with a tiny home below twenty feet long, you will be able to fit your rig into a number of the spaces without any issue.
Day 2
When we woke up, we got out of our tent, turned around and found a beautiful lake with the sun up behind us. Surprisingly we also did not have too much company down by the lake either, which was especially nice for a holiday weekend.
We began with a hike in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. It was amazing and we just barely scratched the surface on what is around the area for hiking and sightseeing. We decided to simply find a trail and go a few miles until we found a good view.
About midday we headed into town, Silverton, Colorado. We were able to walk down the main street and see cute shops along the way.
They had everything you could imagine to buy, most of it handmade. If you know Phil then you know he loves candy so of course, the old school candy shop was his favorite. There was even a weed dispensary there as it is legal to smoke Marijuana in Colorado (you at least have to visit even if you don't smoke).
We ended up eating at a local brewery which had some awesome beers for Kelsey to choose from and some pretty good pizza for both of us to chow down on after a strenuous hike in the morning. Afterward, we were able to stop by the desert shop in town which had handmade funnel cakes with extra toppings. We had cherry and chocolate added to ours!
Day 3
From our site, we walked half a mile or so to where we could find the Colorado Trail. We were even able to find a waterfall for the perfect lunch spot.
Of course, Phil had to climb up as high as he could go. One of many times in our lives where Kelsey has had to begrudgingly watch Phil climb things he probably shouldn’t worried she is going to have to collect life insurance before she is 30.
We spent the last of our time enjoying the campsite. For our last meal, we grilled and ate by the lakeside. Of course, our last day also included a lot of reading and napping. Basically as much relaxation as possible.
We will definitely try to make it out to Molas Lake Campground again. We might even bring the Tiny Trailer and stay there for a full week this time!