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Reviews for Palisades Horse Camp/Williams Creek Trail Head
(click on name for more information)
Pagosa Springs, CO

Overall TRAIL RATING with 6 votes:
Overall CAMP RATING with 6 votes:
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Individual Reviews

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Such a beautiful place...great camp hosts. Just do some research and know what you are getting into. Call the local ranger station in Pagosa Springs and ask about the trails before you head out there to camp...they can tell you what has been cleared. This is stunningly beautiful country in the Weminuche Wilderness. You have to go out and back on the trails, but it's so pretty that it doesn't matter. We rode to Williams Lake and ate lunch one day and got to see a bald eagle catch a small animal and fly across the lake to the mountains. You can ride up to 12,000 feet if the thin air doesn't bother you. Also, make sure to get a Nat Geo trail map of the area off of Amazon...very helpful.
Reviewed by: harmoncollege on 4/12/2016 12:22:33 PM
More reviews by harmoncollege 		Experience: Intermediate Ride Date: 6/21/2015 Hometown: Coweta, OK

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There having a very bad tree kill in the area and trails are not being maintained by forest service. Limited accesible trails and all are turn-arounds. Better to have a good mule for these trails but still won't get far. Campgrounds only complaints, only a couple of fresh water spriggets so bring plenty of hose, some horse pens butt up to neighbors horses and we saw some get hurt. Otherwise would be 5 star.
Reviewed by: Otto Mcnab on 7/26/2015 7:49:40 AM
More reviews by Otto Mcnab 		Experience: Expert Ride Date: 7/18/2015 Hometown: Hammond , La

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For a primitive camp this state camp was great. The only reason I did not give it a 5 star is you travel down a bumpy dirt road for about 15-18 miles.The state is responsible for clearing the trails and finishing the corrals.The funds were cut so they are doing the best they can to the trails clear and finish the corrals. We found the camp hosts very helpful.The camp was clean and orderly.The trails were clear except an area near the divide.Trails were a slow climb and there were only a few areas I would call extreme. The trails had beautiful meadows and were safe enough for the intermediate rider. FYI- Be off the mountain by early noon,as the weather changes quickly and you do not want to get caught in a lighting storm.
Reviewed by: Deborah Hall on 9/3/2011 7:49:36 PM
More reviews by Deborah Hall 		Experience: Expert Ride Date: 7/22/2011 Hometown: Tuscaloosa, AL

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This year the pens were bedded with gravel and were very difficult to clean. By weeks end dumpsters were overflowing with mostly gravel as it was impossible to not collect it. This year health papers were not checked as in years past, if you are concerned about exposing your animals to whatever turns up there you might want to make alternate plans. Our group of 12 was very disappointed with the camp and this years camp host in paticular..We will not be going back until changes are made...
Reviewed by: Lois Carroll on 6/13/2011 9:35:43 PM
 Experience: Expert Ride Date: 6/5/2011 Hometown: El Paso , TX

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I am cheating here, because we rode in this area in July '07 and this site won't let me use a date more than one year old, so ignore the "date of your ride". This is a great campground with level sites that are well spaced apart and has nice large corrals for the horses. They corrals can each hold 2 horses, if you have horses that get along well with each other. We tied a rope across the center of our corral to divide it, so one of our horses wouldn't kick the other, and they both had plenty of room after this. The gravel road to camp was a little rough in spots, but over-all was a fairly good road. When we were there in July '07, there was a lot of blowdown on the Williams Creek Trail from a recent storm, so we weren't able to make it very far on it. We did ride the Indian Creek Trail for quite a ways and found some very pretty scenery along this trail. The Cimarrona Trail is nice for the first few miles and had a natural rock bridge that you ride your horses through, which was fun. After that it opens up to a narrow hillside ledge with a lot of air, so is definitely not for the faint of heart. The couple that we were with didn't like riding on this ledge, so we didn't ride it all of the way. Finding a place to turn around on this section wasn't easy. There is a sewage dump beside the road a few miles from camp, so that made it very nice to be able to dump after we left Palisades.
Reviewed by: Elaine McElroy on 1/19/2010 10:34:21 AM
 Experience: Intermediate Ride Date: 7/10/2009 Hometown: , MO

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Reviewed by: Julie Murphy on 8/31/2008 8:13:53 AM
More reviews by Julie Murphy 		Experience: Expert Ride Date: 8/25/2008 Hometown: Lakeside, CA