Coal Canyon Trailhead, Little Book Cliffs, Colorado

I rode a lot in the Ochoco's and the Malheurs in Oregon with the wild horses there, and so I knew that one place I could see some, now that I am in Colorado, is at the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range, not too far from Grand Junction. 

A palomino stallion at the Little Book Cliffs.

I had checked the area out once before by car and so I knew I could get my LQ in there, barely. There are a couple of washes you have to drive through, ( I wouldn't suggest taking a really long rig in, or one without a lot of clearance) otherwise the road isn't bad. There is a large shooting range before you get to the trailhead. Some of the shooting goes on right next to the road, I felt bad for my pony, who probably got deafened in the back of the trailer as we were passing by.

When you get there you can still here the shots echoing off the cliffs, but it was a busy Sunday, and the next couple days were much quieter.

Coal Canyon Trailhead.

Coal Canyon Trailhead has a bathroom and plenty of room for parking trailers. There are two dispersed camping spots, one under the huge powerlines, which is the one thing that mars the beauty of the area,  and another one, if you want to drive through yet another wash, on the left just before the fence line. This main trailhead is open all year, but there is a gate that goes into the wild horse area that is closed from December 1st until May 1st... or 30th, depending whether you believe the sign that is on the gate, or what it says on the BLM website. This means that foot and horse traffic is always allowed, and during the open season, motorized use is allowed on roads, but not trails. There are no other amenities and no water. I had plenty of cell service, with Verizon.

One of the camping spots.

The trailhead has a map and I also had an online map, they were very different though, so for the most part I just followed my nose. There were some other people riding that day and as I started out on the Coal Canyon Trail, they were coming back, and informed me that some of the wild horses were up ahead on the left. 

Hoodoos on the Coal Canyon Trail.

Lots of Indian Paintbrush.

Some interesting white rock formations in the area.

Because I decided to check out the horses I veered up a steep trail and since I was already up there, after observing them, I decided to just keep going toward a fence line with a gate.

Spotted some of the wild horses.

My pony watching the wild horses.

They were down in a basin below me.

The stallion looks a little beat up.

Passing through the gate took me out of the wild horse area and on to a trail that started heading downhill and over towards civilization. A couple of cyclists saw me and said they had never seen an equestrian out there before, but they thought it was really cool. After awhile I found myself on a cliffside way above 1-70 looking down on Palisade, and with great views of the Grand Mesa.

Views of the Grand Mesa.

Riding along a cliff way above 1-70.

A colorful collared lizard. My first time seeing one.

I turned back eventually, as this trail would have ended up down at the highway, which is not where I wanted to be. I passed by the wild horses again and then made my way back to camp.

Heading back on the Coal Canyon Trail.

The next day I dropped down into the Main Canyon to follow that trail and potentially make a loop. The Main Canyon has water running through it, not much, but enough to sustain the wildlife. The trail is narrow and steep getting into the canyon but then totally flat after that. It didn't take long before I found the first of many horses. Because there is not a lot of wide open space in these canyons several different herds have to coexist. I found myself with a black stallion standing right on the trail, with his herd, and a palomino stallion directly on the other side of the creek, so I had no choice but to ride right down the middle. As I mentioned I have seen quite a few wild horses over the years but I learned quickly that these ones are especially relaxed about humans. As I rode directly beneath the black stallion who at this point was on the creek bank about 12 feet above me, he didn't even look my way. He was keeping an eye on the palomino. They are clearly very used to people and domestic horse traffic.

On the Main Canyon Trail.

Just enough water to sustain the wildlife.

Wild horses in the Main Canyon.

This horse looks just like my friend's mare.

A pregnant mare.

This is what happens when you never get weaned!

Eventually I got to a junction with the Cottonwood Canyon Trail which I would have liked to have done as part of a loop, but as I started climbing it there were some big rock areas that you had to hop up. My pony is getting older and although she can go all day still and does uphill without issue, coming back down steep stuff with big steps where she has to jump with her two front feet, while then maneuvering  her back feet down is getting harder on her. So I decided to just go back the same way, I'll leave the mountain goat trails for another time, when I have a younger spry horse.

Some interesting rocks in one area.

The Grand Mesa.

As expected, I ran into the wild horses again, the black stallion and his herd were gone, but another bay stallion with what I thought was his herd, (more about that later), was blocking my way back, so as I was scoping out a way to get around him, I ended up on a ledge above them. I hung out there for awhile and then eventually made my way past the bay.

As I got to the trail that lead back up to camp, I spotted some Bighorn Sheep. They were also unconcerned about my presence, which makes for great picture taking opportunities. I happened to look up as I was riding on the narrow part of the trail, and there was a lone black bachelor, watching me from afar, on the tip top of a very steep slope.

Hanging out on a ledge above one of the herds.

The palomino stallion at the creek.

Heading back to the trailhead.

Bighorn Sheep.

The solo bachelor.

He was on the side of a steep slope. This is just the top quarter of the cliff.

More sheep, close to the trailhead.

That evening at camp there was no one around, except for an older couple who were taking a short hike. I was busy checking myself and my horse for ticks, there were a few, when suddenly I spotted some of the horses coming over the ridge. That is when I realized it was the bay stallion from earlier and his herd was actually a bachelor band. Meanwhile the lone black was still up on the slope mostly minding his own business, but the bay was going along the hillside trying to chase him around a little bit. Meanwhile four more bachelors arrived on the scene. It was quite the horse drama, and the hikers were standing watching all of this when the four new stallions went galloping by them. 

At one point the bay came over near the fence because he saw my mare, since I wasn't riding her he probably thought he was seeing a viable mate, but then he saw me, eyeballed me for a minute, and then thought better of it. Meanwhile the hikers came over and I was explaining herd behavior to them, and why all of it was happening. The four new bachelors went across the cliffside and fetched the solo black, and they all came down off of the very steep cliffs, Man From Snowy River style.

The bay, on the other side of the fence, checking my mare out.

A young bachelor.

Another bachelor, hanging with the bay.

Four more bachelors showed up along the cliffside.

Close up of the four other bachelors.

I left the next day and did another ride on the way home, but there are multiple other trails I could have done. There are also a couple of other access points, one of which is from De Beque, but like a lot of BLM and forest service roads in this state, most are not maintained, and taking a trailer on them would be a disaster. I have found that I can't drive around willy nilly like I used to, most roads need to be scoped out ahead of time. 

GPS COORDINATES TO COAL CANYON TH

Bedrock Campground, Colorado

I moved to Colorado in October of 2024, and during the winter I had plenty of riding and exploring opportunities, just doing day rides in the plethora of available public land nearby. But camping season comes early here, and so I decided to go over to the Paradox Valley and visit the Dolores River Canyon in Bedrock for a couple of nights.

Dolores River Canyon

Although I'm brand new to Colorado, I'm a researcher, and a hiker and so just a few weeks earlier, I had driven out to this area to check it out, and do a hike. The transmission in my truck had to be rebuilt and I was informed that I should break it in by driving it between 400 and 500 miles, before towing with it again. So this was one of the road trips I did during that time. I was happy to discover a free BLM campground there that I could return to with with my horse.

But since there is only one trail from that campground I wanted to do a couple other rides in the area. The first one I did was on EE22 Rd. There is a kiosk there with a map, and so I set off along the road beneath Sawtooth Ridge. There is quite a bit of red rock along the way and views of the nearby La Sal Mountains in Utah, and also over to Lone Cone outside of Norwood.

Parking on EE22 Rd. off of Hwy 90.

Lots of red rock at the beginning of the ride.

Views over towards Utah and the La Sal Mts.

There was another horse trailer parked in the area and when I eventually got to a side road all the hoofprints went that way, so I figured they were probably riding there for a reason, and it might be worth checking it out. Eventually I came across the three ladies who said they had never run into anyone else on a horse out there before.

Another map at the side road junction.

Lone Cone, over near Norwood, Colorado.

Up on Sawtooth Ridge.

Once up on the ridge, in an open area, there are some designated dispersed camping spots, you could only reach with a 4x4, near some rock formations and more views over to the Uncompahgre Plateau. I live directly on the other side of this plateau which has 1.5 million acres for me to explore in the summer.

Looking at the Uncompahgre Plateau.

Snack break.

A rock formation, near one of the camping spots.

Looking at Davis Mesa.

The La Sal Mts.

I rode for about four hours and then drove the 12 or so more miles over to the "town" of Bedrock. It's really not a town, but there is a post office and the Bedrock Store, which is currently closed and up for sale.

Bedrock is a free BLM campground for anyone, including horse people. There are four covered picnic tables with BBQ grills, and lots of space to park or put up corrals. The Dolores River is right next to camp, but it has steep banks and is not easy to get water out of, or a horse down to it. There are no other amenities, and no bathroom. In the summer rafters use this area, and apparently they bring in porta potties during that time. There is no cell service at the camp or on the trail.

Bedrock Campground.

Is it just me, or do these look like bare feet.

I had the place to myself the first night and since the day time temps were in the mid 70's the evenings were mild with lots of stars to see after dark.

In the morning, a lady drove in and went for a hike with her dog and I saw her later on the trail. But generally this trail does not get much in the way of traffic. It's also a wilderness study area and so no motorized vehicles or bikes are allowed into the canyon.

My pony decided this would make a nice horse shelter.

The Dolores River Canyon Trail is 7 miles round trip. I was hoping I could cross the creek and continue on, but that does not seem to be a possibility. What it lacks in length, it makes up for in beauty. There are a few petroglyphs along the way and although it's not a hard trail, it has one section that has eroded a lot, so your horse has to shimmy across that.

Entering the wilderness study area.

Around this corner the trail is eroded.

On the Dolores Canyon Trail.

Petroglyphs.

Some more of those feet!

This is where the trail ends. La Sal Creek is hidden in the brush.

An overhang above the river.

One section has a cactus garden.

There are a couple of places you can get down to the river, and one spot where I rode out onto a small island. There is a desalination plant or, "desalination station" as I like to call it, close to the campground, because they are trying to get rid of the salt in the area, so it does not end up in the water. My horse sampled it and found it drinkable.

On a small island in the Dolores River.

Near the petroglyphs.

The Dolores River.

The "desalination station".

When I arrived back at camp there was a guy named Al, and his dog, camped there for the night, he said he has been visiting the area twice a year for many years. 

After the sun went down, my pony plopped herself down for a nap next to me. Sometimes it's like having a horse sized dog!

After dinner nap.

In the morning I packed up, said goodbye to Al, and drove back to an area on the way home that looked interesting to explore. There is so much public land, that it's just a matter of finding a good spot to pull over and then start following dirt roads to see where they go. My first attempt riding up towards the hills didn't get me anywhere, so I turned back and started riding cross country following well used cow trails. Good thing I did, because there are some old falling down fence lines I would have had to try to find a way through, but the fences had been cut so the cows could wander freely.

Heading towards the mountains.

Found a shed!

At one point I dropped down into a little gully and found the cows water source, and shortly after that I found a rock shelter/hideout of sorts. Then I skirted a large fenced in area that had signage that said "Danger, Radioactive Materials". It's out in the middle of nowhere, so not sure if it's from uranium mining or if there is some other story behind that.

Found the cows drinking water.

The hideout.

I had to go back the same way, there was no option to do a loop, but I had found an antler shed earlier, and I had left it in a sage bush, so I retrieved it on my return, and my horse was happy to get a second drink from the gully.

Looking at the Uncompahgre Plateau.

 Looking over to where I parked, just off of Hwy 90.

On the way back.

That concludes my first camping trip in Colorado. So many places to explore!

GPS COORDINATES TO BEDROCK CAMPGROUND