Happy Jack and Pelton Creek, Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming

I decided to do a week long trip over to Wyoming to get out of the smoke from the Utah fires. The first place I stayed was at Happy Jack. This area is also known as Blair Wallis, Vedauwoo, Headquarters, or Pole Mountain, in the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Rock formations at Happy Jack.

Where I parked at Happy Jack.

The log corrals at Happy Jack.

There is a designated area for horse campers with 10 log corrals in a grid. There is a spring fed water trough nearby, but you still have to haul water a little ways. A nice lady from Nebraska leant me her wagon to use for that purpose. There is room for larger rigs and the easiest access is from above the corrals. There was a large group camped in there so I parked below the corrals in a grassy area. There are a couple of picnic tables, but no other amenities. This place can get a little busy, but there are also a zillion really nice flat dispersed spots to camp if you are set up with your own containment. Elevation is around 8600 feet. I had no cell service at camp, but I got some by doing a short hike to the Headquarters Trailhead.

As far as the riding goes, the trails are easy, in my opinion, a few hills and lots of flat land. Some single track and some two track, but the trails are shared with bikes.

I also went to Pelton Creek, which is right on the border of Colorado. The road is good getting out to the camp for about 8 miles, but the corrals are up on a hill and the access road is steep and goes around a curve. Having said that, a lady was camped there had a much larger trailer than mine and she made it up the hill.

There is a grid of 14 log corrals, two picnic tables and no other amenities. It's a good open area that can fit lots of rigs once you are up on the hill. There is no cell service whatsoever. There is stock water from the creek but it is down below, so either driving down and filling buckets by the culvert is an option or walking horses down a less steep trail that leaves near the lower picnic table.

Another half mile along the main road, where it dead ends, is a people campground. It has two bathrooms, a dumpster, and a map of the trails. There is also a potable water hand pump, but it was not working when I was there.

Pelton Creek.

The corrals at Pelton Creek.

The creek is down a steep hill.

The Douglas Creek Trail is the only trail that is cleared at the moment, the Platte Ridge Trail has 500 trees down and a washed out section and needs to be rebuilt. There are also forest service roads you can ride on, and this is a pretty quiet area, not a lot of traffic on the main road.

On the Douglas Creek Trail.

GPS COORDINATES TO HAPPY JACK 

GPS COORDINATES TO PELTON CREEK CORRALS

Swinging Bridge Equestrian Camp, Castle Dale, Utah

Swinging Bridge Equestrian Camp.

Swinging Bridge Equestrian Camp:

This is a nice scenic level camp that has six spots, with picnic tables and fire rings, and they all have two steel corrals except for number #12 which only has one. But number #12 does not have a big parking area, and it’s sandy. #’s 11 and 8 have big pull throughs, with the others you just park beside the spot and there is plenty of room for bigger rigs. # 9 gets the most use because it’s closest to the nearby creek, which is easy enough to walk horses over to, but not super close for hauling water. Even though there is clearly alkali along the creek bed, my horse drank the water. Stay to the right when you enter the camp and then when exiting, turn around in the day use and come back out the same way. Otherwise trying to drive it as a loop would be tricky with a big rig. The day use has a bathroom and three more corrals, as well as hitching rails. There’s a map, and the kiosk says priority is for horses, but other people can camp there. There is no signage on the main road for the horse camp. There are two people campgrounds Swinging Bridge South and North. You drive the one-way road through the north campground to get to the equestrian camp. It’s $15 a night and you pay with a check, or scan and pay. Unfortunately I had no cell service, with Verizon, but other people did.

Steel corrals.

The stock water source at Swinging Bridge.

There are dirt roads and cross country riding, but the main event is the Little Grand Canyon Trail in the Sid's Mountain Wilderness.

On the Little Grand Canyon Trail.

This ranchers corral is another nice spot to dispersed camp, with lots of room for parking, but there was a big group of RVers in this area while I was there, on a weekend, so I camped elsewhere.

The ranchers corral, lots of room to dispersed camp.

GPS COORDINATES TO SWINGING BRIDGE

GPS COORDINATES TO THE RANCHERS CORRAL

Ponderosa Campground, Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado

 

Ponderosa Campground.

Ponderosa Campground in the Curecanti National Recreation Area:

This is upper Ponderosa, there is a middle and a lower also that are down closer to the reservoir, but this upper one has horse corrals. The two corrals are wooden and very large, like small pastures. They each have a water trough and there is a spigot that you can attach a hose to next to the troughs. There is another frost free spigot next to the bathroom. The water comes from a solar powered well, when I was there (early May) there was no water running. There are 7 spots, most of which are not long or wide enough to accommodate a big rig. I fit into site #1, but I am not that long. Sites #6 and #7 are wider so someone could unhook and park side by side. Some of the spots are level and some are not.

Ponderosa Campground.

There is a bear proof locker, and garbage and recycle bins. There are picnic tables and fire rings, and cell service depending on where you are standing. There is a hitching rail, loading ramps and the camp is first come first serve. It's $20 a night and you can scan and pay online or use the drop box. There is no day use, they want you to be camping if you are parked in there.

This camp is on county road 721 on the way to Soap Creek Horse Camp, the road is gravel but in good shape.

Trails are minimal, you can ride on the other side of the reservoir, or across the road and back south about half a mile, there is a dirt road that will lead you to a nice loop past an old abandoned ranch, through some aspens, and will eventually pop you out above Soap Creek Campground, at which point you would have to ride Rd. 721 about 2 miles back.

GPS COORDINATES TO PONDEROSA CAMPGROUND

MY BLOG ABOUT SOAP CREEK

Transfer Horse Camp, Mancos, Colorado

Transfer Horse Camp

Transfer Horse Camp:

The main road is paved almost all the way to the campground. This is a cute, but small, and not completely level loop directly across from a people campground. When arriving do not turn when you see the Transfer sign, the horse camp is just a little farther up the road on the left. There are five spots, most of which cannot accommodate really large rigs, but if you are good at maneuvering, spot #3 is the biggest. There is a grid of steel corrals with feeders, one large one, and four that are smaller. The spots and the corrals have some light gravel. There are picnic tables and fire rings, although at the moment #2 does not have a picnic table and #5 has two picnic tables. There is one hitching rail, one bathroom, and a manure bin! First one I’ve seen since I’ve lived in Colorado. It’s $24 a night. I didn’t have cell service, but there might be some intermittently. The elevation is 8920. The people campground directly across the street has a well house with a spigot on the side of it, with potable water, and it wouldn’t be too far to haul from there. There is also a creek that runs under the road and it is easily accessible, if you are there early in the season, but it dries up quickly. The Chicken Creek Trailhead is directly next door. This is a first come first serve camp, except for sites #1 and #3 which are reservable on Recreation.gov.

GPS COORDINATES TO TRANSFER CAMP