Hi.

Welcome to another episode of How the West was Camped.

I'm Tom Daley, and this is Scott Darnell.

And this week we're exploring the San Luis Valley and the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

One summer, two friends set out with their families to camp at some of Colorado's premier outdoor destinations.

This is their story.

Colorado is full of beautiful places to camp and explore, but I think one of the most unique you're going to find is right here in the San Luis Valley.

From high Plains desert, complete with ancient sand dunes to some of the most fertile farm ground in Colorado.

In this place has it all.

And I'm sure you won't leave disappointed, and you'll have a better appreciation for the natural diversity of this great state.

Located in south central Colorado, the San Luis Valley's most notable attraction is the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Although camping is available at the dunes, you can't reserve sites in advance, so we stayed at nearby San Luis Lake State Park where you can make reservations.

Situated 15 miles west of the sand dunes, this park is located on an 890 acre man made lake of the same name.

This shallow, warm water reservoir offers boating and fishing opportunities, but the water level can fluctuate dramatically over the course of the year, so please check current conditions to see if the boat ramp is open before your trip.

The camping accommodations are what you'd expect to find in a High Plains desert setting.

There are 51 open and airy sites on three paved loops.

The sites are pulled through, which is a plus, and many can fit very large RVs.

Although the only shade to speak of comes from man made shelters.

Each site does have electricity, which comes in handy if you have a camper with air conditioning.

Although summer daytime highs are usually only around 80 degrees.

Each loop has its own pit toilet, and although they were kept extremely clean sitting in the high plane sun, they still earned a high odor reader rating of Ripe.

There is a centrally located shower house with flush toilets, so those with delicate olfactory senses may want to visit these facilities.

The best thing about camping at San Luis Lakes was meeting the park staff.

Sandy and Charlie Crowder really live up to the title campground hosts, doing everything they can to make you feel right at home.

They even plan and self-fund many on site activities, including a campfire storytime complete with s'mores and plenty of smiles.

The Crowder's really made our stay one to remember.

But hey, my friend Tom and I didn't take our families all the way down there just to sit around the campground.

We came to play in Colorado's biggest sandbox, the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

But just how did North America's tallest dunes form here?

Park ranger Patrick Myers explains the San Luis Valley was covered by a large lake at one time called Lake Alamosa.

As the climate change in the lake drained away and disappeared, the sand from the bottom of that lake began to blow with the wind and piled up in a pocket of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where winds from the valley funnel through and pile of sands up to heights of 750ft.

Great Sand Dunes National Park was made for families.

This is one of the most user friendly national parks in the entire national park system.

It's a place where kids can get out and play in the sand, build sand castles, hike up to the top of the dunes, slide down on a sled, and all of our research shows that it doesn't have any impact on the height of the dunes or the integrity of the dunes.

It's a safe place because there's no rattlesnakes here anywhere in the national park.

People expect to see rattlesnakes or scorpions here, but there are none at this high elevation.

Currently, the Nature Conservancy manages is about 2000 bison inside national park boundaries as a public private partnership, and they manage a lot of the wetlands in the national park as well.

So visitors can go out there and visit those areas and see the bison and the wetlands.

But you need to contact the Nature Conservancy Z ranch to set up a tour.

Another nearby natural attraction is the Pot of Falls, located just a few miles south of the dunes.

There is a real easy half mile trail that leads up to the falls that is totally doable for hikers of all ages.

At the top of the trail, you'll find a stunning babbling brook that leads to a mysterious opening in the rock.

Now you'll want to wear water shoes because it is slippery, but once you enter in, you'll experience the majesty of this 30ft enclosed waterfall.

Sticking with the theme of the San Luis Valley's uniqueness.

We traveled about 20 minutes west to Colorado Gators, Colorado's only working gator farm.

We were lucky enough to be there for their annual 4th of July Egg Fest, and got to help gather up eggs for incubation.

Jay young, the head gator wrangler, took a few moments out of his busy reptilian schedule to tell us about the farm and why it's a fun, educational destination for the whole family.

Well, my parents actually started with a fish farm in 1977 and got some alligators to be garbage disposal for the fish farm.

My sister and I manage it now, along with my wife and several nieces and nephews.

We have about 350 alligators now.

About 150 of them are rescues people had illegally, and the police take them away and send them to us.

We had to open up to the public because word got out and we couldn't keep people out.

And so they were coming in to see the alligators, and then they started dropping off their pet alligators.

I mean, there's been days that we come to work and there's something sitting on the front front doorsteps.

We also have all the other rescued animals the big pythons, the monitor lizards, the big tortoises, all sorts of crazy pets that people had that they probably shouldn't have gotten in the first place.

We are still a working fish farm, so you'll see hundreds of thousands of tilapia here.

It's an African perch that we grow for people to eat, as well as some of the rescued fish.

It's a great experience for kids of all ages.

I mean, the alligators are fascinating creatures that have been around since before most of the dinosaurs, and just watching big animals with big teeth crush fish and eat them.

You know, it's a lot of fun.

Hey, Tom Daley here to have fun and stay safe and the great outdoors, you need to be properly equipped.

That's why my tip for this episode is to pick up a backroads atlas.

This inexpensive addition to your camping equipment can provide you with such invaluable information as trails, backroads, historical sites, hidden lakes, and access to public lands.

There are a lot of different ones available at your favorite bookstore.

Find one you like and start exploring Colorado today.

Well, we've come to the part of the show where we're going to give you our super scientific rating for the San Luis Valley on a scale of 1 to 4, four being the highest.

We give this trip three marshmallows.

Let's review.

Why?

Well, I must say that San Luis Lake State Park is not the most sheltered, lush place I've ever camped.

But then again, this is not the kind of place you come to just to hang out at the campsite.

The close proximity to some great attractions makes this a perfect base camp to explore from.

Of course, the Great Sand Dunes is at the top of the list of things to do.

Our families love climbing on the sand and playing in Menlo Creek.

It really warrants a couple of days to explore this national treasure.

Zapata falls was well worth the short hike to see, and a ripping good time at Colorado Gators was personally the highlight of the trip for me.

Well, that ends another episode of How the West Was camp.

We suggest you put the San Luis Valley on your places to visit in Colorado, and if you really love the outdoors.

Be sure to check out Ken Burns new film, The National Parks America's Best Idea, coming in September to Rocky Mountain PBS from Tom's family and mine.

Take care and happy trails.