Heron Lake State Park — Attraction in Pagosa Springs

Yes the water's low, it's depressing, but still a beautiful and tranquil place to visit and get you out of the house. Clean campgrounds, friendly and helpful rangers and staff, grounds are well kept, all around a great place to visit.

A few things of note to those who aren't outdoors experts (I'm still very much learning myself):

People used kayaks, but when the wind picked up, the water was really choppy.

Just learned this from a kayak group on fb, bears swim in these waters, like during the day, and if you get too close to them, they will try to board your boat/kayak, so be warned. Seems obvious, but if you're new to outdoor adventuring, that's good to know!

Lastly, although the water is low, the inner kid in me says as I walk along the water edge, I'm walking where there used to be water, so it's kind of cool in a way to see all those rocks that were in water for so long and are now exposed.

Oh! Something not obvious on the camping reservation site, the Salmon run campground is at the same entrance as the island view one. No trailers at Salmon over 22 or 24 ft, REALLY tight maneuvering within the campground. Reservations are made online only.

Make the most of it folks and enjoy. ☺️🌲⛰️🪨

Edit... Added more photos from a trip at the end of August 2022 ⛰️😊 with my new dog 🐕❤️🐾 there's enough trees at most of the salmon run campsites, a dog run is really effective if you do it right. With supervision of course as those can be dangerous left unattended if done improperly 😉

Also fires are now allowed again, they're even selling firewood, I think it was 12 a bundle? Maybe 7... I dunno, but bring some singles... You can get it at the visitor center on your way into the park, sometimes the ranger will bring it to your site.

I was at spot 144 this time, maybe the third turn off when you enter the campground... That spot was definitely within walking distance to hit the hiking trail and go on nice walks to the shore, and close to bathrooms. For dog owners, keep in mind there's a lot of thorny bushes and weeds you'll come across walking down to the shore, like all over, but the beach is nice once you get there, a little carefree running area there...

Before I review I wanted to warn people using google maps to get to the park. DO NOT TAKE 96 to 112 ROUTE. 112 starts out as a very bumpy paved road that eventually turns into an unimproved dirt road. It is nearly impassable for 20 miles south of El Vado dam and to top it off, the dam is under construction and they say to expect up to 2 hours delay crossing the dam during work hours. Given it took me so long to creep over 112, I arrived at the dam after work hours; 1-1/2 hours later than google estimated. Note, this drive is absolutely visually stunning. Nevertheless, unless you are an overlander, I don’t recommend towing anything over 112. My order only gripe about my site is the previous camper left cigarette butts everywhere. Although one neighboring site was close to me, my site was well separated by trees and felt very secluded. site was level with plenty of room. I did get a visit from a fairly sizable snake (about 4 feet long). It passed through my site acting as if I wasn’t even there. Not 100% sure but from google research, it appears it was a Great Plains Rat Snake (possibly a Gopher Snake) that isn’t venomous but apparently can still be aggressive and will bite if agitated. Bathroom/shower facilities were decent at the Blanco electric loop. Camp host was friendly. They do sell wood and ice which is nice now that the fire ban is lifted. The area is very beautiful and I enjoyed some...

This is a very nice park. One main trail goes the length of the park. There are many primitive camping sites and two campgrounds for RVs. None have sewer, but all have water and electric (30 amp) only. The campgrounds include pull-throughs although some are for short rigs and some curve tightly making them unsuitable for larger rigs. The campgrounds are very quiet. Hosts are available, but you will have to go to the Willow Creek host if you need anything. He does not patrol the campground very often.

The lake is low due to the drought. The shoreline in places is littered with old machinery parts, likely from the construction days. Not a lot, but a noticable amount..

The views of the mountains and particularly the skies are outstanding.

The park is close to Chama, NM and Pagosa Springs CO. The nearest Walmart in in Pagosa Springs, 1.25 hour drive, but worth it for the beauty of the drive.

This is a great place to...