Rifle Gap State Park, Rifle CO

WED., SEPT 21, 2022 thru SAT., SEPT 24, 2022

The pod arrived in Rifle Gap State Park on Wednesday, Sept. 21st. We had a magnificent 150 mile drive along I-70 West from Denver. The scenery was incredible. It was a never-ending wow moment consisting of steep grades through the mountains with the picturesque Colorado River on one side and aspens changing to brilliant yellow on the other. We went through several tunnels including the Eisenhower Tunnel which is “one of the highest vehicular tunnels in the world at 11,158 ft. above sea level.” It carries I-70 under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. Just a beautiful ride… if a bit scary on occasion. We even saw bighorn sheep grazing on the side of the road. It was like the White Mountains of NH on steroids.

Once at the state park, the Grand Hogback Range sits directly behind our sites. Nice! One trade off is that we have no cell signal here so it will be a few days with no devices. A fair trade to enjoy these views! 

On Thursday, Sept. 22nd, Gary and I took a drive around the state park and saw the dam and the “360 surface acre reservoir.” We had C&J over for dinner then we all stargazed over a campfire at night. A beautiful night sky. 

On Friday, Sept. 22nd, we visited Rifle Falls State Park (not to be confused with Rifle Gap SP) with its triple waterfall and caves. In 1910 the town of Rifle built a Hydroelectric Plant at the Falls which changed the creek’s natural flow from one wide waterfall into the three falls that it is today.

The park is only 48 acres in size, but wow does it deliver. We hiked the 1.5 mile Coyote Trail that brought us up and around the waterfalls (beautiful) and to caves that we were able to explore. Sooo cool! The caves were home to bats, as we did see guano. Gary jumped out of one hiding place and scared Cheryl and I to death as we were exploring one of the smaller caves. Fun to be able to wander inside the caves. Above the waterfalls were some lookout points, which were a little freaky due to their small size and winging out over the falls.  

Afterwards we headed to nearby Harvey Gap State Park to view the reservoir and dam. The reservoir at Harvey Gap SP was low because it’s being used for irrigation by local farms and ranches. The ranger told us that was to end the following week and the water level in the reservoir will start to rise again.

We also asked the ranger to explain what the term “gap” means in relation to these state parks. She explained that the “gap” between the two ranges on Grand Hogback is where the name Harvey “Gap” State Park comes from. We were told by the park ranger that Grand Hogback is the longest “uninterrupted” range in the world. Apparently a “gap” isn’t considered an interruption.

A very fun day!

A short video of the waterfall at Rifle Falls State Park. This small state park was such an unexpected find! 

On Saturday, Sept. 24th, we woke up and it was 33 degrees. It warmed up to 73, but wow, that’s quite the temperature swing! Today we took an almost 2-mile walk down by the reservoir at Rifle Gap State Park where we are camping. It looked and felt like we were walking on the moon as the reservoir is so low. This reservoir, too, is being used for irrigation by local farmers and ranchers. But, since that ends next week, levels will begin to rise. 

We loved our time here exploring all three of the state parks in this area. The views from our campsite have been magnificent at the base of Grand Hogback mountain. We’ve had no cell signal here, which was a nice disconnect… except when it annoyed the heck out of us. Lol. 

Tomorrow we head to Montrose, Colorado.