Escape to Rabbit Valley

Needing to get my mail forwarded to me from the excellent Escapee Mail Forwarding service I needed to hang out near Grand Junction, CO for four or five days until the General Delivery packet got forwarded from Livingston, TX to a Grand Junction Post Office.  Initially, I planned on staying on the BLM land just north of the city where I had camped previously but after one day there I wanted to relocate.  Unfortunately, the locals have absolutely trashed this once excellent camping spot, littering it with everything from broken washing machines to what appears to be the remains of a demolished house, let alone the tens of thousands of spent shotgun shells that litter almost everywhere.  I couldn't help but think of the great camping in Rabbit Valley twenty miles to the west in the McGinnis Canyons National Conservation Area I had enjoyed a couple years back so I returned to the Jouflas Campground which I previously reviewed here: Rabbit Valley Review .

Like seeing an old friend!

I lucked out and got my old camp site when I got there.

The only site at Jouflas with some vegetation.

The difference between the condition of the pristine land within the McGinnis Canyons Conservation Area and the now pathetic BLM land near Grand Junction couldn't be more stark, I'd made the right move to relocate.

One of the tons of rock formations along hiking trails.

There's an excellent series of hiking trails near Jouflas Campground and I did my daily hikes along them.

Trail 2, one of the main trails in the Jouflas system.

A service road that connects Jouflas to a campground about 5 miles south.

Heartbreak Hill:  the climb back up to Jouflas from the trails.

I usually carry a Walmart shopping bag in my pocket in case I see litter while on my walks.  There was virtually no litter in Rabbit Valley so I left the bags back at the Mini.

Thanks for reading!