Ward Lake Campground

Campground Review: We stayed at Ward Lake on Colorado's Grand Mesa. Ward Lake sits at about 10,000 feet. So, depending on time of year, it can get a little chilly. We arrived mid morning and the camp hosts were not available. There are two campgrounds, the upper and the lower. We stayed in the lower campground. The upper seemed to house more families and had more wooded sites, the lower seemed more suited to rvs and such but we still put our tent up in the lower section. Our site said that it was a shore line site, but the lake was down something like 40 feet and was supposed to drop another 20 feet. The shoreline was a bit muddy and the rocks made navigating the area difficult for us. Other people went down and fished though and did appear to be catching fish.

Our site was a bit less shaded, which we chose because we were expecting it to be chilly. There were some great shaded spots also but we were looking for sun. It had plenty of room for our two tents (they are small but still), it had a long driveway and a picnic table along with a fire ring. The restrooms were very near by, just across the road. The restrooms were immaculate! Some of the cleanest pit toilets we've seen. No oder and very clean. The whole campground was really clean in fact. The hosts were doing an amazing job.

The chilly weather had us wanting to get moving so we found Ward Lake Trail and hiked all the way to the other side of the lake, which was beautiful! The trail was amazing, the trees were great and it made for a very scenic trail. The hike back was a little less scenic, along the shore line, the rocks were hard to navigate at times, especially with a 3 year old along. When we returned to our site, the rest of the campground had begun to fill up and the host made the rounds to collect our registrations. The fee was $18 for the night. The hosts were very friendly and sociable.

There was a wedding on the other side of the lake and by nightfall the band was in full swing. The music was pleasurable and not over powering. I don't know if weddings are common but we enjoyed listening under the stars.

Product Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing Green Goo Pain Relief. Our green goo arrived just in time, we hit up the post office, tossed it in our bag and then headed to the mountain. I have chronic knee pain from many years of playing hockey and I was coming off a nasty fall that left my knees swollen, bruised and sore. So while hiking, they definitely started to act up. The green goo pain relief is a bit softer then many of the ointments I've used, making it really easy to rub in. While hiking, I was able to simply pull up my pants leg, rub it on, drop the pants leg and keep right on hiking. To my surprise, it took care of the pain immediately! But, and I hate to have a but, it only lasted 15-20 minutes before my knees got achy again. It didn't really have a cooling/heating effect but it did provide immediate relief. I'll definitely use it again.