Granby, CO and Why You Should Visit Small Towns

A case for visiting small towns!

I grew up in Del Rio, a city of about 40,000 people, with one hospital and one high school. After I graduated from high school, I moved to Austin to attend The University of Texas at Austin, where the student population exceeded that of my hometown! It was a big adjustment being in a sea of people I didn’t know, but also exciting to be in a bigger city where there was so much to discover.

Rueben grew up in a suburb of San Antonio, so he lived in a small city but had access to a big city. We’ve realized that’s our preference – staying in less populated areas where the traffic isn’t crazy, all the restaurants aren’t packed, and people know each other, but still have access to larger cities with all the conveniences like shopping and more restaurants. I’d definitely rather go to a local mom ‘n’ pop place than a chain any day!

So, after very small town Cripple Creek, we decided that we’d treat ourselves to an RV resort where they have pools, restaurants, a little store, and bars! In Granby, CO, we picked River Run Resort. It’s so nice, and literally 15 miles from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

THE VIEWS!

We didn’t take advantage of a lot that they had since we were still hesitant to be around groups of people (this was in June 2021), but we hung out by the fire pit and drank at one of their bars, which was so nice! The pond in the photo above was huge and people were always fishing.

The Rockies are so close; it was awesome to look out the windows of our RV at the snow-capped peaks. The sunsets were pretty gorgeous, too.

Driving around the Granby area (Grand County) was what we did most of the time because it was just so, so beautiful. We even saw a moose walking on the side of the road, and another in a creek!

Willow Creek Reservoir in Parshall, CO

Also in Parshall, we discovered Williams Fork Reservoir and wish we had found it sooner! It’s somewhere that we definitely would have boondocked, like other RVers we saw there.

We had a picnic at Lake Granby, which was unbelievably beautiful. It was super windy and cold, but who cares with this amazing scenery!

Bluebonnets in small town Colorado!

With a population of about 400, Grand Lake is definitely a small town but amazingly beautiful. We ate at a small pizza joint and walked along the boardwalk of this gorgeous lake.

On another scenic drive, we stumbled upon Hot Sulphur Springs Wildlife Area which was so awesome! We had to jump over a little creek to get to this view and aside from all the mosquitoes, it was amazing!

Also, check out these two videos of our drives around Granby.

Next up: A memorable but incredible hike!