The turning point on our RV Summer Journey was the Haviland Campground, about 18 miles north of Durango, off U.S. Highway 550, the San Juan Byway on the way north to Silverton and Ouray.
Because we were attending a wedding nearby, I made reservations months in advance and secured one of the 17 reservable campsites have electrical hookups and water. This extremely popular national forest campground has 43 campsites spread out among Ponderosa pines. Some of the sites have lake views, others are within a short walk of the shoreline.
The lake is popular with local fishers and they seem to be catching. Only boats powered by electric troll motors or hand/foot-rowed are allowed. There was no official swimming beach, but that did not stop Jimmy from jumping in to cool off.
We ended up staying only 3 of the 5 nights we had reserved because I had difficulty getting a full tank of air during a short hikes around the park.
Latitude: 37.5347
Longitude: -107.8059
Elevation : 8,705
Photos by Julianne G. Crane. (Top) A Hobie pedal kayak on Haviland Lake looking north, with campground to right. (Bottom) RVer Jimmy Smith taking a dip in lake with the Hermosa Cliffs in the distance to west.
