Colorado River - Horsethief and Ruby Canyons

Take I-70 to exit 15 and follow the access road on the south to the river.

See the access description located here for more info.

(8 person) 3 miles. Very small. Plus, your not even launched and paddled 4 times and your at this site!! Rattle Snake Canyon.  The arches in Rattle Snake are difficult to reach when coming up the canyon from the river.  The hike is rugged and strenuous.

(Large) 3.3 miles. A big group could have a lot of privacy from each other here, with tons of shade and its your own little dead end canyon.

(multiple large) 5.9 miles. Large areas for many tents, medium shade from the Cottonwoods.

(10 ppl) 8 miles. I stayed here my first trip and I liked it but cant put my finger on why. I do know this is the last campsite the train doesn't pass in the middle of the nice which is nice! The confluence with Salt Creek marks the end of Horsethief Canyon.  The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad enters Ruby Canyon via Salt Creek Canyon, then travels along river right to Westwater Valley.  This protion of the river was first surveyed for the Denver, Coloado Canyon and Pacific Railroad in the springs of 1889 to determine the possiblility of running a raliroad along the entire length of the Colorado, through the Grand Canyon and as far as the mouth of the river.

(Large party) Approx 10 miles. This site can be tough to get in and out of due to shallow water 25-40 ft from shore. You might have to drag your boat across some shallow areas. But beautiful site.

Mee Corner is the first of the Mee Canyon campsites.  It is also the furthest away and the best Mee Canyon scenery isn't visible from camp here.  It is a nice campsite, but Mee 1 and Mee Canyon are much better for scenery and hiking.

Mee 1 is an excellent large campsite with big cottonwood trees, though the carry up to campsites are longer than most other river camps.  This is the best camp on the river when it is hot because of abundant shade.  Easy access to a trail that access Mee Canyon.

Mee 2-4 are all large camps with no trees.  Good access to the trail into Mee Canyon, but these camps are brutally hot in the summer.

Mee 2-4 are all large camps with no trees.  Good access to the trail into Mee Canyon, but these camps are brutally hot in the summer.

Mee 2-4 are all large camps with no trees.  Good access to the trail into Mee Canyon, but these camps are brutally hot in the summer.

Seems to be the Creme de la Creme of Mee campsites! If your going to be camping a couple of days with friends and family, this seems like the place to go with some nice hikes into the canyon!!

On river right

on river left

Upper Black Rocks area has a class 2 rapid. The river makes a sharp left entering a mile long zone of narrow, turbulent water.  Take it down the left at the top.  At high water, watch for weird turbulence and strong eddie lines, suck holes and boils.  This area can give unwary boaters trouble, especially in open canoes.  BEWARE OF JUMPING OR DIVING OFF ROCKS as people have been trapped and killed by hidden rocks and suck holes.  Here the Colorado River cuts through the Uncompahgre Plateau's basement rock, the same 1.5 billion year old uplifted metamorphic rock that is seen in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, in Unaweep Canyon southwest of Grand Junction and at the base of the Colorado National Monument.  Geologists call it schist and gneiss, and this same formation creates the rapids of Westwater Canyon.  At this point the river is a suprisingly 85 FEET DEEP!!!! The fast moving, turbulent water is perfect habitat for the endangered Humpback Chub which uses its hump and large wing like fins as hydroplanes in the swift currents.  Chub are knwon to travel between Westwater and Black Rocks, possibly using riffles and eddies as spawning habitat.

a FAVORITE. Large site with little shade but pretty cool area.

another FAVORITE. Larg site

if you have kids, this is the one you want for exploring the little rooms and naturally occurring jungle jim for climbing. Has a few good trees, which help block the wind and is my favorite of the Black Rock sites. Not alot of beach, but place to land you boat with nice eddy to play in.

Another all time favorite of many and usually the first site to get taken. Tons of beach for the kids or laying out. Nice eddy for the kids to carefully swim in. This site will fit large groups but in close proximity of each other.  This is also the mouth of Moore Canyon.  The left wall of the canyon entrance my family has called "The bosses" cause it reminds campers of 3 or 4 bosses standing over you watching you work.....especially after you have returned from the river after calling in SICK to do the trip.  If you click on the satelite image of this site you can see the shadow of "The Bosses" over looking the campsite!  :)

(Sorry don't know the appropriate name): Fair size site. Mile marker 20.4. If you look to your right you will see painted on the wall (gruff  ) "Utah/Colorado"

LOOK closely at the cottonwoods along the river from here to Westwater for the Bald Eagles known to nest in the area. My family has watch Bald Eagles for hours play, sore and fight other pesky birds.   Backwaters nearby are spawning areas for the endangered Colorado Pikeminnow.  For millions of years this fish, which can live for 70 years or more, reigned as he top predator of the Colorado River reaching weights of 50-80 pounds and lengths of up to 6 FEET!!!  Known as the "White Salmon" or "Colorado Salmon" to early settlers, it was once so abundant that iwas commercially harvested.  Now F'n DAMS along the river have stopped the annual floods necessary to create its spawning habitat, and chages in the rivers' sediment loads and water temperatures threaten its continued existence.