My husband and I decided to go to Mueller State Park, in Divide, Colorado for a quiet weekend in our 5th wheel not too far from home. Mueller State Park is a beautiful setting, scenic, quiet in April and very enjoyable! The park is clean, nice level sites surrounded by trees. A nice example of why so many tourists flock to Colorado.
The only negative was that the Park Rangers seemed over zealous about telling us the rules for dogs. The first afternoon a Park Ranger stopped to remind us that dogs were not allowed on the trails (he noticed us standing at the entrance to a trail with our dog who was leashed. The 2nd reminder was when I had taken our border collie off the leash to lift him up into our truck. At the same time my husband jumped in the truck to back it up to hook the 5th wheel to the hitch. I had to wait for him to stop the vehicle so I could then continue to put our dog in the back. At that very moment a Park Ranger drove by, saw me and our unleashed collie sitting quietly together beside the road waiting for the truck to stop and we were again reminded the rules for dogs in the park. I explained the situation and she was very nice about it but I wondered if they are overly anxious to do their job since it is so early in the season or if this is what you can expect if you want to enjoy the park with your dog.
We stayed the night at Mueller state park last night. We had a great time until it was time to leave. We were about a half hour late getting out of our campsite due to not getting back from our hike on time and tending to our daughter’s skinned knee. I was stepping into my tuck to pull out of the spot when a ranger pulled up and approached me. He asked “Did you not realize the checkout time was noon?” I replied that I did, his response was to say “Well then leave.” Realize I was in my truck as he came up. I know I was in the wrong for being late, but is it reasonable to be this confrontational when you can see the people are physically leaving? Otherwise, the park is nice, if a bit pricey.
A rule is a rule and an unleashed dog is an unleased dog weather it’s for a minute or an hour. You broke the rule. Just admit it.