Gateway to San Juan Mountains provides perfect angler base camp

Southwest Colorado’s Pagosa Springs offers plenty for both nature, scenery lovers as well

ARCHULETA COUNTY, Colo. — Blessed is the road that is homeward bound in both directions.

A frequented destination can etch into a soul, exchanging memories for bits of self. Such a place can index the course of a lifetime.

That place for me is the San Juan Mountains. Physically rugged, mentally soothing and spiritually elevated, the towering ponderosa pines and placid mountain lakes of the San Juans have often been the backdrop to the turning pages of my existence.

The fishing ain’t bad, either.

So, I returned once again to Pagosa Springs, a town tucked into the Sun Belt and a portal to the San Juan Mountains.

I traveled with my brother, Andrew, my designated fishing partner from birth. He had just graduated college, marking a milestone in his own life with a trip to the place held sacred by us both.

Pagosa Springs is wrapped in the San Juan National Forest and near a section called the Weminuche, the largest wilderness area in Colorado. The San Juan River serenely runs through the middle of a quaint town. Nostalgia greets you with the smell of spruce.

Also, the occasional stench of sulfur.

Pagosa Springs is home to the world’s deepest geothermal hot spring and is a popular spa destination. The Ute indigenous group’s name for the town has been translated as “healing waters.”

It is in this setting that a fishing hub thrives.

Ski & Bow Rack welcomes at Pagosa Springs’ entrance. The staff, masked up for COVID-19 and friendly, can set up anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts with what they need. Let It Fly, Williams Creek Angler, Boss Tin and other establishments let visitors know this is a fishing town.

Some of the rivers and creeks in the area are excellent fisheries for rainbow and brown trout. Some hold brook and cutthroat as well. The San Juan River can be easily accessed at various points in town. Piedra River access can be more remote. The Piedra is 20-plus miles toward Durango and cuts deep, daunting box canyons for spectacular views.

Late-spring snowmelts had disrupted our favorite stretches of moving water, though, with knee-breaking current and poor conditions for fishing.

Luckily, plenty of lakes can be found near Pagosa Springs.

Echo Canyon Reservoir is a popular go-to not far from town. It is stocked with rainbow trout, largemouth bass, perch, channel catfish and is a great spot for kids and families. Colorado largemouth bass are much smaller than what most Texans are used to, but a state record (11 pounds, 6 ounces) was pulled from Echo in 1997.

Just five miles from town, Echo offers all the beauty and wildlife of a remote mountain lake. Waterfowl, bald eagles and mule deer can be seen there. A rafter of plump Merriam’s wild turkeys trudged along behind us as we fished, causing me to wonder about a shotgun sitting in a corner a thousand miles away.

For those who wish to wander afar, there are plenty of options if you’re willing to make the drive.

Williams Creek Reservoir is 25 miles from Pagosa Springs and has kokanee salmon in addition to trout. Lake Capote, a little more than 15 miles from Pagosa and owned by the Southern Utes, is stocked with rainbow trout, brown trout, channel catfish and largemouth bass.

Navajo Reservoir is about the same distance from town and about a third of it resides in Colorado, the rest in New Mexico. Northern pike, crappie, bass, trout, catfish and perch can be caught in Navajo. Past the Wolf Creek Ski Area, the Big Meadows Reservoir offers 600 acres of premium boating in the Rio Grande National Forest.

The splendor of high-altitude lakes awaits those who put in the legwork.

A two-mile hike will take you to a beautiful rainbow trout fishery at Opal Lake. The lake is also home to beaver ponds and a stream. Strenuous, yet rewarding seven and nine-mile hikes will take anglers to Fourmile Lakes and Turkey Creek Lake, respectively.

Often the journey to these locations is just as gratifying as the fishing.

For this flatlander from Southeast Texas, the newness never numbs. Each mountain is a new world, every mule deer is gazed upon with wonder like the first. Elk bring a distinct awe. Glimpses of the regal creatures can be seen at the cooler, higher elevations while they forage for the days far ahead.

One of our favorite stops was Buckles Lake.

Buckles is a short hike after a long drive, a place of solitude and source for solace. The isolated lake gave me a chance to work out some of my novice fly fishing frustrations without audience.

It was picturesque. We sat there stunned as wildfowl intermittently broke the silence.

The honks of sweeping Canada geese became roars as the sounds reverberated off the still water and valley walls.

It is difficult for us to sit here and not become sentimental. We remembered when our father first took us to this very spot as youngsters, many years ago. Plenty had changed since, but not this place. We think about when we used to come here with our grandmother. Her memory lives on in these mountains.

We left having only merely sampled the bevy of fishing opportunities the area has to offer. But we knew we would take this road again, soon enough.

We grabbed our memories and left another part of ourselves in our departure. As we took account of the immeasurable treasures we had seen, we happened upon another.

A bear — a beautiful brown one at that — running alongside the highway in the Chama Valley of northern New Mexico.

The young bear barreled along the ditch, wild-eyed and terrifyingly awesome. We were glad to see the bear there and not during our trek through the high country behind us.

We pressed on. The majestic beast and lush mountains faded into the rear view like a dream.

Bay and offshore divisions. Sponsored by the South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce. Registration, Convention Center. Weigh-in, South Point Marina, Port Isabel. Click on business.spichamber.com/events/ calendar.

44th annual Hunters Extravaganza, Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth. Guides, outfitters, seminars, gear. $12 adults, $5 ages 5-12 and free for 4 and younger and active military and first responders. Parking, $10. Click on ttha.com.

2020-21 hunting and fishing licenses go on sale. The Texas Outdoor Annual Hunting, Fishing and Boating Regulations booklet will be digital only because of economic impacts of the corona virus. Click on outdoorannual.com.

Women’s fishing tournament sponsored by Aransas Bay Chapter of Coastal Conservation Association, Paws and Taws Convention Center, Fulton. Live music, vendors, educational outreach by conservation groups. Click on babesonthebay.com.

No entrance fee to commemorate National Park Service anniversary at all national parks. Call 361-9498068 or click on nps.gov.

Regular meeting, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., TPWD headquarters, Austin. Click on tpwd.texas.gov.

Buckles Lake is just one of many memorable fishing spots one can encounter in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.

The San Juan National Forest, with the San Juan River meandering through it, is known for its towering aspen trees.