M Lazy C
LocationM Lazy C, 801 Cty Rd 453
Lake George CO 80827 |
Website |
Reservations
M Lazy C was for sale previously but the buyer could not make payments and the owners foreclosed and repossessed the property. It was very clear that they wanted to sell and get out of the business. When we were visiting we heard that the property was for sale for 2.5 million as of June 2020.
Make your reservation today by calling 719-748-3398
Email: [email protected]
I emailed and called Brenda multiple times with questions about horse lodging, papers required and requests for trail maps. I did not get great answers and some of my emails did not get a response. They do require a health certificate within 30 days of your visit. I emailed my health certificates, then called to confirm they got them. They did not receive them so I emailed them again while I was on the phone with Brenda. She received them.
When we arrived, as soon as we were unpacking I was asked for my health papers.....I replied that I had emailed them and then called to confirm that they were received! They were incredibly disorganized and I can't believe that they didn't know who I was, where we were staying and that I was the person that had called repeatedly to address this issue prior to our arrival! It was very clear to me that these owners do not want to be running this business. I truly hope they can sell the ranch to someone who can give guests a better experience.
Make your reservation today by calling 719-748-3398
Email: [email protected]
I emailed and called Brenda multiple times with questions about horse lodging, papers required and requests for trail maps. I did not get great answers and some of my emails did not get a response. They do require a health certificate within 30 days of your visit. I emailed my health certificates, then called to confirm they got them. They did not receive them so I emailed them again while I was on the phone with Brenda. She received them.
When we arrived, as soon as we were unpacking I was asked for my health papers.....I replied that I had emailed them and then called to confirm that they were received! They were incredibly disorganized and I can't believe that they didn't know who I was, where we were staying and that I was the person that had called repeatedly to address this issue prior to our arrival! It was very clear to me that these owners do not want to be running this business. I truly hope they can sell the ranch to someone who can give guests a better experience.
Map of M Lazy C Campsite
Trailer Parking
There was space to park our trailer right outside the Rustler cabin. However, our horses were to the right, at the far end of the arena. This made it awkward to carry tack from the trailer to the horse corrals. It was a 1 minute and 30 second walk to the horses so it was not easy to check on them in the middle of the night.
It took me 1 minute and 30 seconds to walk from the Rustler cabin to the horse corrals. I got a very good work-out walking back and forth to check on the horses.
Horse Accommodations
There were several 12 x 12 foot horse corrals at the far end of the arena. They told us we could put our horses wherever we liked. The corrals available were uncovered. My friend Lisa asked if she could put her horse in the run with the shelter that appeared empty. The host said no, that run was reserved for injured camp owned horses. This run stayed empty during our stay while our horses baked in the hot sun.
Overall, I was not impressed with the hospitality or directions provided during our stay. No-one told us where to put our hay, where to dump the manure or which wheelbarrow to use. When we used a near-by wheelbarrow to muck we were scolded but not given an alternative. Another horse owner told me that the water hose initially did not reach her horse corral and she had to ask the camp host to extend the hose so she could fill up her water bucket.
The other problem we ran into was that the horse corrals were at the other end of camp compared to where we parked our horse trailers. The corrals were a 1 minute and 30 second walk from my Rustler cabin and farther for Lisa who parked in the main RV hookup area. This made it very difficult to tack up our horses before riding. We ended up carrying our saddles over to the horse corrals and leaving them on the ground or on the fence overnight between rides. It would be really easy for them to add saddle racks or a tacking area.
The other main issue we had was that the corrals had no chains or gates. We ended up tying our corrals closed with our lead-ropes. At one point Lisa's corral's very short chain got lodged on a screw and she was not able to open the panel or remove her horse from the pen! It took a good 5-10 minutes of jiggling the chain to get if free enough to move the panel and free her horse.
Overall, I was not impressed with the hospitality or directions provided during our stay. No-one told us where to put our hay, where to dump the manure or which wheelbarrow to use. When we used a near-by wheelbarrow to muck we were scolded but not given an alternative. Another horse owner told me that the water hose initially did not reach her horse corral and she had to ask the camp host to extend the hose so she could fill up her water bucket.
The other problem we ran into was that the horse corrals were at the other end of camp compared to where we parked our horse trailers. The corrals were a 1 minute and 30 second walk from my Rustler cabin and farther for Lisa who parked in the main RV hookup area. This made it very difficult to tack up our horses before riding. We ended up carrying our saddles over to the horse corrals and leaving them on the ground or on the fence overnight between rides. It would be really easy for them to add saddle racks or a tacking area.
The other main issue we had was that the corrals had no chains or gates. We ended up tying our corrals closed with our lead-ropes. At one point Lisa's corral's very short chain got lodged on a screw and she was not able to open the panel or remove her horse from the pen! It took a good 5-10 minutes of jiggling the chain to get if free enough to move the panel and free her horse.
The arena was nice to let our horses run around and stretch their legs. It was not graded and obviously had not been groomed or raked in a very long time. We tried to ride in the area but there were very obvious lumps and undulations in the footing so we mostly walked for fear of having our horses stumble on the poor footing. The chain to close the arena gate was not long enough to secure the gate. Again, we ended up using our lead ropes to tie the arena gate closed while our horses exercised.
Human Accommodations
Rustler Cabin - Overall Rating - Not Comfortable
The Rustler cabin was slightly better than a tent. We did have a toilet and shower. However I would have been much more comfortable in a living quarters trailer.
Negatives
- Tiny beds! The full sized bunk-beds were awkward at best. I could not sit on the lower bunk without hitting my head on the top bunk. There is no place to snuggle or watch Netflix after a long day. My husband and I tried to sit on the uncomfortable twin bed like a couch but the frame was incredibly uncomfortable, the mattress springy and loud and it was very hard to snuggle. I am 5'11" and I barely fit on the twin bed. I did not sleep well during our stay.
-No A/C, the first day the host said she would look around for a fan, she never came back or brought a fan! It was incredibly hot at night after 80 degree days in June and the small windows did not cool the room off well. We had to keep the front door open at night to get any kind of cooling and I worried about wildlife getting into the cabin or breaking the screen door.
-Sleeps 5! There is no way you could sleep 5 adults in this cabin. Maybe 2 kids and a adult but most families would have at least 2 adults and there was no great place for a couple to sleep in the same bed. If the management would just put one king bed in this room and a nice ceiling fan and wall fan it would be transformed into comfortable lodging!
-1 dog allowed, I told Brenda I had 2 dogs. She ok'd this over the phone. They are good campers and stayed in their kennels when we were not directly supervising them. The Rustler, Settler and Foreman cabins were the only cabins where dogs were allowed. The other cabins may have had larger beds but were farther from the horse corrals.
Negatives
- Tiny beds! The full sized bunk-beds were awkward at best. I could not sit on the lower bunk without hitting my head on the top bunk. There is no place to snuggle or watch Netflix after a long day. My husband and I tried to sit on the uncomfortable twin bed like a couch but the frame was incredibly uncomfortable, the mattress springy and loud and it was very hard to snuggle. I am 5'11" and I barely fit on the twin bed. I did not sleep well during our stay.
-No A/C, the first day the host said she would look around for a fan, she never came back or brought a fan! It was incredibly hot at night after 80 degree days in June and the small windows did not cool the room off well. We had to keep the front door open at night to get any kind of cooling and I worried about wildlife getting into the cabin or breaking the screen door.
-Sleeps 5! There is no way you could sleep 5 adults in this cabin. Maybe 2 kids and a adult but most families would have at least 2 adults and there was no great place for a couple to sleep in the same bed. If the management would just put one king bed in this room and a nice ceiling fan and wall fan it would be transformed into comfortable lodging!
-1 dog allowed, I told Brenda I had 2 dogs. She ok'd this over the phone. They are good campers and stayed in their kennels when we were not directly supervising them. The Rustler, Settler and Foreman cabins were the only cabins where dogs were allowed. The other cabins may have had larger beds but were farther from the horse corrals.
The water pressure was poor, because the campground ran on well water. Keep your expectations low and this is ok. I am ok with conserving water but when I check into a hotel this is not what I want to see in the bathroom. Camping with horses I was dirty, dusty, full of sweat and manure and this poster on the wall did not add any value to my stay. I reserved a cabin to make camping with horses easier and rinsing off sweat and dust is one of the reasons why I requested a cabin.
RV Sites
I talked to several horse owners that stayed at the RV sites away from the area and cabins. They seemed a lot happier with their accommodations! Their trailers were right next to the their horse corrals. Sites 13, 14, and 15 had more tree coverage and were cooler. Sites 12 and 10 had covered horse corrals. There was a round pen in this area and a picnic pavilion and manure dump site. If I ever go back it would be to stay in site 12 or 10 with a living quarters horse trailer.
Trail Map
The trails here are confusing! I talked to other riders that were happy using Gaia as a map app. We downloaded the Avenza app, Pike NF South Park Ranger District. There was a print-out of this map at the camp store available for purchase.
Footing
Mildly to moderately rocky. We rode on atv trails. Sam was more comfortable in shoes but Blue was barefoot and was a little ginger wanting to walk on the side of the trail instead of on the atv road.
Horse Hazards
The biggest hazard was running into ATVs on the trail. We could hear them coming and it gave us time to get off the trail and turn and face them. They did not always slow down when they saw a horse. We rode the trails during the week and talked to riders that said the trails were really busy with ATVs on the weekend. The trails were pretty dished out and eroded at times but it was easy enough to walk on the grass besides the trail. There were a few wire gates to open to the side of some cattle guards. The trails were mildly rocky in parts and shoes would be recommended. There was no water on the trail, no creeks or rivers and it did get very hot during the day in mid June.
Trail Options
Thatcher Road, 225 to 290, 225 to 287
Chosen Trail - Thatcher Road
Thatcher Road was a wide dirt road behind the horse corrals. It was a really nice trail to take an early 6am ride or to pony Bailey along to get some energy out. The footing was soft and you could ride in a loop or wander back by the other RV and horse trailer sites. The loop took about 10 minutes to walk and we trotted and cantered this loop the first evening to get some trailering angst out and to stretch our legs.
Trail Experience
We headed past the camp horse paddock to join up with Thatcher Road. We rode clock-wise past the primitive tent camping sites.
The gate leading to the Pike NF trails was on our left. There is a fake lock on the gate but you can easily open the gate to reach the trail fork that would lead you to trail #225. We continued straight.
To the left of this picture is the site of the wagon rides, continue straight to reach the other horse/Rv sites. We headed right to continue on Thatcher Road around the loop.
The footing was soft and deep sand in places. As we passed a wooden structure on the left there was a lot of animal statues and a western town set up that was used as a shooting range. This shooting range was not active at the time of our visit.
Rounding the corner we had a really nice stretch of road to trot and canter back to camp. You do need to watch for car traffic and atvs but early in the morning it is a really pretty, peaceful ride.
Trail Options:
9 Miles - 225 to 287
5 Miles - 225 to 290,
Rating
Human Accommodations - Rustler Cabin, not comfortable or close to the horse corrals, better than tent camping.
Horse Accommodations - Basic 12 x 12 corrals, uncovered, if you have a living quarters trailer you can ask for the covered corrals or stay at sites 12, 13, 14
Trails - Moderately easy, poor trail map, you really need Avenza or Gaia to navigate.
Overall - If I went back to M lazy C I would stay in a living quarters trailer at site 12. I am hoping this place will be sold to owners that can improve the accommodations and be more inviting to their guests. It has a lot of wonderful potential but needs some reorganization of the basic site map.
Horse Accommodations - Basic 12 x 12 corrals, uncovered, if you have a living quarters trailer you can ask for the covered corrals or stay at sites 12, 13, 14
Trails - Moderately easy, poor trail map, you really need Avenza or Gaia to navigate.
Overall - If I went back to M lazy C I would stay in a living quarters trailer at site 12. I am hoping this place will be sold to owners that can improve the accommodations and be more inviting to their guests. It has a lot of wonderful potential but needs some reorganization of the basic site map.