amz Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Ok, wife and I are planning to take the RV and my mother (visiting from Europe again) to Colorado for a 1-2 week vacation, departing from Western Iowa. We're looking at the early July to late August timeframe, since that is the time my mother'll be here. We'll have the GTI (Golf) along, as well as the motorcyles, and are looking for some riding (ok, lots of riding ), but also some sightseeing with my mother and some hiking/wandering around with the dogs. The riding should be 'dayrides,' where we take off from the RV in the morning and are back by evening. Given these boundary conditions, what would be a nice central place to park the RV and be able to get the top roads and sights covered (don't care about big cities; more interested in mountains and 'nature stuff'...)? I know, I have to be difficult Link to comment
quaintance Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 early greetings from CO! I'm sure you'll get a lot of suggestions as there are just so many choices when it comes to Colorado but if it were me this is probably what I'd do. I'd probably spend 1 week making my home base in Gunnison, from there you can fan out and hit Monarch Pass, Hwy 149(Silver Thread Scenic byway) down to Wolfe Creek Pass. Head out to hwy 550(Million Dollar Hwy) and down to Durango and back. although Durango and back in a day may be a long ride.. still well worth it... there are also a few choices for lager loops here.. Like hwy 50 -> 550 -> 160 back to Pagosa Springs and then 149 up to Gunnison.. again, long day but it packs a wallop in the sightseeing dept... One of my favorites is Hwy 92 which snakes around the north rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison. You can take a day and hike around Black Canyon, enter through the south rim and theres tons of trails all over... You'll also find some good hikes down on hwy 149 around the Lake City area and further south at the headwaters of the Rio Grande river. Go North out of Gunnison on hwy 135 up to Crested Butte and then take a ride out over Keblar Pass. This is unpaved from Crested Butte over to Hwy 133 - roughly 30 miles of very well groomed dirt road with wonderful views.. some amazing sights and then you can loop back down via Paonia to hwy 92 for a full day of riding. After this full week I'd pack it all up and head north.. Making my way up towards Steamboat.. You could stay in Kremmling and from there you can see Trail Ridge road over Rocky Mountain Natl Park.. You can easily make a full day out of riding and hiking the park.. lots of wildlife and beautiful scenery. Hwy 14(Poudre Canyon) from Walden to Ft Collins and back is easily one of my favorite all time roads in CO for biking. Hwy 134 just outside of Kremmling is short but sweet... again, great for the bikes... Head south and spend a day in and around Breckenridge. take a car or bikes(if you're dual sporting) up over Boreas Pass outside of Breck.. beautiful views and some pretty cool historical sights out there from the old mining days. Link to comment
AdventurePoser Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 A no brainer here... Park the RV at the Ouray KOA. This is a beautiful camping park-get a spot by the creek! They have a restaurant facility which features good food for those days you don't want to cook-great homemade cobbler and BBQ! In Ouray there is an incredible hot springs you MUST go soak in, great hiking, and lots of shops for non riders to browse. Ouray is on the Million Dollar highway. You can ride to Silverton, Durango, Gunnison, Creede, etc, etc, etc. Have fun! Steve in So Cal Link to comment
Joel Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 A no brainer here... Park the RV at the Ouray KOA. This is a beautiful camping park-get a spot by the creek! They have a restaurant facility which features good food for those days you don't want to cook-great homemade cobbler and BBQ! +1. That is one of the best KOA's we've ever camped at. You might also consider camping at Ridgway State Park, just a few miles north of the Ouray KOA on US 550. These were the views from our campsite when we stayed there in late June after the UnRally in 2006: This was during a pretty serious drought in the SW corner of the state. It is usually much greener in early summer. Link to comment
quaintance Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 yeah, if hotsprings are your thing you should really check out Strawberry Park in Steamboat.. especially at night, no lights so its just you in the pools with the stars above.. natural(mostly) pools so its all sand bottom and quite an experience. of course at night its clothing optional too which can make it interesting.. even without lighting. The Pagosa Hot Springs resort is also a nice stopover after a full day on the road but Strawberry Park is my favorite. just dont ride up there.. its dirt for several miles and often some pretty bad washboarding.. coming down at night is not fun. If you do make your base out around Ouray, i'd also suggest checking out Mesa Verde Natl... lots of hiking. Link to comment
AdventurePoser Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 All awesome ideas. Remember that Mesa Verde will be really HOT in July and August. At least it'll be a dry heat.... Steve Link to comment
amz Posted December 19, 2007 Author Share Posted December 19, 2007 Thanks! Great ideas - keep 'em coming Goes all into the book... Link to comment
Joel Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 For riding, don't forget to look here. Aside from that, some of my favorite things I've done or seen: Narrow gauge railroad from Durango to Silverton Walking around Telluride and taking the (free) gondola up the ski mountain for great views of the town, the box canyon it sits in, and the surroundings Golf at Haymaker in Steamboat Springs Just about anything else in or around Steamboat Staring at the Maroon Bells, outside Aspen, for hours Paddling out on Grand Lake in a canoe (numerous rentals available) Taking in the wildflowers at Yankee Boy Basin or Shrine Pass You'll find more than enough to fill your time. Link to comment
eddd Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 If you are going to be in Ouray you might look into renting a Jeep and taking a little jaunt over Engineer Pass. Link to comment
tobyzusa Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 The good folks on the Board helped me out with this earlier in the year when I was looking for some big fun - and I found it. You are going to have a blast. Link to comment
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