So the wife and I are planning on going to Colorado for our 10 year anniversary. Besides Pikes Peak, what is on the must see / do list? Plan to do a ATV tour while out there also. No white water rafting or anything like that, my wife would be getting sick in a heart beat doing stuff like that. Any nice places to stay without breaking the bank?
Estes Park. The main road that's on (escapes me) makes a big loop around the mountains. You'll see 12k feet, and cross the Continental Divide. There are quite a few hiking trails in/around Estes Park. Lots of wildlife too. One thing about Pike's, is if you live somewhere close to sea level, you might wanna give Colorado a couple days before visiting. I made the mistake of hopping off the airplane, picking up my rental, and driving straight there. I could walk about 6' at a time and would have to stop and catch my breath! I don't live out there, just visited for work a few times.
If you're into camping/hiking then at least Rocky Mountain National Park. The drive to Estes is really cool too. Definitely give yourself a day to get acclimated to the elevation.
We did this trip last summer. Drove into New Mexico at Tucumcari (by the way, the train doesn't stop there) then headed up to Taos and over to Aztek. From Aztec we went up to Durango then over to Cortez, then drove all the way east out of the state on our way home. We like to hit as many spots as possible...saw the Indian dwelling in Cortez, had a blast in Durango (what a town), drove through the Rio Grande Forest (beautiful), went to Great Sand Dune National Park (amazing) then stayed in Colorado Springs before we headed out. Sadly didn't go to Pikes Peak, we hit the Garden of the Gods instead. I'm planning a motorcycle trip back to Colorado this summer and hope to hit the Northern part of the state. As far as lodging, we stayed at the cabins of various KOA's. Close to camping without all of the hassle. The KOA in Durango is unbelievably nice.
IMHO the best parts of Colorado are offroad. If you can rent something with decent ground clearance you can access them. The dirt roads there look better than the paved roads in NC after this winter. For paved roads I'd suggest Million Dollar Highway, Rocky Mountain National Park, Independence Pass, and maybe I70 through Glenwood Canyon if you marvel at road engineering like me. There are cool towns all around those areas.
We landed in Grand Junction last Nov, on the way to Moab. Had some time to kill, and spend a few hours in Colorado Monument National Park, right across the highway from Grand Junction. Had little expectations, but overall was blown away by the formations and scenery. Amazing park, just wish we had time to hike it a bit. The whole area around Grand Junction was very pretty; probably one of the most scenic landings I've had. Area is surrounded by redish-brown mesas, which has a coating of snow on them. Although if you're crossing the state, continue on to Moab/Arches/Canyonlands area. Unbelievable landscape, worth every penny.
If you're in the Pikes peak area there is Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, the Royal Gorge, Manitou Springs etc. Pick up a tourist guide book of the place and you'll be amazed at what's close.
This. I have spent some time in the South West area of Colorado for the past two summers off-roading. Two years ago we came in from Toas, NM and ran off-road through the Carson National Forest almost all the way into Pagosa Springs (we could have done the entire run if we spent a little more time planning our route). We Then spent a couple days Running up in the Rio Grande National Forest south of 160/east of 84. Then we spent 5 days up in Ouray running between Ouray, Silver Lake (Alpine Loop trails) and Ouray, Telluride (Imogene, Black Bear, Ophir, Last Dollar). Last summer we spent time in Salida, Gunnison, Creede and Pagosa Springs with off-roading through some other areas (I do not recommend coming down Black bear at night, but we ended up helping a guy on a dirt bike who feel just south of the summit and sprained his wrist sand was left out there by his brother who went to go get some help). Most of the stuff you can do with a rented Jeep. Our trucks (my wife's Xterra and my FJ Cruiser) were definitely overkill with 3.5 inch suspension lifts, 33" mud tires, full armor, etc. I did pretty much the entire Alpine Loop in 2 wheel drive and never spun my tires (couple small step ups over rocks required 4-wheel drive to keep from having to use the skinny pedal that much). If you have never been to the Rockies, you really need to experience them for real and not just looking at them from the side of the paved road. Plus getting out to the smaller mining towns really is fun. Oh and Ouray has a couple of great breweries. Ouray Brewery has a nice deck on the third floor looking out over main street Ourayle House Brewery is off the main street and has some good beer. It's a one man run business and his business hours start at sometime after 5 PM. His business hours sign is pretty vague, saying he opens up after the ATF office closes (and you don't get service with a smile).
June? I may be out there then. Just spoke with a customer and he mentioned visiting then. Paige and Dave, making Denver safe from Hippies! Woot!
You drove from Durango to Cortez and didn't stop at Mesa Verde NP? Its a world class anthro site -- probably one of the two greatest Anasazi ruins on the planet.
All of it. CO is just awesome. Definitely acclimate to the altitude. I thought that was just some exaggeration but it's true. Look up Marble and Crystal. Two towns I plan on going to the next time I am out there. Do not fuck around if the terrain looks unpassable, it probably isn't. We had to leave a RAV4 in Pike National Forest for a day and hiked a mile back out in boat shoes in 2 feet of snow. That was an expensive tow bill.
