Well guys and gals,

Looks like our vacation is finally within sight. With just over a month to go, figured it's time to start my thread and see how many forum members we might be able to meet up with during our 2 week stay in Colorado. After lengthy discussions with many of the local Colorado forum members on here, I think we have a basic plan made. However, nothing is etched in rock and the plan's subject to change as and when the need arises. Since this is our first time to Colorado, not quite sure what to expect and how long the trails and travel will take.

Here's the basic outline of the places we plan on visiting; again, this might change based on the weather, trail closings, time for travel, etc.:

Great Sand Dunes National Park - Pagosa Springs (Camp) - Durango - Mesa Verde National Park (Camp) - 4 Corners - Durango (Camp) - Silverton - Eureka (Camp) - Animas Forks - Lake City - Telluride (Motel) - Ouray (Camp) - Grand Junction - Dinosaur - Steamboat Springs (Camp) - Rocky Mountain National Park - Denver (Motel) - Vail - Glenwood Springs - Aspen - Twin Lakes (Camp) - Leadville - Nathrop - St. Elmo - Tincup - Pitkin (Camp) - Salida - Royal Gorge Canon City (Camp) - Colorado Springs (Motel).

Plan on doing a few trails while we're there - nothing too technical [sure don't want to break something being so far away from home]. Here are a few trails we'd like to do:

• Medano Pass
• Alpine Loop
• Cinnamon Pass
• Engineer Pass
• Red Mountain Pass
• Black Bear Pass
• Corkscrew Gulch
• Alta Lakes
• Imogene Pass
• Hancock Pass
• Tincup Pass
• Halfmoon Creek

Some activities we'd like to do while there:

• Four Corners National Monument
• Durango - Silverton Train Ride
• Whitewater Rafting (Nothing Serious - Maybe Class 1 or 2 at most)
• Dinosaur National Monument
• Royal Gorge
• Garden of the Gods Park
• Pikes Peak

So, if anyone would like to meet up during our time there and/or if you guys and gals might be getting together for some wheeling, I'd sure love to join

 

That looks like a great trip. Just to make sure, do you know that the quarry exhibit of Dinosaur is closed? Its still a great area with a lot of winding dirt roads, but not a lot in the way of bones.

Tin Cup is a fun pass to run. I don't know what the projected openings for the passes you listed are.

 

Send me a PM before you leave and I'll give you my new cell number. I'm getting a new cell phone in the next week or two..

We'll have to get together when you're in the Denver area....sounds like a great trip!

 

No I wasn't aware of the quarry exhibit being closed. Is it just closed seasonally or is it closed for good? That was something the kids were looking forward to since the "Visit Colorado" site and brochure listed it to have some dino bones around. They might still enjoy it nonetheless. Thanks for the heads up .

I'm going to start checking into the projected openings of the passes in the next couple of weeks. Have my fingers crossed that maybe I'll get lucky and they'll all be open; already moved the vacation to July from June originally since the likelihood of trails being open in July was higher than in June.

Absolutely Jack. Looking forward to that. If my timeline works out right, I expect to be in/around the Denver area on the 17th/18th of July which would be a Saturday/Sunday. Let me know if that timeline works for you

 

Dinosaur quarry is closed and has been for a few years because the building had been deemed unsafe. You can see a few bones in the small visitor center.

There's a bunch of great overlooks over the Yampa to checkout, plus plenty of petroglyphs. I like Dinosaur because it doesn't see the amount of traffic as some of the other National Parks around here.

 

Appreciate the good info. We definitely plan on visiting Dinosaur - figured, if the kids got to see some bones, that'd make their day .

 

The whole Dinosaur area is still worth visiting (at least from an adult perspective). Also, I see you're planning on time in Colorado Springs. The name of it escapes me, but in Woodland Park (just west of C. Springs) there is a small but sweet dinosaur museum on the main road. I'm a confirmed dino nut who apparently never grew out of it and I was a kid in a candy store. Also, its very kid friendly with a nice little gift shop.

Edit - also, just west of Denver is an area called Dinosaur Ridge with fossilized footprints along the road and a few bones in the rock.

 

This is what I love so much about this forum and it's members. Always plenty of people willing to help out - from jeep issues to local information . I would've never thought of Woodland Park - I saw the name a few times when I was trying to figure out a route [which another forum member helped out with], but had no clue that it housed something that the kids would enjoy. Thanks for the info guys - much appreciated!

Also, if anyone has any other suggestions on things to see around the route, I'm open to it. A colleague mentioned having been to the "Cave of the Winds" as a kid and said it was a place well worth going to.

 

Got a stellar deal on some Swiss Gear 0 degree Mummy bags for $50/pair with free shipping from Walmart. Getting most of the camping gear ready - 22 days and counting!!!

Have a quick question on camping in Colorado. Have my KOA membership and will probably camp at some KOA Kamps during our stay; but I wanted to see what the rules were regarding camping out at other places - for example, if we were on a trail and found a lake and a decent spot, can you pitch a tent and camp there or do I need to contact someone and get permission first?

 

You'll need to pay attention to where you are and whether you're on private land, which would probably mean no camping without permission. The private and public lands sometimes are mixed together. Watch for signs (ex: "private land next 1.4 miles" or "entering San Isabel National Forest"). Also, some National Forest areas can be fee-based. If you have any areas of National Forest in mind, I suggest you look up their respective office contact info online. Hopefully that makes sense, but it might not since I've been up since before 3 AM to climb a mountain and I'm beat!