Vacationing in Colorado (Denver, Fort Collins, Golden: car rental, rentals, how much)

[dbaker79]

Hello everyone. My wife and I are planning a vacation for next summer. What we want to do is fly into Denver, rent a car, and proceed to drive this route over the course of 2 weeks:



We are into adventure sports: hiking/backpacking, kayaking/canoeing, primitive camping, etc., so those are the kinds of activities we will be looking for. For lodging, the plan will be an improvised mix of camping and cheap hotels (no reservations except for those occasions when we will be at a place where it is necessary). I am posting a thread on each City-Data forum for the five states we are hitting in the hopes that locals or those who have previously vacationed in these areas might be able to point out places not to be missed, whether it be attractions, restaurants, camping areas, etc.

A little clarification on the route: we are wanting to stay off the interstates as much as possible. It has been my experience that a vacation doesn’t really start until you get off the beaten path. The specific stops on the map are not so much stops as they are locations to keep us on our desired route.

A few places we definitely want to hit:

-Grand Canyon
-A night around Area 51 (no, I don’t believe in aliens and all that but I’ve always wanted to camp a night out there)
-Rocky Mountain National Park (we visited there this summer so will be looking for more obscure things to do this time around)

Aside from that, nothing set in stone…just whatever is on our route and interesting.

As far as timeframe, we can go at pretty much anytime once my wife is done teaching for the year. Any recommendations as to when? We didn’t find Rocky Mountain to be very crowded in early June, which was a nice surprise. Is early June the best time for all of these locations, weather-wise and avoiding-the-crowds-wise (speaking in a relative sense, realizing that summer will have crowds no matter what)?

Any and all thoughts welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!

(Link to the map if you want to take a closer look)

[jazzlover]

I would say that your plan is far too ambitious, unless you want to do little more than view things from the windshield. I don't consider that a "vacation." You can easily spend two weeks in just one small region of Colorado and not even scratch the surface as what there is to see and enjoy. Also, your route will take you through many, many miles of very desolate country. That's fine if you know that is what you are going to see (or want to see). I agree with you about avoiding the Interstates.

As to early June, it can be a mixed bag. A lot of the high country may still be snowed in, streams can be high and unfishable (if you're in to that), and the aspen in the high country may not even be leafed out yet. The good news is that things are not usually crowded yet--though if the economy continues to crash (as I think it is going to), crowding may soon not be a problem anytime.

Personally, I find it curious that you want to stay off the beaten path, yet you list two of the most visited locations in the region as "must-see"--Rocky Mountain and Grand Canyon. If it were me, I would go only to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and I would avoid Rocky Mountain altogether. RMNP is gorgeous, but not more so than a multitude of other far less well known Colorado locales. Like the I-70 Sacrifice Zone, I leave RMNP (unless one is willing to make the effort to hike deep into the backcountry) to the fools who don't know any better about what Colorado has to offer--that leaves the special less-known places less trampled for those of us who know this state's secrets.

[wanneroo]

I've done quite a bit of that trip and well there are a bazillion different ways you could do it. I could sit here and play with it all day. Looks like a lot of fun overall.

With June, two things about it. One is that above 7000 ft you will still have freezing temps at night, even snow maybe, so be prepared with the proper gear for camping. Second is that the water levels peak out in June so that is the month for kayaking if you want to do that.

The one thing with this trip is you will be covering a lot of ground and sometimes what looks like a straight line on the map isn't. So you will have a lot of time in the car on some days.

In terms of the Colorado route much of it is through a lot of the uninspiring part of the state. I don't recommend going through Alamosa, but instead I would go up further west say from Durango up to Ouray and Montrose and then over.

Also the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is WAY better than the South Rim.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

I would say that your plan is far too ambitious, unless you want to do little more than view things from the windshield.

It must be a cold day you know where, I agree with jazzlover! That's way too ambitious for two weeks. Either lengthen the trip, or shorten the course.

Early June can be pretty cold in the mountains. I took my parents camping once in RMNP over Memorial Day (late May) and we got snowed on! They thought it was cool (no pun intended); something to tell their friends back in Pittsburgh. The irony was that it had been quite warm before that weekend. If you want to stay at RMNP, make your acampground reservation ASAP.

[dbaker79]

Thanks, jazzlover and wanneroo (edit: and Katiana). I just started putting my route together today with little knowledge of the area so there will be a lot of tweaks in the coming year as I get more info (such as what you provide here). Though we do want to "stay off the beaten path," my wife has never been to the Grand Canyon and I haven't been since I was a teenager so we'd like to make a stop, however brief. I wasn't aware the North Rim was so much better...I will definitely take that into consideration.

As as far as RMNP, I'm not sure about that. We drove Trail Ridge Road last month and, while a great drive, I'm not sure I would do that again. We did a loop from Fort Collins taking 14 to 125 down to I-70 and I-25 back up north and that was probably the coolest drive I've ever made in my life (minus the 70/25 bit in a downpour). I would certainly consider that route again, but perhaps, given the ambitious nature of this trip, we would be best not going north of I-70. I am open to any alternatives you might suggest.

[brightdoglover]

If you go briefly to the North Rim, it's a gorgeous drive to Bryce and Zion Canyons. You can drive through a section of Zion in a few hours (or stop at a trailhead) and you do see some magnificent sculptural geology. The drive-through part that is a brief tunnel (with "windows") is amazing in itself. They charge $25 for the drive, hoping to push people into parking in Springdale and taking a shuttle, which has been successful. But a buzz through is well worth it. I forget the road number but it's the only road there (I was making sure I was heading on the right road, and a a helpful guy said, "You're on the right road. Go up 40 miles and take a left.")
But it's not desolate. It's open and beautiful red rocks and staircase formations. I'd drive through there a lot more than Winslow/Tuba City and so on. As others have pointed out, there's a lot of driving without much to look at or take part in.
Have a grand trip!

[movementarian]

It seems like you are circling around a lot of the good parts of that trip and missing the parts in the middle - places like Zion, Glen Canyon, Moab/Arches NP, and southwest Colorado ( Utah National Parks | Utah.com ). If I were you, I'd shorten the loop and go into southwest Colorado (Mesa Verde, Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Million Dollar Highway, Telluride, etc.) instead of Denver area. I'd fly into Las Vegas instead of Denver - my guess is airlines and car rentals will probably be cheaper there anyhow. You'll get the big mountains in that southwest Colorado portion. Utah, Arizona may will possibly have more canyons than you care for, but it is one of the prettiest areas in the country. So basically, I'd do it more like this loop, but adding in your area 51 stuff or possibly santa fe or SLC mountain areas like in your map.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Las+Vegas,+NV&daddr=Vill age+Loop+Road,+Grand+Canyon,+AZ+86023+(Grand+Canyo n+National+Park)+to:mesa+verde,+co+to:durango,+co+ touray,+co+to:telluride,+co+to:moab,+ut+to:kanab ,+ut+to:Lake+Powell,+az+to:zion,+ut+to:las+vegas,+ nv&hl=en&geocode=FdYQJwIdMJoi-SnRffWkgre-gDGjebPV5tXMOg%3BFSUuJgId60BR-Sn5dk2NlhAzhzGx6gclhB6oqQ%3BFYSROAIdIKSI-SkboaefLWE5hzH4yHdy-Z7RdQ%3BFZDGOAIdfeGR-Skj_IW9pgI8hzFafqajgogr3A%3BFXQuRAIdZxCV-SnzhnOvfB8_hzHdWykABMgDkA%3BFVbhQgIdQ-qS-Slz9OZwe9g-hzHh47pxIXfuOA%3BFQSVTAId8WZ4-SmNLbia5eFHhzEtxNXxerEyCw%3BFb5MNQIdFvxK-SkDW_gKIdQ0hzEX02-lKYNOiA%3BFe2cMwIdjuRa-SnZlfUyLms0hzGWhUeG2K3-Rw%3BFQ0nOQIdZ_tC-SGB3e4ZLhIEzA%3BFdYQJwIdMJoi-SnRffWkgre-gDGjebPV5tXMOg&mra=ls&sll=38.184228,-111.21048&sspn=0.453366,0.883026&ie=UTF8&z=6

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by dbaker79

Thanks, jazzlover and wanneroo (edit: and Katiana). I just started putting my route together today with little knowledge of the area so there will be a lot of tweaks in the coming year as I get more info (such as what you provide here). Though we do want to "stay off the beaten path," my wife has never been to the Grand Canyon and I haven't been since I was a teenager so we'd like to make a stop, however brief. I wasn't aware the North Rim was so much better...I will definitely take that into consideration.

As as far as RMNP, I'm not sure about that. We drove Trail Ridge Road last month and, while a great drive, I'm not sure I would do that again. We did a loop from Fort Collins taking 14 to 125 down to I-70 and I-25 back up north and that was probably the coolest drive I've ever made in my life (minus the 70/25 bit in a downpour). I would certainly consider that route again, but perhaps, given the ambitious nature of this trip, we would be best not going north of I-70. I am open to any alternatives you might suggest.

Well if you have already done the RMNP, then are plenty of other parts of the state to explore. I guess a lot of it depends how much driving you want to do versus your outdoor activities. Basically if you look at google maps everything between I-70 and US 50 is scenic and has plenty of great camping and outdoor opportunities. My personal favorite area is Independence Pass Hwy 82 and everything around it. Also another good area for backpacking is the national forest north of Vail.

The North Rim of the GC, I think is way better. The elevation is higher and the terrain is aspen and pine forest.

One national park I have heard is good is the Great Basin National Park which is on your original route.

Great Basin National Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Utah in the Wasatch mountains is quite beautiful and has a different feel to it than Colorado.

[movementarian]

sorry - just do a search for Grand Circle to find links like

The Grand Circle Road Trip - Road Trip Planning for Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Zion and more! - US-Parks.com
Welcome to the Grand Circle Association Web Site

You can follow a plan that people have done before, see the best of the best in the time you have, and not feel rushed.

I'd try to add in that southwest Colorado portion I mentioned though - it is cool down there.

[goyanks57]

If you want to do all of that, it will take you far more than just 2 weeks. Heck, it might take a week to do all of the things you want to do in Colorado.

This trip would be more viable if you owned an RV or 5th-wheel trailer. From the looks of your map, it seems like you are wanting to fly into Denver then rent a car that you will drive all over and stay in hotels. There's nothing wrong with that, but, after about a week of it, you'll be ready to be in your own bed.

I'd suggest flying into Denver, spending 5-7 days in Colorado, another 2 or 3 in Las Vegas and then flying home from Las Vegas. Later in the summer (or next summer), fly into Salt Lake City and do all of the things you want to in the northern part of the state.