Alright folks, here's my 5-day planned vacation route, what should I be sure to see and do? (Grand Junction: construction, live)

[Action100]

Hi guys!

As part of a road trip, I'm gonna be ducking through the Southwest side of Colorado for about five days.

I've highlighted my route with the red dots on the map below.

Starting coming up from the south from Santa Fe, and ending up heading west through Four Corners.

What sorts of things should I see and do!?

I don't mind straying from the route a little bit, but that's the general path I'm going to take.

Here's the type of things I LOVE to see and do:

-Ghost Towns
-Cool small, obscure towns
-Old mines and historic sites
-Random, obscure oddities and places that are hard to find out about.
-Anything extremely quirky or cultural
-Strange museums and stores
-Anything that's just really interesting and weird that's worth seeing that most tourists don't flock to.

-Hiking and scenic drives in NON-CROWDED areas.
-State parks, national forests, national monuments/parks/areas.


Edit: Please feel free to toss out suggestions of awesome places to eat as well! Please note I'll be on my own so I don't want to sit down in a fancy or nice restaurant by myself.


Any suggestions? THANKS SO MUCH!

[bluescreen73]

When is the trip going to occur? I only ask because you've chosen Independence Pass and it's typically closed from early/mid-October until late May.

[Action100]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

When is the trip going to occur? I only ask because you've chosen Independence Pass and it's typically closed from early/mid-October until late May.

I'll be entering Colorado in three weeks!

[NW Crow]

Consider taking one of the trains, Cumbres & Toltec or Durango to Silverton.

If you like backcountry and are ok driving it, look into drive up Conejos River on Forest Service 250 / 380 to South Fork (full tank, gas up at any chance).

Consider skipping Aspen to Delta stretch by taking Cottonwood Pass to Crested Butte instead. Like Ghost towns? Spend more time between Buena Vista and Crested Butte over Aspen and interstate. Hit St. Elmo. Tincup? Can't do everything, but if have time maybe sqeeze in Leadville for the architecture and museums.
Still can and probably should go up Grand Mesa coming from southeast instead of north. If you use the interstate to go near Grand Junction, you could go to the quirky small museum in Fruita.


Allocate a good amount of time around Creede.

Maybe the route would be shorter / allow more time for stops if it was Antonio to South Fork to Creede, Buena Vista, Crested Butte, Grand Mesa, Silverton to Durango and out? If you do Hwy 145, sidestep into Dunton.

[TechMike]

Consider taking SH 133 from Carbondale to Hotchkiss. As you're heading over McClure pass, you can turn east on Gunnison County Road 3 and visit the town of Marble. Marble is known for being the source of marble used in Tomb of the Unknowns and parts of the Lincoln Memorial. It's a neat town to visit with a little museum. You can't actually visit the quarry, but you can see left over scrap stone that isn't marketable.

If you have a 4WD vehicle with decent clearance, keep going east and you can take the road over to the ghost town of Crystal. You'll also pass by Crystal Mill which is a great photographic opportunity. The road to Crystal is basically made up of rocks, many of them quite large, so be careful and have fun.

[Robert5]

Save yourself a couple of hours and do a google image search for "four corners"

I think you will find that the smaller towns on your route are not worth the effort to drive to them.

Cities worth visiting that are not on the list: Montrose, Gunnison, salida, Fairplay (south Park)

Cities not worth effort: Hotskiss, Powderhorn, Creede, Silverton, Southfork, Cortez

I would continue the route east Gunnison, Turn back and go to Montrose, Telluride, Ouray, Durango, Pagosa Springs, then south

[jim9251]

All that in 5 days? Whew! Well Four Corners is a concrete slab surrounded by Navajo um I don't want to say junk, but...in the middle of the desert. You get to stand in four states at the same time. That's it.

Silverton is a great western mountain town. You don't have time but the Silverton-Durango train is a must. Bring a jacket. Drink a LOT of water. You're at 9,000 feet. Ouray is called the Switzerland of America, when you arrive you'll understand that. Beautiful mountain town. VERY crowded in tourist season.

I see you're planning to go up over the Grand Mesa which is 11,000 feet. Very pretty drive, lots of lakes. Be sure to stop at the Visitor's Center.

There's going to be road construction check here for latest -

Road Conditions, Speeds, Travel Times, Traffic Cameras, Live Streaming Traffic Cameras, Road Closures and Road Work Information provided by Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) a branch of Colorado Department of Transportation

And a lot of places you're going to do not have cell phone service. Bring a blanket, water, and some snacks. And when the speed limit sign says 25, you better be doing 25.

Have fun!

[Snikt]

Originally Posted by Robert5

Save yourself a couple of hours and do a google image search for "four corners"

I think you will find that the smaller towns on your route are not worth the effort to drive to them.

Cities worth visiting that are not on the list: Montrose, Gunnison, salida, Fairplay (south Park)

Cities not worth effort: Hotskiss, Powderhorn, Creede, Silverton, Southfork, Cortez

I would continue the route east Gunnison, Turn back and go to Montrose, Telluride, Ouray, Durango, Pagosa Springs, then south

I'm baffled by this list. Silverton and Creede not worth visiting but Fairplay and Montrose are??

Have you been to those 4 cities?

[Snikt]

Originally Posted by jim9251

All that in 5 days? Whew! Well Four Corners is a concrete slab surrounded by Navajo um I don't want to say junk, but...in the middle of the desert. You get to stand in four states at the same time. That's it.

Silverton is a great western mountain town. You don't have time but the Silverton-Durango train is a must. Bring a jacket. Drink a LOT of water. You're at 9,000 feet. Ouray is called the Switzerland of America, when you arrive you'll understand that. Beautiful mountain town. VERY crowded in tourist season.

I see you're planning to go up over the Grand Mesa which is 11,000 feet. Very pretty drive, lots of lakes. Be sure to stop at the Visitor's Center.

There's going to be road construction check here for latest -

Road Conditions, Speeds, Travel Times, Traffic Cameras, Live Streaming Traffic Cameras, Road Closures and Road Work Information provided by Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) a branch of Colorado Department of Transportation

And a lot of places you're going to do not have cell phone service. Bring a blanket, water, and some snacks. And when the speed limit sign says 25, you better be doing 25.

Have fun!

Agree about the 4 corners, you pretty much stand in a line to get "the picture", eat a Navajo fry bead or Indian taco and leave

It's a check mark though if you happen to be driving by, but I wouldn't make any sort of effort to go out of the way

[jim9251]

Also, don't know what you'll be driving but outside of Silverton is the ghost town of Animas Forks. Worth the drive (pretty well maintained gravel shelf road). I would suggest making a side trip to Telluride (everyone has to visit Telluride at least once) and Ridgway where John Wayne's True Grit was filmed, also Ridgway State Park is beautiful. I would have suggested going through Montrose and visiting the UTE Indian Museum but it's closed until 2016. Black Canyon National Park on HWY 50 east of Montrose is worth the trip.

This in monsoon season so you will hit afternoon thunderstorms, which can carry hail and be pretty intense on mountain passes. Most of the roads are two lane and narrow.

Again, have fun.