Colorado scenic fall drives request (1 Viewer)

[Philip_T]

After living here in Colorado for the past 24 years, Im getting pretty disgusted with myself for not taking advantage of the beatiful countryside this state has to offer. Sure, Ive been to the popular places (Glenwood, Steamboat, Winter Park, Dillon/Breck and others), but not some of the "off the beaten track" places. Im thinking that I would like to take a road trip with my wife this fall when the leaves are changing and stay at a few B&B's while were puttin' around the mountains. Any suggestions on some great hidden treasures that I can visit? Or maybe some not so off the path routes that I may have missed. Maybe some cool historic sites would be nice. Its time catch up on my Colorado experience!

 

[David Brown Eyes]

I would recomend hiway 550 down in the South Western corner of the state. Maybe take a trip on train. The best time to go down there is mid Sept. The trees were always in great form around my birthday.

Do not take I25 to 160 take 285 all the way down to 160. Spend a day in Pagosa Springs. Head to Durango. Spend a day there and take the train to Silverton and back. Then go 550 to Ouray, spend another day in a Hot Springs pool.

I have not lived in the area for about 13 years so I am not sure about current accomidations.

 

[Bejoy]

Are you planning for a single trip or multiple weekend kind of trips? But anyway here are some of my recommendations..

The southwest loop david has recommended is a great trip. The problem I had was that, usually all the places in that loop does not change colors at the same time. Like last time I went there, Silverton had the leaves falling, but Durango was pure green and Telluride/Ridgeway was mostly green. But still this is one unforgettable trip. There's so much to see and so beautiful... I liked the HW145 part(by Dolores river) very much. Another adjoining loop is to go to Lake city and Creede from Durango and maybe Wolf Creek Pass.

A great weekend(1 day) trip will be the Gold Belt tour. You can come down from Denver thru Deckers, go to Cripple creek, then Canon city thru shelf road. Comeback to Victor thru Phantom Canyon road. The canyon road and shelf road are not paved, but don't really need 4WD. A word of warning, the shelf road is pretty narrow with steep drop and barely wide for one vehicle. It is a white knuckle drive( I was praying nobody to come in the opposite direction )

A great onedayer from Denver will be Guanella Pass. Take this from Georgetown and you will endup in Grant. From there you can come back to Denver thru 285 or go on to Beunavista and to independence Pass and to Aspen and Glenwood Springs. Or take 24 to Leadville.

Another place is the Crested Butte, go there during the wild flower festival. You can combine this with a ride over the Cottonwood pass(near Beunavista)

Another great but unknown place is the Wet mountains. If you take this visit Raton Pass also...very beautiful.

This fall I plan to visit the Unaweep/Taebeguach loop and the Mesa area. Heard this is also pretty good and more like Utah than Colorado.

Whichever you take, enjoy....

 

[Philip_T]

Those are some great suggestions guys. Im looking for more of an extended weekend type trip, so I might try that southwest plan.