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Edited Date/Time
5/20/2016 8:48am
So last year I went to Vegas for work for the first time, came home, and then left for Denver two weeks later for vacation. Vegas was fun, but I felt like I didn't have enough time to see everything. Colorado is awesome and I try to get back there every year to see friends, but two separate vacations that close together is too much...
I get a call from my buddy yesterday telling me he's going to Vegas for work in late August (yeah, it'll be hot, I know). Said if I want to, I can use the extra bed in his hotel room since his wife and kids can't make it. Then he mentioned taking extra time off to spend a whole week in Vegas, which would be fun, but we decided it'd be more fun to drive somewhere from there.
So, we decided to drive from Vegas to Denver. We'll do three/four days in Vegas and then have roughly 5 days to get to Denver to fly home on Labor day.
What do I have to see/do in between the two? I've already put the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon on the list, but other than that I need ideas. Zion National Park is in there somewhere I know, so that will most likely be another stop, but I'm not sure what the must-see parts of central/eastern Utah and western Colorado are...
I get a call from my buddy yesterday telling me he's going to Vegas for work in late August (yeah, it'll be hot, I know). Said if I want to, I can use the extra bed in his hotel room since his wife and kids can't make it. Then he mentioned taking extra time off to spend a whole week in Vegas, which would be fun, but we decided it'd be more fun to drive somewhere from there.
So, we decided to drive from Vegas to Denver. We'll do three/four days in Vegas and then have roughly 5 days to get to Denver to fly home on Labor day.
What do I have to see/do in between the two? I've already put the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon on the list, but other than that I need ideas. Zion National Park is in there somewhere I know, so that will most likely be another stop, but I'm not sure what the must-see parts of central/eastern Utah and western Colorado are...
We also don't have a route planned yet, so we can take a few different routes to get there depending on what we wanna see/do.
What did you have in mind?
If you go up thru Zion area or Bryce, then youre pretty much forced to get on the 40 and shoot E towards Denver. But thats not a bad thing, there are several stops that are awesome you could hit on your way to denver off the 40. I'll draw you up a google maps plot and post it here a bit later of what I would do.
Take Hwy 12 to Torrey, turn right and go through Capitol Reef on your way to Hanksville. Turn right out of Hanksville on to Hwy 95, this will take you through Hite and over the Colorado River to Blanding, Utah with lots of opportunities to stop at stunning scenery. From Blanding you will go north on Hwy 191, when you get to Monticello you will have a decision to make. You can turn right and head to Cortez, Colorado then over to Durango and up Hwy 550 (million dollar hwy) up through Silverton, Ouray and such. Or go north out of Monticello on 191 to the intersection with Hwy 46 turn right on 46 over La Sal Pass.......and into Colorado from here.
Once in Colorado you will want to go on Hwy 50 at least to Poncha Springs.
Just a suggestion.........
The Shop
And yeah, as much as I'd like to get up to SLC/Ogden, it's just a little too out of the way for this trip...
If it helps, I will most likely be camping; I don't have to make it to any hotels or anything so small town stops are just fine by me.
Some very very good ideas in there, thank you very much for the help!
If you don't want to do Zion's (crowded, $25 entrance fee, slow traffic) you can continue up I-15 to Cedar City and take Hwy 14 east out of there to Hwy 89. In my opinion Hwy 14 is extremely underrated as far as scenery and coolness go.
If you're camping you won't have ANY problems finding places to pitch a tent, just a matter of how much serenity you will get to enjoy. Late August, things are slowing down a little, but it's hotter than hell so bring plenty of water.
I just noticed something, the picture in my avatar is in Casto Canyon, right off of Hwy 12 about 8 miles from Hwy 89.
Boulder is a cool town! You have any birkenstocks and patchouli?
Best music venue on earth.
I don't mind paying to get into parks, but if there's an option to just get a pass for all of them and save some money I'd probably do that. I'm sure there's no shortage of incredible scenery for us to see so it'll all be incredible to me!
What's the temperature like at night around those parts? Should I worry about it getting too cold at night?
Red Rocks is amazing too, I went there last year and saw Pretty Lights and it blew my mind the first time I stepped into the ampitheatre. I'd love to make it back this year, but I don't know if it's gonna make it on the schedule... It would all depend on when we get to Denver, because we may only have one night before we fly home...
It's so tough to tell from the photos which regions look more amazing; they're all so beautiful to me that it's tough to make any sort of decisions lol
I believe you can buy an annual park pass, but I don't know if it's transferable between the parks. Both Zion and Bryce are gated and fees apply. Capitol Reef is drive through on Hwy 24, but there are places to stop and take things in.
The temps at night shouldn't be too bad, it is HIGH desert country though, most of the elevation along there is 6 - 8000 ft with a few blasts higher than that. There will probably be some monsoonal storms passing through that time of year, so be observant of flash flood areas and the like. In the middle of that video above, there was an area where the road had been flooded over, and that was in October, which is a little late around here for that.
As to crossing Colorado, I would definitely go lower then up. I-70 is a pretty freeway and everything, but in my ever so humble opinion and with the time you have available, I would go through Cortez, Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Montrose, Gunnison over Monarch and that way. If you had the time and inclination doing a loop over to Pagosa and up Wolf Creek Pass, then up through Creed and Lake City is amazing! Little 2 lane road go over an 11,000+ ft pass and drop into the cool little town of Lake City. That would pretty much take all of one day though.
ps... if you make it to the Ogden area, i know a guy that will buy you a beer or 7
I just might take you up on those beers, who knows, maybe I'll score big in Vegas and be able to just quit my job and drive around for awhile
Pit Row
Mesa Verde near Cortez and Durango is absolutely incredible.
Rent a downhill bike for the day at Keystone or Winter Park.
I personally think Mt. Evans is better than Pikes Peak, and it is closer to Denver if you are coming in on I70. Plus you are right in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, right near the Continental Divide. Not on the edge like Pikes.
I could go on forever, so maybe if you have certain things you want to do in Colorado - I could help narrow it down...
I think our last day in Utah will be at Moab which will probably include a bunch of riding so our first day in Colorado will be sort of a rest day, maybe some hiking but that's about it.
So far my plan is to do day one in Zion/Bryce, day two in Moab, day three in Telluride/Ouray, day four around Leadville/Keystone, day five in Denver/flying home.
Thinking about renting bikes in Moab and Keystone, so the other two days (Zion and Telluride) are open for whatever sounds fun
also, you mentioned winter park. We go there every year to ride dh, you have to check on the opening days because theres a good chance Keystone isnt even open yet for mtb.
keystone is not as much steep downhill sections. seems to be a lot more rooty/rocky all mountain stuff as far as i can tell.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Las+Vegas,+NV/Denver,+CO/@39.5061779,-1…
I would describe Winter Park as more of a roller coaster ride, where Keystone is just more gnarly and rocky in every regard. But also more epic!
If I make it the rest of the way to Twin Lakes however, should I turn south like you recommended towards Buena Vista, or head north towards Leadville?
And I'd be there in late August, so I would hope they'd be open still lol
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