We are planning to drive out to SW Colorado if the the CO national parks open up at Memorial Day. The website for Mesa Verde says it will but who knows. It'll be a last minute trip if it happens.

That said, and for future reference, I have a couple of questions.

What are some cool things do to in the Durango, Telluride, and a Montrose areas during the summer? We think we are doing the Via Ferrata in telluride. Some other guided climbs sound cool, too. Maybe some river rafting. Fishing.

Any cool places to camp?

Cool restaurants?

Cool hikes?

Anything else?

Am I just wasting time on this?

Assuming you're up for stopping and not just driving through...

Valles Caldera
Plaza Blanca at Abiqiu
Cumbres and Toltec Senic RR
Silverton Scenic RR
Jeep trails at Ouray

For Mesa Verde you'll want to make reservations for dwelling tours in advance of showing up....I dont know how far out because we learned this the hard way. I know there is a NPS campgrpund there but I don't remember seeing it.

We also did Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP on that trip. We tent camped there....not a lot to do but looking at the canyon was pretty amazing. I was at the rim at sunset and was the only one there. It was just me and the sounds of nature - I could faintly hear the Gunnison River, the trees rustling, and a few bird's calling out to each other. Ir was one of those moments that will stick with me forever.

Telluride is a cool town. There is a ramen noodle whiskey bar that was really fun (I think it was called Wood Ear) and if you take the gondola up to Mountain Village there is a pizza place there called The Crazy Elk that we love. We hiked Bridel Veil Falls and also Bear Creek Falls (I liked the latter more). There is a ton of longer hiking trails and lots of mountain biking. Also, normally during the summer, there are a bunch of music festivals (Blues Festival and RideFest) which are cool - but the town is PACKED....shouldn't have to worry about that this year but something to consider in future years.

The best camping we found in the area was at Ridgeway State Park near Ouray. The sites down by the lake are very exposed but if you can get up the mountain a bit, the campsites there have a lot more shade.

In Ouray, I hiked Upper Box Canyon Falls which was a much less strenuous hike but had a pretty cool tunnel just above the falls. I think there was a small cash entrance fee.

Also hiked Lower Cascade Falls in Ouray - it was super short and easy. There is a loop hike that goes all the way around the town that we would have done if we had more time.

The next time we're up there I want to hike Mt Sneffels, it looks pretty amazing.

In Westcliffe, which is more central southern CO, there is a wolf rescue place called Mission Wolf - that was pretty awesome.

Also, Four Corners is the most underwhelming (and kinda sad) tourist attraction we've been to in the US

Good info!

The current plan (assuming things open up a bit) is to drive to Santa Fe the first day and spend 2 nights in and around there.

Then drive route to Monument Valley for a night before heading to Mesa Verde (tickets already in hand) and then up to Telluride area (for some Via Ferrata fun), then Black Canyon.

We'll have 11-12 days but it'll be a lot of driving from Houston!

Here's an old thread where I posted a lot, and where I linked to a lot of other NM threads. It talks about southern NM, but keep reading, Northern NM is mentioned.

https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/3051619/replies/54749339

high country won't be completely open by then. Closer to the time of departure you can tell what hiking is good to go.

Depending on the drive, Great Sand Dunes is a good stop.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Here's an old thread where I posted a lot, and where I linked to a lot of other NM threads. It talks about southern NM, but keep reading, Northern NM is mentioned.

https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/3051619/replies/54749339

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Great stuff! Thank you, sir.

mpl35 said:

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high country won't be completely open by then. Closer to the time of departure you can tell what hiking is good to go.

Depending on the drive, Great Sand Dunes is a good stop.

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We were fortunate to visit Great Sand Dunes in October 2018. It was beautiful. By the time we were able to get off the dunes and go get sleds, a wind storm came in and we couldn't comfortably sled. So we may go back. If not, we'll be ok.

Excuse the ignorance but when you say high country, do you mean a specific area or just elevation?

BSD said:

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mpl35 said:

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high country won't be completely open by then. Closer to the time of departure you can tell what hiking is good to go.

Depending on the drive, Great Sand Dunes is a good stop.

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We were fortunate to visit Great Sand Dunes in October 2018. It was beautiful. By the time we were able to get off the dunes and go get sleds, a wind storm came in and we couldn't comfortably sled. So we may go back. If not, we'll be ok.

Excuse the ignorance but when you say high country, do you mean a specific area or just elevation?

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Well if you have been to GSD, you know what they have. The stream is fun when it's flowing.

High country just refers to the high elevation areas. Not a specific area. Right now we are 90% of average snowpack for that area of CO. Of course my house in Fort Collins has received 11.5 inches of snow today so that may be changing in the SW too. I know I have crossed snowfields into late June. Last summer some areas were impassable into late July. It's sometimes tough for a Texan to think of Memorial Day as early for hiking.

I just wanted to warn you that some of the cool above tree line hikes could be snow covered. Back around 2008 I had picked out 6 hikes to do on a vacation. 2 were not doable because of snow. Check in mid May and you can have a good idea of what is open. all trails is great to get current conditions. Good luck

Cliff palace is cool. Do the driving loop early so you can see it before people are touring it.

Monument valley is a few hours away but cool for a drive.

There are other Pueblo ruins around too. Hovenweep is right cross the border.

I like Ouray. Small. Nice hot springs pool before Covid.

Thanks for the info. Monument valley is in the plan as well. And yes, Four Corners. It may not be super exciting but it is what it is and my son wants to be in four states at once (I did it when I was a kid).


All this assumes that things open up by Memorial Day.

The governor of Colorado seems pretty eager to get stuff opening back up but it yet to be determined. Right now most of the mountain counties have it now that it's illegal for non-year round citizens to access any of the trails that are open now. The national forest is technically open but (at least around me) are putting restrictions in place to detour people from going out in them. Our local trail system was supposed to open yesterday to locals but they delayed over half of it for some time longer. It will be interesting to see what they do for memorial day.

My county had the 9th highest infection rate per capita in the country. We also have the highest per capita rate of testing which contributes to that. The good news is the hospital numbers are way down so I'm just waiting to hear when we can start going through the gates outlined yesterday.

Well Mesa Verde just cancelled all cliff dwellings tours for 2020 so we are not making the trip this year.

I assume you saw this other thread. Maybe make it a NM trip, instead.

https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/3107263

Here's an itinerary I proposed for an Austin guy, you might consider it.

One caveat, Red River NM usually has a big Memorial Day motorcycle rally. I'd check on whether that is still scheduled.

Quote:

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Begin Austin
Lunch, Perini Ranch, Buffalo Gap
Fort Phantom Hill (north of Abilene)
Turkey, Texas. (Bob Wills and Hotel Turkey)
Caprock Canyons State Park
Charles Goodnight Home (a little backtracking, recommend taking highway 207 through the lower Palo Duro and by Lake MacKenzie)
Canyon, Panhandle Plains Historical Museum
Palo Duro Canyon
Boys Ranch (Boot Hill and Museum)
Channing, XIT business headquarters
Clayton, NM Eklund Hotel, dinosaur trackway at Clayton Lake State Park
(Next leg to Springer and Cimmaron is DESOLATE. Plan accordingly
Cimmaron, St; James Hotel. There is a local museum nearby, never been open when we went by
Cimmaron Canyon to Eagles Nest and Red River.

return

Questa
Taos
Sipapu
Cleveland (see if roller mill is open)
La Queva - Salman Ranch raspberry farm
Ft. Union
Las Vegas - good Mexican food downtown, amazing Victorian Era homes all over town
Either take back roads from there to Tucumcari or drop to I-40
Santa Rosa - Blue Hole
Either I-40 back to Amarillo, or drop down to Lubbock Route
Tucumcari - best preserved Route 66 you'll find. Good restaruants, but not the BBQ place. Was disappointed.
or via LBB, visit Ft. Sumner.
Lubbock - Ranching Heritage Center

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BSD said:

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Well Mesa Verde just cancelled all cliff dwellings tours for 2020 so we are not making the trip this year.

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Rats.

Don't take it off your list, though. Keep it in your plans for some point in the future because MV is an amazing place.

BSD said:

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Well Mesa Verde just cancelled all cliff dwellings tours for 2020 so we are not making the trip this year.

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That stinks. When you do go there is a nice little motel in the park that has a restaurant. We stayed there one night to help get us an early start but able to not get up so early. It's in the middle of the park and the rooms have great views.

Yeah, we had planned on staying at that motel if we didn't camp there. We'll definitely go at some point, though, as I haven't been there since I was a kid and I promised my son we'd hit every single national park.

BSD said:

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Thanks for the info. Monument valley is in the plan as well. And yes, Four Corners. It may not be super exciting but it is what it is and my son wants to be in four states at once (I did it when I was a kid).



All this assumes that things open up by Memorial Day.

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Monument Valley is awesome. Make a stop at the Forrest Gump filming location and drive the Moki Dugway up to Natural Bridges National Monument.

BSD said:

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Yeah, we had planned on staying at that motel if we didn't camp there. We'll definitely go at some point, though, as I haven't been there since I was a kid and I promised my son we'd hit every single national park.

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I'll note that I paid for the deluxe Kiva room at the Far View lodge....a/c didn't work. So that sucked. Great location though. The restaurant had a mouse run across the floor during dinner. Waiter said they had to relocate them and couldn't kill them. Still a good meal and the only place to stay if you don't want to camp or drive.

I'm going to bring this thread back up top. With a possible school closure til September 9th, we have three weeks where we could rent a house up in CO. I'm thinking Ouray would be a nice spot but am open to ideas. The plan is to work u til 3:00 and then venture out everyday. Weekends would be wide open. Looking for small towns with good coffee and restaurants and near cool outdoor areas. Thoughts?