Colorado Road Trip over Memorial Weekend

Old Mar 24th, 2017, 11:56 AM
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Colorado Road Trip over Memorial Weekend

My husband and are are planning a week long road trip in Colorado 5/23-29. I could use some help with my Itinerary, campgrounds and hiking. Specific questions are posted below. We are renting a camper van and plan to spend 6 nights on the road with the last night in Denver. We are both outdoorsy and fit.

5/23 Pick up Campervan at 3pm and drive to Buona Vista
-Here we were interested in camping at the Angel of Shavano Campground

5/24 Drive to Crested Butte
-The plan is to visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison before or after (?) spending the night in Crested Butte
-Camping at Oh Be Joyful Campground

.-Are there any must drive byways or must hike trails in the Buona Vista or Crested Butte area?

5/25 Drive to Fruita
-Spend the day at Colorado National Monument
-We have reserved a campsite at Saddlehorn Campground

5/26 (Friday of Memorial Weekend) Drive to Yampa
-The plan here is to pick up the Flat Tops Byway between Meeker and Yampa, camping at a dispersed camping spot along the Byway. Is there any concern that the road will be impassable?

5/27 (Saturday of Memorial Weekend) Drive to Steamboat Springs OR State Forest State Park
-Again I am concerned about roads being open. Were considering the Buffalo Pass Byway and dispersed camping but saw something that said it was closed until June 30.
-Is anything open in Steamboat Springs?
-Also with State Forest State Park dispersed camping, will we be limited by snow/road closures?
-Other camping ideas for this night?

5/27 (Sunday of Memorial Weekend) Drive to RMNP
-We have a reserved campsite at Glacial Basin Campground
-What is going to be the best way to arrange the drive to RMNP from either steamboat or SFSP?

5/28 Drive to Denver and drop the campervan off

5/29 Fly home

Thanks for the help. We are really looking forward to the trip!
acookson621 is offline  
Old Mar 24th, 2017, 12:57 PM
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Want to help you out with your questions and I will come back in a little while. One quick thing. Does your camper rental allow for driving off highways? At least two of your segments are on gravel/dirt roads.
Yampa to Meeker is ROUGH gravel and will probably not be open that early. Even if it is it will be a muddy mess. We used to travel in 4wheel drive pickup and every bolt was rattling as were our teeth. Thinking OMG won't be open either.
lindagj is online now  
Old Mar 24th, 2017, 03:11 PM
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Have you been to colorado before?
Gretchen is offline  
Old Mar 24th, 2017, 06:51 PM
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Our Campervan allows travel on government maintained dirt and gravel roads. I have been to Colorado a few times, my husband has never. What other suggestions do you have for the portion of the trip between Fruita and Rmnp? We have 2 nights to cover.
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Old Mar 25th, 2017, 08:39 AM
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> suggestions do you have for the portion of the trip between Fruita and Rmnp

My $.02 as a nearly 40 year Colorado resident: you are covering too much territory on a busy holiday weekend when the roads are questionable. I'd drop Fruita altogether, its an outlier.

The drives kind of look reasonable on Google maps, but reality is that you will be in for some long hard days.

Stick to either the central area (Buena Vista, Crested Butte, Leadville, Aspen) or north central (Steamboat, Winter Park, Grand Lake, RMNP, State Forest). You'll enjoy the trip a lot more, IMHO.
Nelson is offline  
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