My family, (husband and 2 children, ages 12 & 8, good travelers) will be driving from North Central Kansas to Southwest Colorado in August. We will have 10 days. We are 1 1/2 hours North of Salina, Kansas which is on I-70.)
I thought we would head south and pick up highway 50 into Colorado staying the first night possibly in La Junta. I am thinking this may be about a 9 hour drive. The following day we would drive west and spend the night at Far View in Mesa Verde National Park. Maybe a 7 hour drive?
The following days we would be spending a day in Mesa Verde, 2 nights in Durango and 4 nights at Pagosa Springs.
We would like to stop in Oakley, Kansas at the Fick Fossil Museum on the way home. Can we make the drive from Pagosa to Oakley in a day or is it to much. Best route?
None of this is set in stone, so any other ideas are welcome.
Thanks everyone!
Driving from Kansas to Southwest Colorado
Recent Activity
View all United States activity »
- 1 build a nice website
- 2 Red Leather Sofa
- 3 San Francisco - one semi-splurge restaurant?
- 4 Albuquerque to Denver
- 5 Seattle restaurant near Pikes Market
- 6 San Fran, Napa, Palo Alto, Carmel advice
- 7 WHERE TO STAY FOR PROPOSAL WEEKEND IN FREDRICKSBURG
- 8 Omni Hotel, San Francisco - Did I make a good choice
- 9 Zion vs Bryce - How many days each?
- 10 Using public transit in San Diego
- 11 What to do with extra day in Virginia?
- 12 Williamsburg VA
- 13 Finally, seeing the Outer Banks
- 14
A Visit to Charleston
- 15
Restos in Boca Raton
- 16
Rocks and Roads in Utah
- 17 Just saw the Book of Mormon in Chicago ! Can we talk about it
- 18 Yosemite Falls Lodge in the park or Cedar Lodge w/ budget constraints
- 19 What to see/do from north Texas area to SD (Mt. Rushmore area)
- 20 Southern Utah and GC Trip Cont.- Itinerary Help
- 21 Memorial day weekend drivable getaway from Jersey City, NJ
- 22 NYC Newbie Needs Advice Re JFK Transportation
- 23
Boston, my 2 hour food shopping spree to satiate my man's needs
- 24 Question about Northeast Wisconsin along the lake
- 25 Help with NYC transit
Your first day from KS to La Junta sounds good.
Day 2 - From La Junta, I would stay on 50 and go thru Salida. Stop at Monarch Pass and ride the gondolas to the top. Then go to Black Canyon of the Gunnison for the afternoon. Probably best to spend the night in Montrose. I suggest going this way because you are planning to go back thru Pagosa, and I personally would prefer not to repeat scenery when you have the opportunity to do different things.
Day 3 - Go south on 550 from Montrose. Spend half a day on the Million Dollar Highway from Ouray to Durango, then go west on 160 to Mesa Verde. By the time you stop and check out everything along the way, you will easily spend a whole day doing these things. Spend the night at Far View Lodge in Mesa Verde.
From there, I think two nights is good in Durango, especially if you ride the train (which I highly recommend). If you do, Plan that for the full day you are in Durango - you will likely be too tired to drive very far after spending all day on the train.
I'm not sure why you're planning 4 nights in Pagosa Springs...is there a particular thing you are wanting to do? That seems like a long time to spend there to me. Wolf Creek Pass is incredible, but I would cut down your time in Pagosa and spend it somewhere else if I were you. You could detour north from Salida and take in Leadville and the Collegiate Mountains, then spend a night in Salida.
Or, since you are coming from northern KS, you could stay north and add Rocky Mountan National Park, then head to southwest CO. That is probably what I would do instead of spending 4 nights in Pagosa Springs.
If you haqven't been there before, I recomend visiting the Chalk pyramids. They are 20 miles south of Oakley on US-83, about 4 miles east of the main highway.
Keith
I completely agree with beckers2482.
The four nights in Pagosa are because we own at Fairfield (a timeshare) and this is our "down time" to veg out a bit and let the kids swim and just hang out a bit from our totally crazy life back home.
If we head south from Montrose and spend the day looking and driving to Mesa Verde, will that allow time to visit the park that afternoon/evening or will we need to go the next day also?
How much time should we allow at Mesa Verde? Or do we need to check out the other site nearby (I can't remember the name. I read that Ute guides will walk you in to the site.)
Any recomendations on rafting? Companies or locations?
The kids are quite tall and pretty good sizes for their ages and are afraid of nothing....I'm the chicken! I know that they would be bored just doing the float. We have a boat at home that we take to the lake, and they want something more exciting.
I to had thought of the chalk pyramids. Is the Fick museum worth our time?
Thanks
Based only on research, Keystone Gallery looked more interesting than the Frick Museum. Keystone is only a couple of miles from the Pyramids, but it was closed the weekend I wanted to visit it. http://www.keystonegallery.com/
I assume that you have already visited Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays. If not, it is worth visiting.
Have you visited Rolling Hills Refuge, Kansas’ newest zoo? Off I-70, 2 miles south of Exit 244.
Keith
Thanks Keith,
I will look into Keystone.
I hadn't thought of Sternberg. My daughter and I visited when Sue was there, but the boys have not been there.
Rolling hills is only an 1 1/2 hours from us so we have been there quite a few times. Great place to visit.
Lori
You could probably catch a late-evening tour at Mesa Verde that day - it depends on ticket availability. You can only get tickets at the Visitor Center, so I would recommend going there first, once you are inside the park. Late evening is really the best time to go anyway - it is so much cooler, and the wildlife is starting to venture out.
If you take one tour that night, you could easily take a tour the next morning and be on your way. You can buy your tickets for the next day every afternoon, so buy all your tickets at once after you get there. Go on a tour early in the morning, then spend an hour or two on the loops and seeing the overlooks.