travelingteacherfam

We are a family of 4 (parents, 2 teens) planning a 2 week road trip in mid-June. We will have 2 weeks, but that includes the drive from TX, so probably 12 actual nights in CO.We enjoy all things outdoors-hiking (from short hikes up to 7ish miles), camping, rafting, scenic drives, etc. We have done RMNP twice (love it) and much of summit county, so we want to spend much of our time in the San Luis Mountains since we have not spent much time in that area. Here is what I have mapped out so far based on activities we want to check out. I'm still debating on going back to RMNP since we've been before, but we do love it, and with 2 weeks it seems doable include it. I would love any feedback on our itinerary:

1 night Great Sand DunesNP
3 Nights cabin RMNP/(Estes Side)
4 nights in a riverside cabin Glenwood Springs
(maroon bells, hanging lake, hot springs pool, canyon bike trail, possibly rafting)
2 Nights in Crested Butte in a cabin with bikes in town
(kebler pass drive, judd falls, just exploring on bikes)
4 Nights Ouray (Stop at Black Canyon Gunnison on the way) -Stay at a lodge in town
(box canyon, ATV/jeep tour, Million Dollar HWY/Silverton day trip to Telluride to hike Bear Creek/Bridal Veil/Gondola Ride
Drive home

A couple of questions:
We have planned to stop at Aspen and do the Maroon Bells hike on the way to Glenwood Springs. Does that seem doable?
We just have 2 nights planned in Crested Butte . We added more nights in Ouray/GS because there were so many activities there we wanted to do. Does 2 nights seem like enough/worth stopping in CB?
I'm having trouble understanding where Kebler pass goes. Will it get us from CS to CB?
We could do this trip in either order after Great Sand Dunes. Would you recommend starting in Ouray or RMNP?

emalloy

I would want to fit in a couple of days at Mesa Verde while in the southwestern part of your trip. Try for lodging a night or two in the park.

sylvia3

Not sure what CS is, but the pass road goes from the Paonia area to Crested Butte, and is mostly gravel.

Nelson

I'm thinking CS was supposed to be GS (i.e. Glenwood), but not sure. In any case, Sylvia gave the answer about Kebler Pass.

I live near RMNP and go there a lot, but since you've been there twice I'd say it's an outlier for this trip. Consider dropping RMNP, slowing down the pace for the other places, and/or add Mesa Verde as suggested by emalloy.

travelingteacherfam

Thanks for your replies. Sorry, yes, I meant will Kebler Pass get us from Glenwood Springs to Crested Butte. I forgot to add that we passed through Durango and spent a couple of nights at Mesa Verde on a trip to Utah a few years ago, so that's why we left that out.

If we skip RMNP, I would probably add another night at Crested Butte and possibly add a couple of nights in Telluride instead of just a day trip there?

Also Great Sand Dunes is not a must do, but if we happen to be near it, I thought it would be worth a night.

Nelson

Kind of no lose choices. We like to travel slow and minimize time in the car and you've got that covered pretty well. But instead of trying to do the Maroon Bells hike on the way to Glenwood, which makes that a rushed day, how about tacking on a night in Aspen?

But adding some time in Crested Butte is also a good idea, especially since just getting there adds a bit of extra drive time. Also, one way to get to Crested is via Salida. You could stop there since you are interested in a raft trip. June is typically peak snowpack runoff and the rivers will be high, (perhaps dangerously so!), but Salida / Buena Vista is a top place for that. I'm not into it, but I think there is a whitewater festival event there in June, depending on if you want to be there then or avoid it.

Telluride is also worth a few nights, so you can't really make a wrong decision on where to stay other than driving too hard, IMHO.

P.S. when you wrote San Luis Mountains in your first post I think you meant San Juans.
Have a great trip.

travelingteacherfam

Oh yes, I meant San Juans, thank you! We are leaning toward taking out RMNP, so you've given me some things to think about!

5alive

You've gotten good advice, but personally I wouldn't move hotels with a night in Aspen. It's not that far to Glenwood Springs. Also Aspen is pretty expensive, even in June. Your cabins sound nice.

Nelson

Yes, you are right and I did think about that. Their suggestion was a detour to Aspen for seeing the Bells after driving over Kebler Pass from Crested. Then drive back to Glenwood. It's doable but seems like a rushed day. One night in Aspen makes that more relaxed and would give them a chance to, say, check out the Ashcroft valley. But either way works.

travelingteacherfam

I think I've narrowed it down to 2 possible itineraries:

Trip A:
3 Nights Crested Butte
4 Nights Glenwood Springs (include a day trip to Aspen area)
4 Nights Ouray
2 Nights Telluride

Trip B
3 Nights Crested Butte
2 Nights Basalt (found a great little cabin there with some really cool hiking out the back door, plus could do Maroon Bells from there)
3 Nights Glenwood Springs
5 Nights Ouray (include a day trip to Telluride)