3rd year in a row! Colorado Trip Suggestions Needed!
 

Hi all!

Once again, here I am asking for your suggestions! I must say last year will be hard to beat -- we did a huge loop taking us south from Denver thru Colorado Springs to Alamosa, then on thru Pagosa Springs to Durango, then to the Mese Verde NP, then up to Telluride and ending in Aspen. What. a. trip.

We are a husband/wife that love the open road, love to see the sights, small - medium hikes, great food/beer... pretty open to any and all suggestions. Trip is planned for Sun, Sept 2 - Sat, Sept 8th.

This year... we are staying in Denver the first night and then heading to Steamboat Springs for two nights. Accommodations are already booked -- any suggestions for things to do... places to eat..... highlights of Steamboat Springs?

Then I am thinking we are going to head to Grand Junction because we want to check out the Colorado Monument. My question is... any suggestions on if we should stay here one or two nights? Anything else in this area to do/see?

The next one or two nights is going to be back in the Frisco area so that we are close enough since we fly out late Saturday night. We haven't been on the stretch from Grand Junction to Frisco yet.... any cool stops, small hikes, etc?

Just in the beginning stages of planning -- so I apologize if my thoughts are all over the place! We already rented a car... so we don't need other travel suggestions.

Thanks!
Amanda

Colorado Monument is well worth the effort, although it will likely be very hot in Sept. If you like wine, spend an extra night and visit some of the area's wineries - I can make some specific recommendations if you like. If so, you might consider staying in Pallisade instead of Grand Junction.

Sure... I am up for any suggestions! I would be up for staying in Pallisade.

The Wine Country Inn would be my suggestion for accommodations close to the Colorado Monument.

Wine Country Inn

I was going to suggest that as well - we stayed there once and really enjoyed it. Palisade isn't brimming with accommodation - mostly small B&Bs, etc.

This might help:

https://visitpalisade.com/

Regarding wine, you might get a few ideas from my trip report:

https://www.fodors.com/community/uni...-girl-1112301/

This is one of our favorites wineries - French owner, Australian winemaker = excellent wine!
Palisade Winery | Maison La Belle Vie Winery | Fine Colorado Wine

Sorry this is rather long. Regarding Grand Junction only, I live here so will share my insights. I think Co National Monument is worthwhile. Interesting monoliths and rock formations. But for me the views are primary. Standing at a pullout looking down on the Colorado River as it snakes through the Grand Valley offers an unusually beautiful vista. If you do visit, be sure to go to the campground/picnic area for the best views since these are on the rim. Wonderful!

Hiking runs the gamut from strolls to difficult. The NPS web sight is full of info. Oh yes, a nice visitor center with video. You might get lucky and spot a bighorn or two.

As as far as accommodations go, a couple of ideas. If it were me I would stay downtown. There are three smallish hotels. Haven’t been in any, I think one might be a Courtyard. Trip Advisor might be helpful. Check their restaurant ratings as well. Several good ones are easy walks from the hotels. Downtown is pleasant to stroll around. Main Street is tree and flower-lined with several nice shops.

What to do beside the monument? Several wineries in the area , many in the small town of Palisade about ten miles east of GJ. Friendly and fun to visit. Also a couple of distilleries and a brewery there. GJ has two breweries as well.

Hope this is helpful.

Wine Country Inn is nice-peaceful out in the country. It is the farthest from the monument. Closest to most wineries.

Another idea and closest to the monument is Two Rivers Winery. They have a B and B which sits in their vineyard, in the “shadow” of the monument.

check the Grand Junction convention and visitors site. It will have lots of current info.

My biggest decision right now is to stay one or two nights in the area. We are traveling in from Steamboat Springs and our main goal is to visit the Colorado National Monument. We are really not wine drinkers, per day... but love the idea of staying in Palisade. I prefer small, quaint towns and am in LOVE with the Palisade Peach! 😁. Our next stop is Frisco area.

Please shed some light/opinion on how many nights to stay and why?! i.e what else to do, see, etc (other than wineries)

Thank you you so much!

As it stands now:
Sun night: Denver
Monday night: Steamboat
Tuesday night: Steamboat
Wednesday night: Grand Junction/Palisade
Thursday night: Grand Junction/Palisade
Friday night: Frisco

Steamboat to CO National Monument is a 4 hour drive. You're looking at temps in the mid to upper 80s for highs, so you'd probably want to limit hiking to the morning. The monument is not huge and there aren't a lot of easy hikes. Look at this page and you'll find the list.
https://www.nps.gov/colm/planyourvis...ing-trails.htm

You aren't really interested in the winery aspect and you've said your main goal is to visit the Monument. Taking all that into account, it sounds like you're best off with just one night in that area. Arrive mid-day from Steamboat, check out Palisade in the afternoon, and plan to go hiking in the Monument the next morning. (You could even do a drive through the first afternoon just to see the viewpoints). After a few hikes, take off for Frisco and spend two nights there.

There's a dinosaur museum and a dinosaur excavation site in Fruita, but I don't think that's really enough to keep you there another day.

Honestly, that area combines better with Moab than Steamboat. If you're at all interested in visiting Moab some day, you may want to reconsider this whole itinerary and save the Monument for your Moab trip. You could easily go to Glenwood Springs for a night then Frisco for 2 nights, or just go to Frisco for 3 nights.

"Another idea and closest to the monument is Two Rivers Winery. They have a B and B which sits in their vineyard, in the “shadow” of the monument.""

They also make fabulous wine! One of our favorites.

If it were me, I'd stay two nights, but primarily because I dislike one night stays - two nights gives you a full day to explore.