We are an adventurous couple who is planning to enjoy the most of colorado. Here is the itinerary I made:


Fri - Fly and sleep in Denver.
Sat/Sun - Backpacking in RMNP/Estes park
Mon - See boulder and drive to Buena Vista area, camp and hike around Collegiate Peaks
Tue - Drive to Buena Vista and do Half day of rafting (until 1pm), Drive to Ouray(3:30h). sleep there.
Thur - Long hike around the San Juan Mountains. Drive to Black Canyon and sleep there.
Fri - AM Black Canyon hike (3h), drive to Vail, sleep vail.
Sat - Spend it with friends in Vail
Sun - Fly out of Denver.


I was all set and good to go, except I skipped Wednesday!!! So now I am not sure if I should drive to Mesa Verde, spend a day in Telluride, or some time in Gunnison.

What do you guys think?

First of all, are you from sea level? IF so, have you been at altitude before and have you done strenous stuff while there? I ask, because lots of times folks come here with a really ambitious outdoor plan and don't realize that your plans can be impacted due to altitude. You have a lot of things packed in a short time, with a good deal of driving thrown in. Are you sure you don't want to slow down and "smell the flowers?" I know there are people who like to try and get as much in as possible, it's just so beautiful here, slower is sometimes better, you know, quality vs. quantity. Of course, only you know this for yourselves.

The drive from Ouray to the visitors center in Mesa Verde NP will take close to 3 hours. Mesa Verde is absolutely a must see if you have not been before - the cliff dwellings are amazing. It will take at least a day to see the major sights at Mesa Verde. You can stay there {Far View Lodge} or in Cortez {Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Best Western are best bets}.

The drive from MVNP visitor center to Telluride will take [via 160, 184 to 145] will take about 2. 5 hours, so that is a long day.

Thur - Long hike around the San Juan Mountains. Where exactly do you have in mind? It is a fairly good sized range.

Deb

I meant to add, are you used to driving on mountainous roads as they are narrow, steep, twisty, no shoulders etc. That might slow down your drive time. When a place is only 75 miles away here, it could take 2 hours to drive there.

Deb

ha! yeah, I'll be flying in from San Francisco. I figured that taking it easy the first night in Denver might help. lol.

I guess, I can stay around the ouray area one more day. And take it easy. It seems like Mesa Verde is too far. Or I can go to Crested Butte on my way to Ouray, but there doesn't seem to be much there.

In the San Juan Mountains I was hoping to do the Blue Lakes trail which is like a 5 hour hike.

Not much to do in Crested Butte? and you think there will be much to do in Ouray? and you'll prefer Gunnison (lot do there?) over Crested Butte. Excuse me but you just kind of slammed my favorite place in the world.

Crested Butte is the wildflower capital of Colorado, the original home of mountain biking including the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, it has a dozen fantastic restaurants, especially amazing for such a small town. The entire downtown is a historic district, so the whole area still looks like a Victorian mining town with lots of character, not a fabricated village like Vail. Plus don't get me started on all the hiking/biking/fishing/rafting in the area.
Crested Butte is charming and funky and friendly, it is a completely different experience than someplace like Vail that is more on the tourist track.

Gunnison is an old western town, and has a decent restaurant or two, maybe some cheaper places to stay, and there's Western State college, but if I were you, I'd keep on rolling right up the road to Crested butte.

I agree with DebitNM that you are doing lots and lots of driving. I think it is unrealistic, pick a few, think about what you really want to do, and then go from there. Afterall, in any area of colorado, you could go on numberous day hikes in the same location and never take the same trail twice. and I'll certainly understand if Crested Butte doesn't make the cut, that's fine, we like it being off the beaten path.

Your itinerary will have you spending more hours of your trip driving than doing anything else. It looks like a great itinerary for a couple who want to drive around Colorado and see it from their car. For someone who appears to want to enjoy the outdoors, I suggest narrowing your focus to one or two places. You could spend a week doing Boulder/Estes Park/RNMP/Grand Lake and stopping in Vail before you head back to Denver. Alternatively, concentrate on the western side of Colorado.

I agree with Padams. 'way too much going and not enough staying.
Not sure how Mesa Verde got in the mix, although I agree.
Denver altitude for a day might not be enough to acclimate.
I am sure there are some great hikes almost anywhere you could stick a dart in a map. Think about Crested Butte and the wildflowers--saw that in another thread. The Park itself could be worth the whole time you are talking about.

Thanks guys, I keep hearing so many good things about Ouray in this forum I thought it might be worth the trip. If Crested Butte is better, then great! Less driving. My friend doesn't want to do Mountain Biking so I thought I would skip CB in favor of Ouray. I'll check to see driving distances, it seems like the furthest would be 4:30h from Ouray to Vail. Now 4h from CB if I decide to stay 3 days there before going to Vail.

You're kind of backtracking to go Denver to RNMP to Boulder to Buena Vista. It would make more sense to come to Boulder when you land at DIA. It's only 40 minutes to here, and about 30 to Denver from the airport so much of a muchness except in the morning when you're headed up to RNMP you'll be 25 miles closer. I'm biased towards Boulder but it is a lovely town with a great creek walk, fab restaurants and a great downtown pedestrian area. If you can get into Lucille's for breakfast before heading out it is truly fabulous.

From RNMP you can continue through to the other side and head to Buena Vista from there. It's about 3 1/2 hours and a much prettier drive through Grand Lake, Winter Park and Berthoud Pass. It would be quite feasible to hike in the east side of the park, stay Saturday night in Estes Park and then hike on the other side on Sunday (the hike to Lulu City is beautiful - and pretty cruisy - we always see deer/elk etc - and it's along the very start of the Colorado river) and drive to Winter Park for the night. I went that way last year with some visitors and saw heaps of elk - not to mention a bear in the parking lot in Winter Park when we were having dinner.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...7,4.943848&z=8

Wife and I are trying to plan a trip to Colorado. Flying into Denver with about a 7 to 8 day trip. We would like to visit RMNP/Estes park/Boulder area. Would like some feedback on the best route and places to see and stay. We are beginning hikers and would really like some beautiful parks that have 2-4 hour trails. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, if there is a better place to fly into we can look at that too. Lastly, can anyone suggest one or two places to stay at RMNP that would put you in the park (like a cabin or lodge). Thanks!

You might start your own topic for this.