Easy, fun, non-mountain road trips starting in Denver
 

I'm a 34 year-old female living in Denver and I want to go on some road trips this summer by myself with just my small dog. Does anyone have any ideas for fun, interesting short weekend trips as well as one or two week trips I can take safely by myself?

I don't want to drive on any mountain roads if possible because I am scared and not experienced in mountain driving. Does anyone have any ideas of interesting trips I can go on without any difficult driving? I prefer roads without many cars when possible as big freeways can sometimes stress me out. The ease of the drive is definitely first priority. I have a camping tent and a small budget for motels if that helps with ideas. Thanks!

Having lived in Golden, just west of Denver, I think I can safely say that anyplace worth going from Denver will involve either freeways/interstates or mountain driving or both. On weekends they'll all have lots of cars.

The problem, as I see it, isn't the roads as much as the driver, who may want to consider expanding her driving skills to include all kinds of roads. Start with short trips and go progressively farther. If you limit yourself to empty local roads you won't be going to anyplace interesting, except maybe Boulder for lunch. Oh, sorry, lots of traffic in Boulder, too.

These are both easy drives from Denver:

Santa Fe

South Dakota - Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Wind Cave NP and Jewel Cave NM.

Thanks for your comment. That makes sense and I think I can do the freeway/interstate/traffic drives, I'd just prefer not to, but I definitely will if that's the only way to see cool things. If I build up my driving confidence with small trips on the highway this summer (and work on tackling mountain roads next summer), what destinations would you suggest to do this? I'm thinking a trip to Santa Fe or Sedona might be options, but that's based on little information.

You don't have to go as far as Sedona to see some wonderful places from Denver. Northern New Mexico, including Taos & Santa Fe, one of my favorite towns, is within striking distance for a long weekend. Great Sand Dunes NP in southern CO is even closer. All of Wyoming to the north and to the west in CO are hot springs and historic mining towns. I dislike driving in snow myself so can't advise you on winter resorts.

I could go on & on but better if you visit your local library and pick up guides for CO and surrounding states. You're perfectly situated to visit some of the most beautiful places in the country.