It seems that going to Grand Junction is probably not the best use of our time given our time constraints so we are going to skip it this time around. With that in mind, any thoughts of how we should change our schedule? I had heard that Aspen is very pretty (prettier than Vail?) and would be a good ski town for us to visit.

Does Aspen fit onto your route? If so, I'd choose it over Vail.
Or, a new option is Crested Butte. It's close to Aspen as the 'crow flies', on the other side of the Maroon Bells, I think. Not really driveable, though. It's a very nice Victorian old Colorado mining town with beautiful mountains and great hiking, fishing, etc.. Similar to Aspen in many respects, but without the glitz and glamour. It's close to Gunnison, and the Black Canyon. Might make more sense on the map than Aspen. Would fit with Ouray, Durango route. Or, there's also Telluride... another great ski resort town. Spend some time with a map and plot out the drive times. Too many choices, too little time!

Black Canyon has also been strongly recommended to us as a destination. What do you think?

BC is great - much better than Royal Gorge imho. The road that leads to the south rim drive is only about 10 or 15 minutes east of Montrose - you could do one night there, and go in the morning - it will get really hot. There is a Visitor Center on the south rim, and there are several stops on the loop where you can do some short walks to the edge. Very spectacular. BC is actually deeper than Grand Canyon, but not as wide. Take extra water with you - I don't think there is any available on the loop. There were fountains there last summer, but none of them worked. You will probably want to spend at least half a day at BC for the South Rim and visitor center.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I think we are going to add a day or two to our trip. Should be a great trip.

As for places to eat in Estes Park, our favorite is Mary's Lake Lodge for the view and ambience and even the food!
We love to hike to Alberta Falls and around Bear Lake in RMNP.

Sue

Aspen is my favorite ski town. It has been beautifully restored since its days as a silver mining town in the late 1800s through the beginning of the ski days after WWII (when members of the 10th Mountain Division came home from the war and started turning the Colorado mountains into ski destinations) and into the current craze as a destination for the rich and famous.

I love the "painted ladies" (Queen Anne and Victorian homes restored and painted in lovely color combinations), browsing the Amen Wardy home store where Timba, one of the biggest dogs I've ever seen sleeps the days away, checking out the funky artsy gifts and jewelry at Chepita, trying on $110,000 watches in any number of jewlery stores, browsing art galleries, eating breakfast with the locals at Hickory House, enjoying brunch at the Century Room in the beautiful old Hotel Jerome, pouring over cosmetics at the Cos Bar, and peeking into the Prada store.

On the Hwy between Glenwood Springs and Aspen is a town called Redstone (you turn off at Carbondale). It is breathtaking and there is a little Inn there called the Redstone Inn. They have a pool (great for kids) and a great restaurant and the little town has cute stores, galleries, and bikes to rent. You can do jeep tours and and there is a great hike up to a town called Marble, where you can see the marble mine where they got the marble for many of the monuments in Washington DC. You could stay here in lieu of one night in Aspen. The Crystal River Valley where Redstone is located is Colorado beauty at it's best.

The Redstone is a cool place, but it was recently closed and up for auction, so check to see if it's open again or not.

Actually, it was the Redstone Castle that was put up for auction. The Redstone Inn is very much alive and well.

AL

Thanks, Al. I didn't realize there were two places in little Redstone. Don't you wish you could have bid on that beautiful castle? Years ago we gave our friends a wedding gift of two nights there. They really thought it was a special place.

My friends got married at the Castle. Gorgeous. When it was built, it was the home of the owner of the local mine and the Redstone Inn was the "dorm" where the miners all lived. Lot's of local history in the area....

too bad about grand junction, i really liked the hiking there. did a similar circle of colorado to what you plan. i only had a week and skipped durango, had already been there and skiing at purgatory (which i think they changed the name too bad, and telluride) black canyon of the g. is beautiful, i also agree go to redstone and aspen. i am not so keen on glenwood springs, but that's just my opinion i just didn't like the town. i love both estes park despite the tourism - if you stay on the road into rmnp it isn't so crowded. and i love grand lake, but there are fewer amenities there. didn't get to do any hiking at that end, too much snow. not sure that you need a lot of time in durango. enjoy

MaureenB,

Did you know that, after being sold at auction for 6.3 million in 2000, Redstone Castle was again sold on a worldwide internet auction last month for $4,000,000?

I understand that many of the locals refer to that area as "The Cursed Valley".

AL

I saw pictures of its interior, when it last went on the auction block. It looks amazing. Only $4 million, eh? But $6.3 million in 2000? I wonder why they call it cursed? Whazzup?