Utah/CO vacation
 

We are hoping to spend 10 days in Colorado & Utah next June, probably from Denver to the 4 Corners, Moab, back to Denver. We enjoy hiking, horseback riding, rafting, etc. Our teenage sons would love to ATV around Moab. Any ideas about rentals? Also, has anyone rafted under the Royal Gorge Bridge?<BR>All ideas are welcome and appreciated!

Hi Rose,<BR><BR>Moab is the place to do off roading whether it be on mountain bikes, 4x4 jeeps or atv's. My DH and I have done some of the 4x4 trails in the area either in a rented jeep or our suburban and it's awsome!<BR> <BR>ATV's can not be used in Arches and Canyonlands so they won't beable to do the Shafer Trail. <BR><BR>Some of the trails are really difficult so please make sure your are aware of the difficulty of the trail before you let them go. You didn't mention your sons ages but this web site has some information on teenagers and ATV's<BR><BR>http://www.discovermoab.com/atv.htm<BR><BR>You might want to rent a jeep and go as a group for saftey sake.<BR><BR>When our boys were young we did a one day rafting trip on the Colorado River out of Moab and it was fantastic! Very scenic.<BR><BR>When you leave Moab heading for Denver take Hwy 128 to Interstate 70. It's a beautiful drive along the Colorado River. If you do the raft trip it's done in this area. You will pass by Fisher Towers. <BR><BR>Other ideas of places to go would be Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Silverton, Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument, Monument Valley, Arches National Park and both Canyonlands Needles and Island in the Sky District <BR><BR>You might also consider taking the drive thought Colorado National Mounument out of Fruita, Colorado on your drive back to Denver.<BR><BR>Utahtea<BR><BR><BR>

Thank you, Utahtea! I was hoping you would respond, as I noticed you really seem to know the UT/CO area. <BR>Our boys are 16 & 13. <BR>I found a great GORP website about the 2 day raft trip past Fisher Towers, and it looks perfect for us.<BR>We are also hoping to sqeeze in a drive to the top of Pike's Peak, and the $1million highway.<BR>Is there anything special to do in Denver? We want to see the West's scenic beauty, but were also considering maybe a day at the Six Flags.

Hi Rose,<BR><BR>What a great age for boys:) Mine are three years apart too, but their young men now.<BR><BR>We don't spend much time in cities so I won't be of much help on the subject of Denver. If you're going down to Pikes Peak you might check out the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. <BR><BR>Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument was kind of interesting and would only take an hour or so. <BR><BR>There's a lot of beautiful and different scenery in Colorado and Utah. If you have an amusement park at home I would suggest skipping 6 Flags on this trip and spend the time seeing the west. <BR><BR>Utahtea

That is my thought! We are very lucky, too, in that the boys love the Great Outdoors as much as we do.<BR>Do you have any recommendations for horseback riding? We have good info for rafting and hiking trips, much of it printed from previous postings here, but nothing about HBR.<BR>Thanks in advance! Rose

Sorry but we never went horse back riding.<BR><BR>Utahtea

If you are coming by Durango (one terminus of the Million Dollar Highway), I have heard good things about Buck's Livery as an outfitter for horseback riding. (970)385-2110.

In case you didn't know, Moab is considered THE mecca for mountain biking in the US. I'm sure your sons can find plenty of places to rent bikes there. They will then be the envy of mountain bikers everywhere!

Hi Rose,<BR>Just had to chime in here. We spent 3 days in Moab this past June and just hated to move on with our vacation! We all loved Moab. There is sooo much to do there!<BR>We chose an outfitter called O.A.R.S. in Moab for a 1/2 day 4X4 drive on the Shafer Trail & 1/2 day jetboat down the Colorado. There were no rapids, water level was too low. This outfitter was excellent and I highly recommend them.<BR>You can also rock climb in Moab. <BR>Not many people talk about Dead Horse Point St. Pk., but it's really not to be missed. The view of the Colorado river from Dead Horse(which my sons, age 13 & 15 had never seen before) was great!<BR>Also, a must do is the hike to Delicate Arch @Arches National Park. What an accomplishment that was!<BR>Have a memorable trip! Tricia

At Coral Pink Sands State Park (somewhat near Bryce NP) there are a zillion dune buggies zipping up and down the dunes. I'm sure there are rentals available in nearby towns.

Hi,<BR><BR>Couldn't help myself but to respond here. Just got back from an 11 day stay in both Colorado and Utah. We stayed in Boulder (with friends) for most of our trip but headed out to Moab as my husband loves mountain biking. What a great trip. It was our first time in Moab, and we really fell in love with the place. Arches Park was unlike anything I had seen, and the biking was great as well. We happened upon a great restaurant which I'll share with you. It's called the Sunset Grille and it's perched high upon a giant settlement of rock. You can sit outside on their patio during sunset and it's just beautiful. Hope you enjoy your vacation!!!

Thanks!<BR>Moab sounds great, as do so many of the other areas.<BR>Steve, I doubt there will be time to go as far as Bryce, as it seems we will have to do a circle from weither SLC or Denver or COS.<BR>I see someone else had a thread about Mt. Evans... Would this be better than Pike's Peak? We will only drive to the top of one, as we'd prefer to spend more time hiking than riding, although I know we will be car-bound from city to city.

Our favorite towns while travelling through CO were Glenwood Springs and Leadville. <BR><BR>We only spent 1 night in Glenwood Springs, which was not enough. We could have spent our entire vacation there.<BR><BR>We went to Leadville for no other reason than it is the highest incorporated city in the lower 48. The veiws on the way up were great and there was a storm brewing so we got to see some really cool clouds. We really enjoyed riding the train once we got to Leadville and even though it rained on us a little bit, Leadville turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip.

J Correa, what was in Glenwood Springs that made you want to stay longer? I'm still very open on an itenerary, so if it's worth a stop...<BR>Thanks! Rose

Glenwood Springs was really beautiful - right in the middle of some tall mountains, lots of trees. It was a really nice location. When we left, we decided we would definitely be coming back. <BR><BR>There is a hot spring that we would have liked to check out, but we didn't have the time. Also, there is river rafting, horseback riding, and bike tours available.

Have any of you ever tried the camel trek from Camelot Lodge? It looks very interesting as well...

No, I've never tried that, but I've heard that there are many good stables for horses in the Moab area. Good luck with your trip.