Next month I am planning a trip to Colorado, would love to travel through the mountains, enjoy the weather, scenery and all that Colorado has to offer. However, I don't know much about the state. I would appreciate some guidance as to friendly biker locations, hotels, motels, bed and breakfast, scenery suggestions, travel routes etc.

I am traveling from Chicago, Illinois~ Thanks to all in advance, feel free to pm as well.


Thanks~

 

Travelled there a lot last month. You'll love it. Suggest Columbine Inn in Idaho Springs for one or two nights, from there you can head north on Peak to Peak Highway to Estes, then head west through Rocky Mountain National Park and come back down south through Granby. Then the next morning, take a ride up to Mount Evans, 14,130 feet the highest paved road in North America. When you come down from that you can hook up to Squaw Pass and head through Evergreen down to Pikes Peak. Really it is hard to find a bad road in Colorado. Call a day or two ahead for accommodations.

 

I lived in Colorado for 25 years. The whole state is beautiful. That said, the southwest corner of the state ride the narrow gauge train from Durango to Silverton. Your jaw will drop. Then ride your bike from Durango to Ouray Colorado on hwy 550 "The Million Dollar Highway". No guard rails and the white line is the edge of the cliff. There is only one other road that's as spectacular, The Road To The Sun.

 

Two words. Estes Park.

 

I'm orignally from CO. I wouldn't say the WHOLE state is beautiful. Every thing east of Denver pretty much looks like Kansas.
If you are going there for the first time, or have never seen the sites of CO, I highly recommend the Four Corners area. Perhaps something like making your first stop Royal Gorge (highest suspension bridge in the world) in Canon City and working your way southwest from there. Get on Hwy 160 going over Wolf Creek Pass and into Pagosa Springs (a la the song by C.W. McCall), then to Durango and over to Four Corners Monument, if you want to go that far. Just going as far as Pagosa Springs and staying at a hot springs hotel there is worth the trip.
If you are a fan of ghost towns, CO has 1500+ of them. One of my bucket list tours is taking a summer tour of some of the best deserted towns in CO. Other places worth seeing are Steamboat Springs, Leadville, Silverton and Estes Park mentioned above. Really too many places worth visiting to mention, but I'd start with the route to Pagosa Springs, if you've never been. Beautiful mountain country.

 

Yup, Durango to Pagosa and around.

 

Subscribe, doing this next year....

 

Great thread timing, headed to ride Mt. Evans and Pike's Peak next week.

 

OP - can you provide a little more info:
When are you arriving
How long are you staying
How many hours do you like to ride per day
What type of bike will you be riding
What is your hotel budget
Are you riding in from the upper North/East or flying in to DIA and renting a bike

 

Been riding in CO many times. You can't see it all in just one trip. Plan to ride west of Denver. That's where the mountains are. There are lots of towns to stop in. Consider, Idaho Springs, Frisco, Leadville(a popular old mining town), Glenwood Springs (check out the giant hot spring pool there), Steamboat Springs (lots and lots of shops), Salida(kind of an artsy town), Silverton, Durango, Telluride. Mt Evans is a fantastic ride. But can be very scary. No guard rails, very narrow road. It's like a shelf, 10 extremely sharp switchback turns near the summit. It's not for everybody. The road from Durango to Ouray (Million $ Hwy) is a great ride. Don't always avoid I-70. It's awesome just east of Glenwood Springs and offers some super scenery all the way to Idaho Springs. August can get rainy there. Sudden storms with lightening are common. Don't be riding on a mountain when one comes along. You'll see a lot of bikers there. So local advice is almost always close by. It's a biker friendly state. Hard to not have a good time riding there.