If you have time, don't take I70 through Colorado except for a small section.

When you leave the Sturgis area and end up on I25 south in colorado, get off in Ft. Collins and ride the 90 some mile Cache le Poudre canyon route over to Walden...if you are bringing camping gear, Grand Lake is not too far south of Walden and has amazing lake-side camping and would be about the right time to stop if you leave Sturgis in the morning. You could then head in RMNP and go up and over Trail Ridge Road (this is one of the bucket list rides in Colorado...the Million Dollar Highway, Mt. Evans, and Pikes Peak being the other popular ones) and then into Estes Park. From Estes, hookup with the Peak-to-Peak scenic byway and head south to where it joins with 6 west and I70...you could then ride I70 to Loveland Pass (6 west again) to swan mountain rd to 9 south through Breck and up and over Hoosier pass. 9 south will run into FairPlay where you can pick up 285 south. 285 South will take you down to 50 west which will take you over to Montrose where you can then head south to Ouray and the Million Dollar Highway. If you go into RMNP from Grand Lake area, you will probably end up stopping for the night somewhere between Breck and Montrose...lots of great camping in Buena Vista area and Gunnison area. Breck, BV, and Gunnison all have hotel options, too.

If you don't have time to do both Cache le Poudre and RMNP, then from Grand Lake, head to 40 west through hot sulphur springs and over to kremmling where you can meet up with 9 south which will take you all the way to Swan Mtn Rd and you can continue with the route suggestion above.

Those routes will take you through the most scenic parts of Colorado and is what I recommend to friends and family when they come visit for a few days. I70 from denver to Grand Junction is fast moving, full of traffic, and doesn't offer much other than Glenwood Canyon for twisty roads and scenery. But if you're short on time, it is the fastest route to the western slope where you will head to pick up the million dollar highway to Durango.

 

Well, made it home safe and somewhat sound. 3650 miles. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Only thing i didn't get to was the Million Dollar Hwy. The weather was pretty nasty. And, I had to leave something for next time. Here's a link to some pics if you want to take a look. https://flic.kr/s/aHskh7NJkN

 

That's a lot of miles brother! Nice pics too!