Enjoy the beautiful Colorado Rockies at the height of summer, historic mining towns, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, alpine meadows, 14,000 foot peaks, and the famous Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route on this route.
Get picked up at the airport and spend the night at Table Mountain Inn in downtown Golden, CO. http://www.tablemountaininn.com/. Enjoy dinner in historic Golden and meet your riding partners.
Day Two – Golden to Grand Lake: Our first day is an acclimation day that you will never forget as we travel from Golden to Grand Lake by way of Rocky Mountain National Park and Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous paved road in the United States.
http://grandlakechamber.com
Photo Credit Paul Guillien
Day Three – Grand Lake to Steamboat Springs: Our first day off road as we travel north to start the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route (COBDR). We start at the Wyoming border and proceed south on the COBDR to Steamboat Springs. http://www.steamboatchamber.com
Photo Credit Paul Guillien
Steamboat Springs to Glenwood Springs: Enjoy riding along the Colorado River and scenic Glenwood Canyon, the most expensive highway in the United States. Spend your evening relaxing in the largest hot springs pool in the country.
Day Five – Glenwood Springs to Leadville: Our first day of high alpine off road riding takes us over Crooked Creek Pass and Haggarman Pass (11,925 ft/3635m) past beautiful Turquoise Lake into the historic mining town of Leadville.
Photo Credit Paul Guillien
Leadville to Salida: Visit the National Mining Hall of Fame before riding over Weston Pass and into the Arkansas Valley for the ride down to Salida. Stream crossings and hopefully some antelope sightings are part of this day. Spend the evening watching kayakers while enjoying a beer in downtown Salida. http://salidachamber.org
Photo Credit Paul Guillien
Salida to Crested Butte: Day 7 brings us over 10,985ft /3348m Marshall Pass, Black Sage Pass, and Juanita Pass on our way up to beautiful Crested Butte. http://visitcrestedbutte.com
Photo Credit Paul Guillien
Crested Butte to Silverton: Crested Butte to Silverton: Depart Crested Butte and immediately ascend Kebbler and Ohio Passes via Washington Gulch. Descend Ohio Pass and follow beautiful Ohio Creek into Gunnison. Hit the blacktop of Hwy 114 and then over Los Pino Pass continuing to Cinnamon Pass or Engineer Pass and drop in to Silverton where we will stay at the historic Teller House or Wyman Hotel.
Silverton to Telluride: Enjoy a leisurely ride over magnificent Ophir Pass. Taking our time and a lot of pictures, then have a relaxing afternoon in scenic and historic Telluride.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telluride,_Colorado
Telluride to Dolores: Finishing the COBDR in Dolores,
Photo Credit Paul Guillien
From Dolores to Pagosa Springs: Before the drive to Durango we spend the day exploring the indian ruins in the world famous Mesa Verde National Park. If you are interested, we can go visit the historic Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway.
Pagosa Springs to Westcliffe: a mix of pavement and off road takes us over Wolf Creek Pass and over to Great Sand Dunes National Park. Spend time hiking the highest sand dunes in the country and then ride on, with a few stream crossings, to Westcliffe.
Westcliffe to Golden: start the day with a diversion to the Royal Gorge Bridge, the world’s highest suspension bridge before taking dirt roads, and Guanella Pass (3557 m./11,669 ft) back to Golden.
Enjoy a dinner together at Table Mountain Inn for our last night together in Golden.Enjoy a morning in Golden visiting world famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre before departing Golden for flights home.
