Texas to Colorado Itinerary

astepatatime wrote:
Day 2: Drive to Buena Vista (400 miles). Stay 3 nights. Will do white water rafting for sure, some fishing.
Suggestions on campgrounds and other activities in Buena Vista? Looking at KOA or Valley RV

Take a trip up to the ghost town of St. Elmo. If you want an interesting hike, continue on up the old railroad grade past the site of Hancock to the trailhead for the Alpine Tunnel. Interesting historical hike - easy but high altitude. Great wildflowers above timberline. Spend one evening down in Salida visiting the very interesting stores that have stuff from local artists and grab a bite at one of the many fine restaurants that have opened in the last few years.

Day 5: Drive to Ouray (180 miles). Stay 3 nights. Take a jeep tour. Drive back up to Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Looking at KOA or Ridgeway SP. Other ideas?

Black Canyon NP is nice, given your very limited time frame, I wouldn't backtrack all that way. Instead of a jeep tour, rent one and drive yourself. Head over Red Mountain Pass to Silverton. Head up past the site of Eureka to the ghost town of Animas Forks. Depending on how confident you are feeling, head on over to the Engineer Pass road and return to the highway. In Ouray, plan an afternoon or evening at the Hot Springs Pool. Amazing views while you soak.

Day 8: Drive to Durango (150 miles). Take 145 instead of 550/Million Dollar Highway. Stop at Mesa Verde NP on way.

I might stay only two days in Ouray and plan another day in Durango, just so you can take the Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Absolutely stunning scenery and a very interesting experience on the train. I'm not a big fan of tourist attractions, but this is one I really, really like. As far as Mesa Verde is concerned, that's almost a full day even for a rather minimal visit. It's a fair climb up to the mesa and a bit of driving when you get there. Another problem is the one main cliff dwelling (Spruce Tree House) one can access without a guide or permit has been closed for quite some time with no estimate of when it will reopen. So many of the other fine cliff dwellings require a permit one must obtain from the visitors center up to two days in advance, so if you get there in the afternoon, chances are you'll find they are sold out for the day. Mesa Verde is very interesting, but given the logistics of visiting the park and your very limited time frame, I'd skip it this time.

Day 9 & 10, return drive back.

As I said, we would have like to make it to RMNP and/or Colorado Springs, but don't have enough days. So, in addition to the questions above, a few more

- Instead of doing our current plan (BV, Ouray, etc), we could just go straight up to RMNP and spend days there. If could only do one or the other, which would you do?

Your plan. Personally I find the mountains of SW CO around Ouray, Silverton, and Durango to be every bit as scenic as RMNP.

We could cut a day from Buena Vista or Ouray and add it to Durango. Worth it?

Yes, as I noted above, although you could take a day from DV instead of Ouray if you wished.