What must we do in Colorado?

Lake City is a nice place for Jeep rides. Do the Alpine Loop

2. Upper Arkansas River Valley Leadville/Buena Vista/Salida

This is an area we go to every year.

Leadville is an old mining town with lots of mining ruins all around the town. The ~14 mile paved Mineral Belt Trail encircles the town and has plaques along the way describing what you are looking at, often with historic pictures for comparison. It's at 10,000' so you'll notice the elevation, but it's paved and not by a road. We combine it with doing some loops on the Timberline Mountain Bike Trails on the south side of Leadville with access off the Mineral Belt Trail. Generally easy trails through the woods with lots of short loops. Good views and we've even seen a moose in there.

West of Leadville is Turquoise Lake. Fish there or head out in your kayaks. Above the lake is the Hagerman Pass road, which is an old railroad grade that eventually climbed to go through the mountains on a now closed tunnel. Interesting trip though.

South of Leadville you'll pass the turnoff to Highway 82 and Independence Pass mentioned above.

Near Buena Vista, check out mountain biking on the Midland Trail. An old railroad grade although definitely single track where the trestles have been removed. We ride up from the end of town (the first mile is the hardest) then up the Midland Trail to Bacon Bits, take it to Sausage Link and return to the Midland that way. Then it's off to find breakfast after hearing those names!

Out of Nathrop, take the road up Chalk Creek to St. Elmo, a well preserved ghost town. We'll park there and ride our bikes up to Hancock along the old railroad grade (dirt). From there, we'll take the trail out about 3 miles to the east portal of the Alpine Tunnel (collapsed). If you don't mountain bike, drive up to the trail head and hike out to the tunnel. Several side roads to explore with 4x4 off this road. At Romley, turn left and go up past some old mining ruins.

Lots of great mountain biking around Salida (S Mountain and Methodist Mountain). Adventurous? Shuttle to the top of Monarch Pass and take the Monarch Crest trail down to the Rainbow trail and then fly down the highway back to Poncha Springs. You'll be above timberline for quite a while with great views. But at 35 miles, bring lots of food and water and prepare for 4-5 hours in the saddle. World famous ride.

Each of these towns has it's own personality. Leadville is old mining town at high elevation. Salida is now a really interesting place. Lots of great restaurants and art galleries featuring local artists. Concerts in the park by the river.

Speaking of rivers, the Arkansas River has an amazing assortment of sections of varying difficulty. One could spend a number of days kayaking there. Heading down through the Royal Gorge is challenging but very scenic.

There are just so many places to fish, whether it's in some of the lakes and reservoirs, to high mountain streams. The area around Leadville itself isn't so good because of the mine tailings that have resulted in some pretty sterile creeks and streams.

Hiking? How about climbing Mt. Elbert, highest in Colorado. Not at all technical, but obviously takes a while. Spend a week in Colorado getting used to the altitude before attempting. We like the route out of Halfmoon Creek SW of Leadville. Avoid weekends to avoid crowds (hard to find trailhead parking). A number of other 14,000' peaks along the range are also technically easy if you start to like the view from the top.

Either one of these suggestions can easily use up a week or two or three of vacation. LMK if you want more info on either one.

I don't know what your camping preferences are, but reservations have filled up fast in the last week or two. Skiing is about over and people are now focused on camping season.

A couple of ideas but I'll break it into two posts so it doesn't get too long.

1. Aspen/Marble/Glenwood Springs.

A trip to Maroon Bells is worth the time. You've probably seen it on a calendar at some point. Access is by shuttle bus. Or do like we do and ride your bikes up there (that's free to do and that's a price we like to hear). Almost all the traffic is the shuttle buses and they know to watch for bikes. We park at the (free) Tiehack Lift parking, take the foot/bicycle bridge across the gorge and ride up from there. In July the flowers along the road are many, so we use the excuse we are taking flower pictures when we stop for a rest!

There's also a paved bike trail all the way from Glenwood Springs to Aspen. It's on an old railroad grade so it's not too steep. We'll park at Old Snowmass and ride into Aspen from there. Aspen is so much easier to explore on bike rather than trying to drive the busy roads. Lots of interesting historic houses and buildings.

The drive up CO 133 along the Crystal River to Marble is one of the most scenic in the state. On the way up from Carbondale, keep an eye out for the Redstone Campground sign and turn left there, following that road all the way through Redstone. It will join back up with the highway on the other side of town. Don't miss Hayes Creek Falls on your right. Turn left at the sign for Marble and follow that into town. Yes, there's big chunks of Marble all around town. The road onward from there is 4x4, although I've eased our RAV4 through there in the past. (No problem for your jeep, but if your daughter's 4x4 PU is full sized, it will be a challenge. If it has dual rears, forget it.) You'll go by the Crystal Mill (another calendar shot) just before the "town". Beyond Crystal, you can try you hand at Lead King Basin (gorgeous flowers, but again a real 4x4 road) or head up Schofield Pass if you're really daring. That road takes you all the way to Crested Butte.

In the Aspen/Glenwood Springs area there is lots of fishing, whether high mountain lakes or the Gold Medal waters on the Roaring Fork or Frying Pan Rivers.

Kayak the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon or ride your bike on the bike trail there. So much easier to see things when not flying by on the interstate (although last year's fire did a number on some areas).

Hikes? Try American Lake or Cathedral Lake up Castle Creek above Aspen. There are also a variety of trails off Independence Pass (no trailers or RV's on that road). Lost Man or Independence Lake trailheads get busy on weekends for a reason.

You are probably too late for Estes Park in July. You will also have to make reservations for entering RMNP. Don't waste your time.

If you're getting CO fishing licenses, have you thought about boondocking at one or more of the state wildlife areas? Free camping and maybe a short stroll to the water.

If you get around Pagosa Springs, head up the road toward Wolf Creek Pass and stop at Treasure Falls. Then a couple hundred yards north of that, the overlook gives a fabulous view of the valley below. Back south a bit, you can drive past the East Fork NF CG and follow the dirt road with your Jeep to Silver Falls, it's a pretty drive and a nice waterfall. Oh, and near the top of Wolf Creek Pass there's a road to the west that takes you up to the top and another great view all around. You could probably get hookup campsites in Pagosa and lounge in the hot spring waters while there.

Goducks, we only need two sites a night. My daughter and her husband pull a camper behind their truck. We drag a Wrangler behind our MH.

What about a drive up Pikes Peak.
We did this a couple years ago.
It is paved all the way to the top.

Can you actually book enough spots?

Royal Gorge, Great sand dunes, Mesa Verde.

“Crowded” in Estes Park in July is an understatement IMO. Try to make reservations.