Colorado Rockies

[scot-to-rv]

We are planning a visit to the Colorado Rockies and would like to know the best places to see and to stay with a big rig.

[Lauren]

Ken is right - I should have been more specific. I said Buena Vista but the Salida north to Leadville is better stated....B V is in the middle. Love Leadville. And you can drive Independence Pass as well. Oh, and St. Elmo -- wonderful restored town (not totally a ghost town).

[4runnerguy]

How about the upper Arkansas Valley from Salida north to Leadville? Open to new adventures? They have lots of hiking, 14,000' peaks to climb, river rafting for all abilities and ages, mountain bike trails, ghost towns, fishing, 4x4 trails over high mountain passes. Check out this link and download the visitors guide for lots of ideas. Even their website address says it all: Now This is Colorado!

[1320quick]

One of our favorite areas to visit is Breckenridge. It's pretty centrally located in the Colorado mountains. There is a very nice RV resort called Tiger Run RV Resort that caters to big rigs. Tiger Run is the nicest RV park we have every visited. We are not skiers so we visit Breckenridge during the summer every year. We enjoy 4-wheeling in our Jeep and there are lots of great trails in that area. There is lots of hiking and trout fishing in that area as well. There is a rodeo in Breckenridge during the summer and great dining and shopping in town. The gondola is open during the summer and we always ride that up for the great views, lunch and there is a fun park up there the kids really like. Mountain biking is very popular in the area as well.

[Lauren]

x2 on wildbyon - forgot to mention that!

[wildbyon]

Our favorite area is Silverton-Ouray-Telluride. Absolutely georgeous scenery with awesome 4-wheeling trails, lots of mining history to explore with some good trout fishing thrown in for grins.

Our 2nd choice for a more rustic experience is Taylor Park, between Buena Vista and Crested Butte. Georgeous scenery with awesome 4-wheeling trails, some mining history to explore with some good trout fishing thrown in.

Guess you can tell what we like to do.

[Lauren]

Having lived in Estes Park for several years I would normally recommend that. But, as you may know, Estes Park and that whole area got devastated by a huge flood a couple of months ago and not sure what or how damage was done in RMNP.

Estes if very hard to get to now until the highways are re-built. There are temporary roads in in some cases but not sure how good they are for RV travel; have heard some recommend against it.

Last time up there - couple of years ago - we stay at Riverview in Loveland and did day trips up; that might be the best bet now but you best check with them as they got hit by the flood as well. Even prior to the flood the RV parks in Estes had all really gone downhill.

I do NOT recommend staying one the west side; virtually a minimal park of the park on the west side as far as hiking or doing anything. Nearly all the Park activities are on the Estes side and that is a long haul from Grand Lake area (50 miles over Trail Ridge Road if it is open - closed in the winter and prior to that was for residents of Estes or authorized vehicles only).

We have - in recent years - spent more time in the Buena Vista and Montrose areas and love them.

Lots of good places to go and much to see - beautiful place.

[tatest]

It depends on what you want. My preference, in season, is the Gunnison valley, Black Canyon and the reservoirs upstream (Curecanti NRA). I like to see the geology, and I like being on fishable waterways. These are along US-50 on the west side of the continental divide.

For these places, rig size is pretty much irrelevant.

If your interest is the Rocky Mountains specifically, that would be from Colorado Springs north to Rocky Mountain NP, as the mountains are most impressive on the Front Range. Once you are up on top of them, the mountains don't make as much of an impression.

[in5r]

we looked into Cherry Creek but ended up at Chatfield. Chatfield actually worked out good as far as being close to major traffic arteries to venture for the day. So much to see out there, we love visiting the area. I guess it all depends on what you will have to travel around in while staying as to what you can see and do. Places we went, Mount Evans, Pikes Peak, RMNP via the Trail Ridge road, Royal Gorge(canyon city). And quite the interesting restaurant in Sphinx Colorado called the Bucksnort Saloon. Many more quick stops just being out and about.

[Allworth]

Durango-Silverton-Ouray

Anywhere on Route 50. From Canyon City, over Monarch, to Grand Junction.

Gunnison-Lake City-Creede.

That is about two years worth of Summers without getting North of the Interstate.

[Ivylog]

For RMNP I like Grand Lake over Estes Park... tourist trap. Plenty of private and public CGs to choose from. Timber Creek inside the park is new and a good example of why you do not want the government to design something. In a cleared area from dead pines with only 6-8 big rig sites (rocks blocking many others) and one of the two bath houses is a long way from the tent camping area.:S
What outdoor activities do you like and I'd not call 36' a big rig???

[scot-to-rv]

We are planning our trip for July we always stay in Denver at cherry creek and plan to do that again but haven't visited rocky mountain national park. We have been to Durango and Colorado Springs. We are open to any type of new adventure.

[tmm2good]

Lots of variables. When are you looking at coming? Is there anything in particulair you wanted to see? Pretty good sized area youa re talking about.There are lots of options for larger rigs.