melandme wrote:
Thinking about a trip to El Paso TX to visit family and then possibly on to the Grand Canyon the first part of May. Looking at heading to the Durango Silverton Ouray area on the way home. Was there 9 years ago in August and would like to go back. I am aware of US 550 million dollar highway and what has been said about it. I am more interested in the weather and if mid May is to early. At that time of year the weather is probably unpredictable. We like to take the jeep trails and do short day hikes. It looks like Colorado's snow pack this year is below average. When do the the jeep trails open? I am guessing it is to early for wild flowers? Would it be better to wait to go in June/July for the flowers or September or October for fall colors.
If you have a choice between mid-May, June/July and September/October, if it were me, I'd opt for September/October, and more specifically, September after Labor Day. In fact, I was down that way this past October in Durango, enroute to the Grand Canyon (both rims), and stopped at Mesa Verde NP on the way back. The weather was cooperative (warm days/crisp nights), the colours were magnificent (were peaking the last week of September/first week of October depending on elevation), and the crowds were considerably less, with most places still open.
Even though the current snow pack is down, keep in mind that March and April are the snowiest months here and snow into May is not uncommon. Most USFS CGs don't open until late May or after Memorial Day. Many Jeep trails at high elevation will still have some snow cover on them, or mud season will be prevalent, and it's no fun to get stuck in mud. Many hiking trails in the forests will still have a lot of snow and could make hiking a challenge.
June/July are awesome months to be here, but you have more crowds to contend with. And for weekends, you'll likely need reservations most places you'll want to stay. The 180 day window has already opened and booked for those months. Right now, I'm tracking the 180 day window for September dates. March 16 is the window opening for September 14.
For the national parks, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was still open in mid-October. We stayed at the CG inside the park on the final week of operation and it was incredible. Then moved around to the South Rim to Trailer Village inside the park, which was really nice and convenient. I'd made reservations at both places early, so had a prime spot at the North Rim. There are other options as well, outside the park near the entrance, as well as at Jacob Lake.
In SW Colorado, as is the case here in northern Colorado, some USFS CGs will start to close in mid-September. But there will be others that will stay open a bit longer, depending on elevation. That is the key -- elevation. There still should be good opportunities in and around Durango, Mancos, and Cortez areas, both USFS as well as commercial.
