From Boulder:
Find Broadway and head south. It turns into CO 93. Just before the city of Golden, there's a sign on the left with an arrow pointing to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Turn left and go up Golden Gate Canyon to the P2P (Peak-to-Peak Highway), a fabulous little ride in itself. If you miss the turn, never fear, you can go up US 6 from Golden (Clear Creek Canyon) to the P2P, but the traffic is pretty bad.
From the intersection of Golden Gate Canyon and P2P (P2P is also CO 72 / CO 7) you can turn left, and go to Central City for a few hours of slot-machine-handle-pulling, or turn right and head north toward Estes Park.
Assuming a right turn, the P2P to Estes Park is a fabulous ride (a designated Scenic Byway). Along the way, there are several canyons that return to the foothills area. At any time, you may turn right and go down one, go north up connecting roads, and go back up to the P2P. You can expend 4 or 5 hundred miles of canyon riding just zigzagging up and down. From Golden Gate Canyon headed north in order:
Coal Creek Canyon (CO 72) -- turns off the P2P just north of Rollinsville, and connects to CO 93 south of Boulder.
Boulder Canyon (CO 119) -- Turn right at Nederland, becomes Canyon Blvd. in Boulder.
Left Hand Canyon -- Turn off at the second opportunity to Ward. Connects to CO 93 north of Boulder.
James Canyon -- Turn off at the Jamestown sign, about 5 miles north of Ward. About 8 miles of semi-smooth dirt, then pavement. Connects to the lower part of Left Hand Canyon, and winds up in the same place.
South St. Vrain Canyon (CO 7) -- Turn right off the P2P at Raymond, connects to US 36 and CO 93 at Lyons.
OK, so you made it to Estes Park. From there you can go over Trail Ridge Road (but that's another story), or return to the foothills by taking US 36 to Lyons (I can't remember the name of the canyon) or the Big Thompson Canyon to Loveland (US 34), both fine rides.
You have to find US 285, which heads into the mountains via Turkey Creek Canyon, southwest of Denver near Morrison.
About 20 miles southwest of Morrison on 285, past the little town of Conifer about 5 miles, take a left at Pine Junction onto the county road, at the sign that says "<-- Pine 7 miles". This twisty little road winds around the canyons, through a beautiful verdant little valley of a branch of the Platte River, then to Deckers, which is not only a center of dirt bike activity on the front range, but also a haunt for fly fisherman. At Deckers, dirt roads lead off in several directions toward campsites, off-road vehicle areas, the Lost Creek Wilderness, and who knows where. I'd love to explore the area on a dual-purpose bike someday.
At Deckers, the road turns into CO 67, and continues meandering through the Pike National Forest to Westcreek, Rainbow Falls, and Woodland Park. Scenery is spectacular, especially a certain view dead-ahead on the road of Pike's Peak.
At Woodland Park, CO 67 joins up with US 24, west about 7 miles to Divide. At Divide, turn left again on CO 67 for a usually wild twisty ride of 18 miles to Cripple Creek. Unfortunately, the usual road is closed due to winter damage, and the detour is pretty scrabbly gravel for about 9 miles.
If you go straight at Divide on US 24, you soon come to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, well worth visiting, and if you continue farther yet, you come to Elevenmile Reservoir and it's associated state recreation area (some of the best fishing in a state known for fishing).
To return from Woodland Park to the Denver area, you can go toward Colorado Springs on US 24, and take a ride up the toll road to the top of Pike's Peak (the top 12 miles are dirt, where they hold the Hillclimb). Fabulous.
From there, it's on down into CO Springs, with various tourist stuff along the way. North on I25 to Monument (18 miles of hateful interstate, but goes past the Air Force Academy), then turn off and take the county road to Palmer Lake and Sedalia, where you can pick up US 85 into Denver (it becomes Sante Fe Drive). The ride from Palmer Lake to Sedalia is a secret road known only to motorcyclists and residents.
This ride is about 250 miles round-trip, depending on side-trips.
This a a solid all-day ride. Start EARLY, because Trail Ridge is often Winnebago-clogged during the summer. The wee hours are the best.
Take some additional clothing, as it can be cold and nasty at these altitudes any time of year. RnF attendees from last year rode through considerable snow on Berthoud Pass, on July 3rd.
Using your favorite canyon, get on the Peak-to-Peak highway, and head for Estes Park (see Part I). At Estes Park, turn west on US34, for a fabulous 40 mile ride through Rocky Mountain National Park, over famous Trail Ridge Road. There is a small fee for entering the park.
The little resort town of Grand Lake at the west entrance of the park is a fine place for brunch, then continue to Grandby, and take US 40 to Fraser and Winter Park.
Berthoud Pass, from Winter Park to Empire, is twisty and spectacular.
US 40 attaches to I-70 between Silver Plume and Dumont. From there it's a short ride down the interstate to Denver, or turn off at the Central City exit to return to the Peak-to-Peak.
From the Peak-to-Peak, use your favorite canyon to return to your starting point.
From Denver, this would be a very long one-day. Better to make it a two-day and camp out in one of the many National Forest camping spots. I just did this ride over the Memorial Day weekend, took 3 days with campouts both nights, and enjoyed the leisurely pace thoroughly.
Go to Fort Collins somehow, and find College Blvd. (US 287). Go north out of town. CO 14 splits off to the left after a few miles at the entrance to Poudre Canyon.
This is a designated Colorado Scenic Byway, with good reason. The Cache Le Poudre River burbles and glugs through an incredibly scenic canyon. Riding the road is like dancing, with smooth sweeps this way, that way, and around, and is quite twisty at other times.
Off-road opportunites exist in the National Forest around Red Feather Lakes, north of the little town of Rustic, and elsewhere, and campsites both rough and groomed exist every few miles. Everybody seemed to be catching fish from every available body of water.
It's about fifty miles from Ft. Collins to Cameron Pass (excellent photo opportunities), then through the Colorado State Forest, down into the North Park prairie area, and about another 30 miles to Walden.
At Walden, we headed south on CO 125 toward Grandby, and camped out the second night at a National Forest campground just south of Willow Creek Pass. The Colorado moose herd hangs out between Walden and Rand, and it's possible to see them if you're lucky.
After brunch at Grandby the next day, we simply headed down US 40 to Winter Park, over Berthoud Pass, to I-70, and back to Denver, which is an excellent ride in itself.
This is a good one-day ride.
From Denver, take US285 south (actually west). This road is a mixed bag, with heavy traffic for the first 20 miles (until you get past Conifer), followed by nice canyon riding (until you get on the west side of Kenosha Pass), followed by a fairly boring long straight section (to Buena Vista). The view from Kenosha Pass out over the South Park flatlands is quite spectacular. On the way, you can stop at the Platte River Inn (also known as Stinky's Corral), the headquarters of the Elephant Ride, at Grant, CO. If you want to do a little dual-purpose riding, you can take Guanella Pass over to Georgetown at this point, beautiful any time of year, or Boreas Pass over to Breckenridge from Como, CO. There's an interesting reconstructed mining town-museum at Fairplay, and the Old Fairplay Hotel is an excellent place for lunch, or night-spending (70 miles from Denver). Hoosier Pass from Fairplay to Breckenridge is also a superb ride. But I digress.
At Buena Vista, turn right onto US 24 and go about twenty miles to the Twin Lakes - Independance Pass turn-off (CO 82). US 24 runs along the base of the Collegiate Range, Mt. Yale, Mt. Harvard, Mt. Oxford, etc., all 14000'+ mountains, and spectacular.
Independance Pass is delightfully twisty, and VERY high (12,095'), but it is possible to get stuck in traffic, and the condition of the road may be questionable. Beautiful vistas in every direction. There are at least three National Forest campgrounds along the way, and excellent fishing in the twin lakes. The Nordic Inn at the village of Twin Lakes has superb German food, and featherbeds on the european plan.
The road runs into the city of Aspen on the west side, not my favorite place. Too many people with too much money and too little sense. If you have a shopping fiend in your group, hang on to your wallet. Best to get out of the place asap.
Continue on CO 82 through Woody Creek, and Carbondale to Glenwood Springs, where you can pick up I-70 back to the front range area. If you're a real glutton for punishment, it's possible to turn north at Basalt and take Hagarman Pass to Turquoise Lake and Leadville. Check locally on this one, though. It may be impassable.
At Carbondale, you can take CO 133 west over McClure Pass to Paonia and points west, an EXCELLENT ride, to be covered in a future installment.
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