Colorado Motorcycle Tour

Arrive at Denver International Airport – the coolest airport in the Rockies - and transfer to your hotel. Overnight.

This morning you will pick up your motorcycle and take off on a ride that will last forever, feast your sense on waterfalls, switchbacks with sheer drops, frontier towns in no hurry to leave the 19th century. As you will ride through the Rockies you will find some of the most challenging and rewarding terrains for motorcycles. From Denver you head west on Hwy 70 until you get to Lawson, here you enter US 40 and ride the scenic loop through Arapaho National Forest and White River National Forest. At Silver Creek you take SR 131, which will take you back to Hwy 70, your road to Glenwood Springs. Glenwood Springs is a bustling little town, which sits at the end of impressive Glenwood Canyon and has the "World's Largest Outdoor Hot Springs Pool". Overnight.

From Glenwood Springs you take US 82 for a short distance up to Carbondale, where you enter US 133. Ride over the Rocky Mountains and along White River National Forest until you get to Hotchkiss. Take SR 92 and ride along Gunnison National Park towards the Black Canyon. Make sure to stop for a view down into the fearsome Black Rock Canyon to the foaming Gunnison River below, this is as macabre as mountain scenery can get. Over two million years the river eroded a deep, narrow gorge, leaving exposed cliffs and jagged spires of crystalline rock more than 1.7 billion years old. Then ride up the road (take Hwy 50 West) to Montrose, a farming community, where you overnight.

From Montrose you will enjoy a most scenic ride down Hwy 550 (South The Million Dollar Highway) for a short distance. This Highway more than lives up to its name, it's one of the best-loved roads in the country. At Ridgeway you turn left at US 62. The landscape grows larger and more impressive. You are in slow-paced Cowboy Country here and ride curves, neither dangerous nor demanding, until you get to SR 145, which turns south on the western side of the San Juan Skyway. As you continue on SR 145 all your Colorado visions will come together and you can see an overwhelming combination of colors and textures, black and white mountains and surreal blue skies. At Rico you cross the 10,000 feet plateau and then slowly descend about 2,000 feet. SR 145 will take you all the way to Cortez. Overnight.

You are not far from the Four Corners Monument, which marks the meeting place of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, and, of course, Mesa Verde National Park, the only National Park in the US devoted exclusively to archeological remains. Mesa Verde is a strange and mysterious place, very fascinating, and you should take time to visit. Continue East on US 160 towards Durango, the largest town in southwest Colorado. Follow US 160 all the way up to Del Norte, which is located at the Rio Grande National Forest. From here it's another 30 miles (stay on US 160) into Alamosa, which will be your stop for the night. Alamosa is the transportation and trading center for the San Luis Valley. When the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway reached the stagecoach stop on the cottonwood (alamosa)-blanketed bend at the Rio Grande, it brought with it houses, stores and churches from its former terminus, Garland City. In a matter of days, Alamosa was in business. Overnight.

From Alamosa you are heading back north and are in for an excellent ride. Leave Alamosa on US 285 and head up to Saguache, which lies in a scenic valley between the great Continental Divide and the Sangre de Cristo Range. At Saguache you enter US 24 and ride along the Rio Grande National Forest. This area is characterized by mountain waterways and rugged high country elevations in the forest range from 7,500 ft. at the low end of the Rio Grande River to 14,345 ft. at Mount Blanca. You might want to make a stop in Salida, which is called "the banana belt" of Colorado. It is also a fine area for rockhounds, aquamarine, garnet, sapphire, turquoise, topaz and the American Indian arrowheads can be found in the vicinity. Continue on US 24, Pike National Forest on your right and San Isabel National Forest on your left, towards Leadville. This place lies at an altitude that makes its climate rigorous even by Rocky Mountain standards (10,152 ft.). From Leadville you head further north on US 24, which will take you all the way into Vail. Vail is one of Colorado's flourishing resort centers and is internationally known for its extensive winter sports facilities. Overnight.

Today you will ride back to Denver. Take Hwy 70 and cruise along the Arapaho National Forest and Clear Creek towards Denver. Upon arrival it will be time to return your motorcycle and transfer back to your hotel. Overnight.

Today your trip will end with your departure flight back home.