My wife and I are thinking of taking a little road trip into Colorado over a 3-4 day weekend this month. Any suggestions of things to do while in Colorado this time of year? We're thinking we'll head towards Denver, but if there's anywhere else you'd suggest, let me know!

Why not stop off and hit some snowshoeing along the way? If you hit I-70, it'll take you right past Vail, Copper Mtn, Frisco and Silverthorne. There's a few trails that you can snowshoe, or hike depending on the snow.

Of course, while in Denver, a forum meet-up is in order

There's museums to visit in Denver, food, sports, art, shopping....what are your interests?

Well the first thing would be setting up a meet up with all us CO folks

well it depends on what you feel like doing. to me denver is not so fun unless you like bars, eating seeing musicals/ shows and clubs...
i would say some outdoor fun if the snow is around and you like that stuff. i would do some snowshoeing or boarding/skiing, you can go to the main places like loveland,a-basin, keystone those are close but hurting for snow. or go up past boulder (i like the area but lots of hippies) and check out eldora that is a small ski resort and also just past there is a nice showshoeing area.
up by Eddy there is ft Collins and that's got a tone of beer/liquor tasting and cute shops in the downtown area.
you could rent a cabin somewhere and just hang out in the woods, RMNP is nice in the winter but no dogs
Co springs im not sure what is there other then pikes peak and im not sure if the road to the top is open in the winter.

are you bringing Appadog?

what do you all feel like doing? maybe we can help if we have an idea of what you all feel like


what weekends are you thinking about? on the 22 claudia , I and the hubbies are taking a cross country ski lesson near Breckenridge. and i just set up denvers meet up on the 28th.

Our wedding anniversary is on the 16th, so I'm thinking that weekend would be ideal (last minute planning, the holidays do this to me every year).

I'm thinking some snowshoeing could be fun, but if there's anything that's COLORADO that's what we'd prefer to do. We can snowshoe/ski here in Utah, so if there's anything uniquely Colorado/Denver that would be more fun, but no real ideas.

im gonna have to think about that..... most of our visitors want to see the mountains.... we have the art museum and the new Clyfford Still art museum that just opened (im sure you have heard of it as some drunk lady just wrecked a $60million piece of art )
the stock show is in town right now and for that weekend.
Denver has its places for food and drink.
have you looked at
http://www.denver.org/what-to-do

if it were our anniversary i would go back to the Stanly hotel in estes park and stay there for the weekend. and i also like to go to the ameristar hotel just to stay in a nice hotel close to home, we have spent our last 2 anniversary there. were not much on the games but the buffet is not bad, nice spa and on fri/sat nights i think they have live bands. http://www.ameristar.com/Black_Hawk.aspx

If it were me I would hit Grand Junction/Palisade on your way down I70 and do the winery tours then Glenwood Springs would be lovely. They have a great hot springs there. As far as Colorado goes it is known as the Napa Valley of beer, especially NOCO where we live. You will find really quality breweries like Breckenridge Brewery (in Breck of course) and Tommyknockers in Idaho Springs as you head down I70 then you can find Oscar Blues in Lyons which is a cute little town in the foothills west of Longmont. Oscar Blues not only has amazing beer but it is a really fun restaurant/blues club. Longmont (about 45 minutes north of Denver on I25) has Lefthand Brewery as well. In our neck of the woods you will find my all time favorites and I will list them in order:
1. Grimm Brothers Brewhouse (Loveland....the town not the ski resort)
2. New Belgium (Fort Collins)
3. Odells (Fort Collins)
4. Fort Collins Brewery (Fort Collins)
5. Coopersmiths (Fort Collins)
There is also a great distillery in Loveland near Grimm Brothers called Dancing Pines Distillery.

Now if you don't drink none of this is helpful . Eddy and I prefer northern Colorado, Denver is a little too hectic for us. If you do decide to hit some of the breweries up north here let us know. We are always down for a little brewery action and we know of some awesome restaurants in the area. Happy planning.

Ah, here's the post that made me login. Then I got distracted.







I'm still not sure what you mean by "Colorado". These two blocks of land are quite similar in the things they offer (aside from the whole booze and Utah thing). But say I was in California for some ungodly reason and needed an unwind on the way home, this would be my ideal setup:

Entering Colorado early in the morning (8-9am) from I-70, I would hit the Fruita side of town for breakfast and then hit the tasting room there. Next would be a nice straight drive through Colorado National Monument starting from the I-70 entrance. Spectacular place for us here not used to canyon geology like that. When the road exits the park and gets back into town it puts you just a few blocks away from Two Rivers Winery. By far, our FAVORITE Colorado winery.

Then I would head down the I-70 business loop into Palisade and hit all of those places including Rocky Mountain Meadery, Debeque winery, Colorado Cellars, and Carlson Vineyards (this should be a mandatory stop for anyone entering the state. Their riesling is top notch German style).

From Carlson Vineyards the county roads meander through an assortment of orchards as it winds its way back to HWY 50 in Grand Junction. Then I would go south. Maybe having dinner and calling it a night in Delta or Montrose.

The next day starts at sunrise as we travel east on HWY 50. As the road gradually gains elevation you will come to another spectacular Colorado feature, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Then continuing along HWY 50 you cruise past Blue Mesa Reservoir and into Gunnison. That's where I would have lunch. Lots of good mom and pop restaurants there. And then back onto HWY 50, over Monarch pass and into Poncha Springs where I would head north.

Veering north on HWY 285 just soak in the views as you pass 14er after 14er in the Sawatch Range. 14ers seem to be a Colorado thing. If a hike is in order, I would stay in Leadville and try to gain the Colorado Trail around the Mount Elbert/Mount Massive area the next day. There are so many destinations along the way that summits aren't nearly as important.

Then comes the drive up HWY 91 to I-70. It's the last bit of casual driving. Once on I-70 I would focus on getting the f*ck off of it. That would mean no stops except the Idaho Springs/Tommyknockers interlude.

I'm not a fan of cities. Denver trips are the bane of my existence. The roads are packed 24/7, people are driving different speeds in each lane and road raging past the line you thought you had. Nope, not a fan. I would blast down I-70, rail up I-25 and hit the northern breweries for the afternoon.

Then I would hit HWY 287 north from Fort Collins into Laramie Wyoming and west on I-80 back into Utah.

That's my kind of ideal trip through the state. For a perfect tour I would need six days.




Dang I love this state.

I knew Eddy would post a GREAT idea if thats what your looking for.... he is right utah and co are almost the same... i think one of my fav and really only true road trip as texas does not count was our trip from co to the grand canyon and we made all the pit stops from here to there and then just booked it the hell home on the way back. ken was sick of rock formations by the time we got to the canyon but for me it never gets old. i forgot you also have garden of the gods in the springs if you want to look at more rocks

so help us out, do you want to drink/eat/ relax or sight see? and if its the latter what direction would you be coming from?

Woooo, these are good ideas! Thank you, and feel free to keep them coming!

Hrm, suggestions are hard to give because I'm pretty open to most anything. When I say something "Colorado" I mean like, if someone said they were coming to the Salt Lake Area I'd tell them they need to stop by and visit Temple Square, whether they are LDS or not. It's just so "Utah." And if they were near Southern Utah they'd have to make a stop in Zions.

I'm thinking a hike/snowshoe or two would be fun. Sight seeing, and eating are also great options. I'm not sure if the Appadog will come with us or not, probably, but there's a chance he might not. We're not drinkers so the breweries won't be much of a hit for us - but often breweries have some great food! Maybe there's a good show in town or a playhouse around? My wife really enjoys the funny, small-towny playhouses with parody-esque plays.

We're not really even set on Colorado, we're mostly looking for a road trip that can be done in a couple of days and Colorado interests us. When we have a good week to road trip we're doing the Oregon Coast.

Well, I'm out of ideas then. If someone wanted to see one thing Colorado on a trip, I would tell them, "stay at home". I don't like going places where other people might be.

For hiking if you pick a 14er like Quandary or Sherman, the trails are clearly packed and easily accessible. But I guess that depends on your >12,000 feet endurance. Otherwise you will likely be hiking packed trails to a lake or something weird and not summit like.

Ooh. You could 'Tebow' the 15th step of the Capitol building while slamming a Coors [sic]. THAT would be uniquely Colorado.

Well when my parents come to town we have gone to co springs and have taken the cog train up to the summit of pikes peak, we have gone to boulder to walk pearl st and eat, also you can do small hikes near by. we have gone to ft collins to eat and shop. we have gone to black hawk to gamble and spend the night. we have gone to mt evans to look for sheep, you can shoe the area right now at echo lake. we have gone to the hot springs past winter park but i know glenwood springs is a nice place to go for hot springs, stayed at the Stanly in estes park, can shoe/hike in RMNP. i also hear The Royal Gorge is a nice place to go with the train, bridge and food.
Down town Denver will give you plays, shows, comedy clubs, food, art, history, shopping

i think the issue is most of us are all with in 1hr to denver so we don't get to far to the corners of the state, and when we do its to camp and hike a mountain, not entertainment. if you do make it here i hope we can all get together to say hi!

HA! Being within an hour of Denver means it's easier to avoid!

Thanks! I totally hear you on not getting out to the corners of the state but to hike or camp. That's the way we are too. My family growing up only knew of lakes around Utah, if you couldn't boat there, we didn't go.

I've been trying to get out to all the various "places" around Utah. My next place to check off is the Salt Flats, it's super close, I just haven't been.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I plan on going through them all tonight!

I've been all over this state before the hiking thing kicked in. Aside from the flat stuff out east, I know almost every town in this state.

Maybe entering from the four corner's area and hitting Mesa Verde, Durango, Silverton (Silveton railroad), Telluride, Ouray with a stop at Royal Gorge and Co Spgs is more up your avenue. Or coming in at Dinosaur then through Steamboat and dropping into Summit County. Lots of options.

I've never been to a "show" or a "play" in my life. I'm confused.

Riley- how did the weekend talks go? know where your headed?

They're still going. We'll have this figured out eventually.