Colorado road trip help

[turboed83]

So me and the fam are doing a road trip next week FL to CO. Plan is not really much of a plan honestly. We are just going to go with the flow and do some camping up there for a few days and take the kids around to see some sites. I would like to do Imogene pass on this trip. So my question is what are some good suggestions for areas to camp up in the mountains ? Primitive style. Are there any KOAs or similar with showers etc. ? I plan on going North on first day and doing the RMNP, then working my way south to Telluride over a couple days. Ive flown in to Denver before and been around so semi familiar but ive never taken my cruiser up there. We have been wanting to do this for a long time and last minute I had a few weeks free while wife is on summer break (she's a teacher).. So we are loading up sunday and heading out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone would like to meet up or refer me to some nice scenic drives that would be very much appreciated. Thanks

 

[jeremy56]

I can tell you I was just near Silverton for the 4th of July and was in the 30s at night, we had a few storms come through and it was damn cold. Bring the down jackets and appropriate gear. Don't be that guy in flip flops. Also if you camp above tree line there is very little for firewood, obviously. I would camp at lower elevation and wheel/return. Especially coming from near sea level.
If your gonna do any passes and or mountain trails make sure your brakes are in tip top shape. You can use your low gears for alot but your foot will be in the brakes quite a bit too.
Have fun!

 

[nuclearlemon]

keep in mind, the state is kindling right now, so first off, there are fire bans almost everywhere. there are campgrounds in ouray that a lot of folks use, there is also remote camping. for the denver area. while it is a tinderbox, there's still snow blocking higher trails and some areas are still in seasonal closure. check bushducks.com to see if the trail is open or not. you should hop on rising suns website, or visit the horsetooth, colorado land cruisers and bookcliff cruisers pages in the club section here. they are the four colorado cruiser clubs.

 

[lazy]

IMO, it's hard to beat camping in Grizzly gulch by red cloud and sunshine (pit toilet and free!) then making a hike up handies thru American Basin. If you don't want to summit handies, just hiking to the lake is great. Then hopping cinnamon pass to Silverton.

 

[thatcabledude]

Subbed. Hope to take the cruiser to Colorado from Florida in a couple years from now.

Temple Terrace! I grew up there!

 

[basfire]

The San Juan's are fantastic. We have stayed at the KOA in Ouray a couple times and have enjoyed it very much. We generally dry camp or at least stay in a USFS campground so for us to recommend a KOA is huge. The town has good food and drink spots plus their famous hot spring pool. The Imogen trail is just South of town.

 

[turboed83]

I can tell you I was just near Silverton for the 4th of July and was in the 30s at night, we had a few storms come through and it was damn cold. Bring the down jackets and appropriate gear. Don't be that guy in flip flops. Also if you camp above tree line there is very little for firewood, obviously. I would camp at lower elevation and wheel/return. Especially coming from near sea level.
If your gonna do any passes and or mountain trails make sure your brakes are in tip top shape. You can use your low gears for alot but your foot will be in the brakes quite a bit too.
Have fun!

Haha well I'm a Floridian so I most certainly will have my flip flops handy. Thanks for the heads up on temps

 

[turboed83]

keep in mind, the state is kindling right now, so first off, there are fire bans almost everywhere. there are campgrounds in ouray that a lot of folks use, there is also remote camping. for the denver area. while it is a tinderbox, there's still snow blocking higher trails and some areas are still in seasonal closure. check bushducks.com to see if the trail is open or not. you should hop on rising suns website, or visit the horsetooth, colorado land cruisers and bookcliff cruisers pages in the club section here. they are the four colorado cruiser clubs.

Awesome. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[turboed83]

Subbed. Hope to take the cruiser to Colorado from Florida in a couple years from now.

Temple Terrace! I grew up there!

Born and raised here. Desperately trying to finish school and move up to CO within next year or so. I'd go now if I could find decent paying job. Love it up there. Sick of Florida. I love the outdoors and not much stuff here. Plus the heat uggh

 

[turboed83]

The San Juan's are fantastic. We have stayed at the KOA in Ouray a couple times and have enjoyed it very much. We generally dry camp or at least stay in a USFS campground so for us to recommend a KOA is huge. The town has good food and drink spots plus their famous hot spring pool. The Imogen trail is just South of town.

Yeah I looked at ouray koa. All booked up. Looks like we will be staying at the Cortez koa for two nights and then over to Moab for a few nights and maneuver back through the southern part of CO on way back over a few days. Have an aunt in the springs so may stay a night with her. We headed out early this morning and are in the final part of the FL panhandle.

 

[thatcabledude]

Well safe travels. You just went through where I live. Walton county. Between Panama and Destin.

 

[turboed83]

Day 1 down. Made it from Tampa, Fl to Tyler, Tx. Tomorrow going to push on to Santa Fe, NM. I've been completely paranoid the entire time with my cruiser. I've done a ton of PM on it but it has 231k and is on original HG. Koso is showing between 183-193. It did get up to 205 a few times in traffic. But I ran 1000 miles for basically 17 hours straight and it ran like a champ besides the hot trans tunnel.

 

[nuclearlemon]

Born and raised here. Desperately trying to finish school and move up to CO within next year or so. I'd go now if I could find decent paying job. Love it up there. Sick of Florida. I love the outdoors and not much stuff here. Plus the heat uggh

you'll have heat here too.

 

[nuclearlemon]

Yeah I looked at ouray koa. All booked up. Looks like we will be staying at the Cortez koa for two nights and then over to Moab for a few nights and maneuver back through the southern part of CO on way back over a few days.

going between montrose and moab, look for the new 166 mile rimrocker trail! grand mesa jeep club just got it fully opened up this spring

 

[turboed83]

going between montrose and moab, look for the new 166 mile rimrocker trail! grand mesa jeep club just got it fully opened up this spring

Ok cool I will check that out. Made it to Santa Fe today. The heat in Florida is like trying to breathe through a wet towel haha. High temps are not the unbearable part. I've been to Colorado quite a few times in summer. No comparison in heat. Never been over to Moab so I'm sure it is gonna be warm. Thanks

 

[dogfishlake]

Awesome thread, enjoy this trip! I leave for CO in exactly a week with no real plan but to roam, so I am watching and learning.

 

[turboed83]

Update. So I ended getting into the ouray koa. It was awesome. Stayed 3 nights. Turns out there happened to be a fj cruiser summit meeting this week. Met some awesome guys and ran some trails. Imogene is a must and close to koa. Also did Ophir pass. Spectacular views. Then after a few days drive up to montrose and took hwy 50 through the mountains to the springs where I'm currently at. I do recommend a trip to telluride. Cool place and has a free gondola ride that is very scenic. Basically everywhere in the San Juan mountains looks like a postcard. Didn't get to run black bear pass as a storm came in on my last day and didn't want to risk it. So far the cruiser is doing great. Going to hang out another day and begin the daunting drive back to Florida. I will update with tons of pics when I get home