Passes & Canyons Blog

Steve Smith had asked my assistance in planning his Colorado ride and he sent me this follow-up now that he’s back home. He rode some passes I’ve never been on. Makes it especially interesting. Here’s Steve’s report.

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My trip started in the western North Carolina mountains on Friday, July 3. My dog and I made Oklahoma City that night thru some nice hot weather. Saturday, the 4th, we kept on to New Mexico and up thru Taos to Antonito, Colorado area. I was not sure just exactly where some of the campgrounds were located on your website, so I took the safe route and checked AAA where I found the camp ground at Mogote. The people were nice and had a free cook out that evening. The facilities were nice with a shower and nice shaded camping area for $18.

  Stunner Pass

The next morning I rode past the camp grounds that you mentioned and they looked very nice. My goal was to ride to the pass and find a sign and get a picture, so my first pass that morning was La Manga. It was a nice ride over to Cumbres for my second pass in just 30 minutes or so. I retraced my tracks back across La Manga to the forest road 250 and up to Stunner Pass. This road was very navigable but not recommended for a shiny Harley or Goldwing, due to the rocks and potholes. I was riding a loaded 1150 GS and it was slow going in a few places. As with all the roads in Colorado, they are all very scenic with great vistas. I kept going north up to the highway and made a left turn to Wolf Creek Pass for my 4th pass that day.

The next two passes were easy to achieve on a great road up thru Creede and on to Spring Creek Pass and then Slumgullion Pass for the 5th and 6th passes. Just past Slumgullion towards Lake City I made a right turn towards Los Pinos Pass. This road was even rougher than the road to Stunner but still was very scenic. At this pass the sign had disappeared so I have no picture of that one.

Once thru the pass it was about 29 miles out to Hwy 114 and to North Pass for my 8th pass. A u-turn took me back to Gunnison where I went up thru Crested Butte and on towards Kebler Pass. Before I got to that one there was a road off to the left to Ohio Pass. I found no sign but a nice rocky, pot-holed road for a couple of miles. Kebler was my 10th pass that day and the road on out to Paonia was a very nice gravel road. The aspen surrounding the Lupines and was a sight to behold. That evening I camped at the Redstone campground for $32. Yes I went over McClure Pass but since it was under 10,000 ft, I didn’t count it for that day.

By the end of the day I had ridden over 10 passes above 10,000 feet and was done with the pass counting in 10 hours.

  Los Pinos Road

The next morning, I left Redstone and ventured up thru the slow traffic at Aspen to Independence Pass. Wow, the views were great. My next pass was Tennessee Pass north of Leadville. I retraced my track back to Leadville for lunch and then up to Fremont Pass. I continued north to I-70 over Vail Pass and then on to Shrine Pass, just a short 3 miles from the rest area on a good hard packed road that any bike could handle.

Next in my sights was Loveland Pass and then to Guanella Pass south of Georgetown, but the road was closed for construction so I went to Berthoud Pass instead. That was my last pass, as I told my sister I would be at her house north of Woodland Park at 4 PM. The road down thru Deckers was very nice and I was able to beat or avoid some rain and hail.

My total account was 17 passes over 10,000 ft. I started around 8 AM on July 5th and was drinking a cool one by 4 PM the next afternoon or 32 hours total. In hindsight I could have done more if I wasn’t so packed down and left my dog at home, but we had an excellent ride thru some very beautiful country.

I would not recommend Stunner and Los Pinos Passes for an inexperienced rider. That may be done better in a car or truck. On the other hand, any bike could make it, but it may be missing some parts that get rattled off during the ride.

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OK, so thank you Steve for that ride description. Now I’m going to have to find out where Stunner and Los Pinos Passes are.

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Biker Quote for Today

If it can’t do some dirt, why bother?

I’m frequently asked to help people plan their routes when they’re coming to Colorado to ride, and I’m always happy to oblige.

Last year I posted a series I called “New Zealand Rides The Rockies” where I laid out the day by day rides of a group on New Zealanders planning to come here this year. Unfortunately, the world economic meltdown derailed their plans, at least for now.

However, if you don’t have to fly halfway around the world and you don’t have to rent motorcycles, coming to Colorado to ride is actually one of the less expensive vacations you can take. I can confirm that a good number of people are doing just that.

Among them are Ray and some of his friends from Texas, who are cruising around Colorado right this moment, presuming they didn’t have any last minute glitches. I’m not going to lay this out in the detail I did for the Kiwis but I figured you might have some interest in their plans.

Days One and Two

Ray and friends are coming from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area (I believe) and were riding to Las Vegas, NM, the first night. From there, on Day Two, they were planning to head north to Taos and on up to where they would reach U.S. 160 at Fort Garland. They planned on taking U.S. 160 west to South Fork, then CO 149 over Slumgullion Pass to Lake City, and then the gravel roads over to just south of Ouray. Ridgway was their destination for the night.

These plans were revised considerably when I pointed out to Ray that it would be a much nicer ride to take U.S. 64 west from just north of Taos, via Chama, and then U.S. 84 up to Pagosa Springs. From Pagosa, a run over Wolf Creek Pass would put them at South Fork. I also mentioned that they must be riding dual sport bikes if they were planning on taking that road west out of Lake City.

Apparently they aren’t, so that road was nixed. Instead, they adopted my suggestion of the Chama route and then just continued on through Lake City to Gunnison for the night.

Day Three

Day Three was to be a fairly easy one after a long Day Two. Heading west out of Gunnison they planned to stop at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and ride the South Rim Drive and the East Portal Road. Then they would make the easy cruise to Ouray and make that their headquarters for two nights.

Day Four

Day Four is planned as a circle route through Ridgway, Placerville, Telluride, Cortez, Durango, Silverton, and back to Ouray. This will take them over Lizard Head Pass and Red Mountain Pass. Red Mountain Pass, of course, is one of the best in the state.

Day Five

On Day Five, Ray and friends are heading north through Montrose and Delta and will then head northeast on CO 92 to Hotchkiss and up and over McClure Pass on CO 133. At Carbondale they will turn southeast on CO 82 through Aspen and over Independence Pass, another of Colorado’s very best.

A run through Leadville and then down Fremont Pass to Copper Mountain will put them at I-70, where they will head east to Silverthorne. They’ll take U.S. 6 up over Loveland Pass and end up for the night in Idaho Springs.

Day Six

From Idaho Springs our travelers will head south on CO 103 up Squaw Pass with a sidetrip to the top of Mount Evans. From the Bergen Park area they’ll head south to Evergreen and on to Conifer where they’ll pick up U.S. 285 for just a short jaunt. At Pine Junction they’ll head south on CO 126 through Deckers and on to Woodland Park and Colorado Springs.

Days Seven and Eight

In the morning of Day Seven, Ray and the rest will make a run up to the top of Pikes Peak, then head back down and blast homeward as far as Amarillo. Day Eight will see them home again in the Dallas area.

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Fun is not a straight line.

Dom Chang, also known as Redleg, is off and running hard as the newest motorcycle Examiner in Colorado. Some of you may already know Dom/Redleg as the blogger of Redleg’s Rides, which is where I met him.

As you may know, for one year I was the Denver Motorcycle Examiner, and have now become Examiner.com‘s National Motorcycle Examiner. That created a vacancy at the local level so I contacted Dom to ask if he would be interested in the spot. “Heck yes I would,” was his reply.

The folks at Examiner have their own approach to these things, however, which are not always clear to me, so Dom actually ended up as the Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner.

Whatever. Doesn’t matter to me, and I presume it doesn’t matter to Dom. The point is, he’s burst out of the starting gate like a rocket and is putting up a lot of great information about places to ride in Colorado. And Dom is no weekend biker; he rides all the time. Here’s his Examiner bio:

A late blooming motorcycle rider, Dom explores motorcycle-accessible Colorado year round. Averaging 20 thousand plus miles a year on his beemers, he’s a ride-reporting, farkle reviewing, basic motorcycle servicing, solo touring rider and blogger.

He also had this to say in his first Examiner post:

I’ve been motorcycling since the Spring of 2006 and have accumulated over 50,000 motorcycling miles since then. I commute to work on my motorcycles unless there’s ice or snow on the road. I’ve traveled the length and breath of Colorado in search of motorcycling destinations and byways, this information and experience I hope to relate to you in future articles.

Did I mention that Dom is a terrific photographer? Dom shoots pictures wherever he goes and frequently stitches multiple images together to give you great panoramic views. Unfortunately, Examiner does not accommodate his photography the way his blog does, but when he presents one of these panoramas on Examiner he links to the shot on his blog so you can really appreciate it.

So check him out. Blog and/or Examiner, Dom’s sites are good adds to your Favorites list.

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Biker Quote for Today

Ride, Eat, Sleep, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat………..

If you’re planning to ride Colorado and want a base of operations from which to take day rides, where should you stay? This is a question I received twice recently so it occurred to me that I ought to post my answer here. In this case, I’ll be responding to this particular question.

We will be trailering our bikes to Colorado from Florida and plan to ride from August 1st through August 8th. We’ve been out west to ride in other states and usually stay in two separate locations. This allows us to ride a different route each day and really see the area. What would you recommend as the two best areas to stay in while doing day rides?

This was my reply.

I would suggest these two spots as your home bases: Ouray and Breckenridge. Here’s my thinking.

Ouray, first of all, is gorgeous. Of all the cool places in Colorado, Ouray stands out. If you end up not staying there you must at least go there. Of course, Ouray is at the northern end of one of the best roads in Colorado, Red Mountain Pass. (By the way, this photo is of Red Mountain Pass approaching Ouray, although it’s not usually so crowded. This traffic resulted from a construction blockage.)

That also positions you to take the loop and do Lizard Head Pass and go to Durango and Mesa Verde. You can also go north to Montrose and then visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and take the Unaweep Canyon road.

And there’s a lot more in the area. You could spend your entire vacation there.

Breckenridge gives you access to a whole other part of the state. Go south over Hoosier Pass into South Park and take any of several roads that converge there. Or, go north of I-70 and loop up through Steamboat Springs over Rabbit Ears Pass or go east over Trail Ridge Road.

Also from Breckenridge you’re very close to Loveland Pass and Mount Evans.

En route from one base to another you might want to make a point to go via some route that takes you over Independence Pass. This is another of the very best.

So there are some ideas to consider. If you have questions I’m happy to address them to the best of my ability. Truth is, though, you really can’t go wrong riding the Colorado mountains, wherever you go.

Biker Quote for Today

Don’t ride so late into the night that you sleep through the sunrise.

If you’re figuring that Ride Your Motorcycle to Work Day is set for the third Wednesday in July as always, here’s an alert. It’s not. It has been changed.

In fact, it’s not even being called “Ride Your Motorcycle to Work Day.” It is now just “Ride to Work Day,” and it has been moved to the third Monday in June. That’s June 15 this year.

The name change has been made to make the event more inclusive, encouraging scooter riders to join in as well. The date change is intended to take advantage of more moderate weather. The event has also taken on an international scope and in Europe, July is often vacation time for a large number of people.

Additionally, the organizers hope that a Monday event will encourage riders to commute on two wheels all week, rather than just one day. And finally, because Sunday is usually a slow news day, it is hoped that a Monday event will garner more media advance coverage.

In case you’re not familiar with Ride to Work Day, the purpose is to demonstrate:

• The number of motorcyclists to the general public and to politicians.
• That motorcyclists are from all occupations and all walks of life.
• That motorcyclists can reduce traffic and parking congestion in large cities.
• That motorcycles are for transportation as well as recreation.
• That motorcycling is a social good.

So I hope to see you on the road June 15.

Biker Quote for Today

No matter what marque you ride, it’s all the same wind.

It’s not that Saturday was a milestone, because we’d already reached this point, but it was nevertheless a day worth noting. Charley and I went riding motorcycles together for the first time.

I know, there’s a lot of background that needs to be filled in here.

Charley is my wife’s son. Judy and I have been married for 13 years. Charley was 16 when we got married. Thanks to him and his sisters, the first 7 years of our marriage were utter hell. Are you starting to get the picture?

I’m not telling you anything Charley hasn’t heard directly from my lips when I tell you that there was a time when I hated him with every fiber of my being. I spoke those words, however, at a point where I was recommending that the authorities release him from the detention center where he had spent the last year, because I felt that he had grown and changed and was ready to be given another chance.

It didn’t start out like that. Shortly before Judy and I were married I took Charley with me on a camping trip my buddies and I used to go on every spring. At one point I pointed over to him and said to John, who I was standing with, that “He’s probably the closest thing to a son that I’ll ever have.” Things went to hell soon after that.

Charley was approved for release that day and he truly has turned his life around now. We eventually reached the point where I could tell Judy in all honesty that I truly have grown to like and care for Charley. We’ve had a good relationship for some years now. And Charley had a motorcycle of his own for awhile, although we were unaware of that until after he sold it.

So lately he has suggested that the two of us take my two bikes and ride together. That sounded like a fine idea to me and on Saturday we did it. I rode the Kawi and Charley was on the Honda. I showed him the Palmer Lake to Franktown loop that Judy and I have ridden many times, and the three biker-friendly bars along the way. Business was hopping on such a beautiful spring day. We didn’t drink but we did have some eats.

Altogether we spent about four hours riding and talking and enjoying our time together. The contrast with the bad old days could not have been sharper.

Charley is still the closest thing I’ll ever have to a son, and it’s nice that we’re a lot closer to that than we once were. And what dad doesn’t want to share his passion with his son? Charley wants to get another bike of his own, but he’s scraping financially these days so who knows how soon that will happen. In the meantime, I do have two bikes. No doubt we’ll be riding again.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride Safe, Ride Long, & Have Fun

I’d been hearing rumors about this but finally confirmed it just a few minutes ago. The Elephant Ride over Guanella Pass from Grant to Georgetown is on for this weekend.

Mind you, this is no ordinary ride. First off, Guanella Pass is covered in snow and has not been plowed. Second, most of these guys are going to be camping at Grant the night before. Is that tough enough for you?

And who are these crazies? Why the Adventure Riders. You may recall that I have mentioned this group on a number of occasions. They’re the ones who did a fund-raising ride to support a group the provides medical care to remote areas in Africa.

I doubt I’ll be able to make it up there on Sunday but if any of you guys reads this and wants to send me some photos and a report I’d love to hear from you and pass it all along.

Have a blast you guys.

Biker Quote for Today

I refuse to tiptoe thru life only to arrive safely at death.

An interesting news report about the Fort Collins Chief of Police. He was up on Stove Prairie Road and went down on his buddy’s Road King. He suffered a broken pelvis but got back on the bike and rode into town to the hospital.

“It was very apparent something was really wrong,” said Chief Dennis Harrison.

Yeah, I guess. Call me a wuss but I think I would have waited for the ambulance. Oh, and no mention about the condition of the bike.

No place is a good place to go down but Chief Harrison did pick a nice place to ride. I’ve been on that road many times and I strongly recommend it. What it is best is a way to avoid going through all the sprawl of Fort Collins when you’re on your way up the Poudre Canyon. The Stove Prairie Road runs over the ridge from the Buckhorn Canyon to the Poudre. Here’s a map showing the area.

What you do is head west out of Loveland on US 34, like you’re going up to Estes Park, except just a bit west of town, as you get past the hogback, you go north on CO 56 to Masonville. At Masonville you go left at the T intersection. Right takes you down by Horsetooth Reservoir and into Fort Collins. Left takes you up the Buckhorn.

You don’t need to worry about finding the Stove Prairie turnoff because that’s the way the pavement goes. Where the Buckhorn road and the Stove Prairie road diverge the Buckhorn road turns to gravel. So stay on the pavement.

The road rises up to the tiny community of Stove Prairie and then heads down into the Poudre. A left takes you up the Poudre on CO 14, over Cameron Pass, and down into North Park. A right takes you very quickly to the Mishiwaka Inn, the best bar in these parts, and then down to hit US 287 just a couple miles outside of LaPorte.

There’s one other good riding option you might want to be aware of, and that is the Rist Canyon road. From up on top, at Stove Prairie, the Rist Canyon road (Larimer County Road 52E) takes you directly down into LaPorte. Once you come over the crest it is a very steep downward run that is reminiscent of coming into Golden on the Lookout Mountain road.

It’s all good riding. But you’ll enjoy it more if you keep the rubber side down.

Biker Quote for Today

Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly.