New Zealand Rides The Rockies – Day 3
Recap: Steve and some buddies are coming from New Zealand in 2009 for some motorcycle touring in Colorado and Utah. This series of posts lays out their proposed routes, with my comments. Your comments are welcome as well.
Day 3
Our biker buddies are leaving Gunnison today, making just a partial loop ride. The plan was originally to do another day trip and spend a third night in Gunnison, but that has been changed, and I think the new plan is a lot better. They’ll end up tonight in Ouray, which is a very nice place to stop. The ride will cover about 270 miles. If they pushed on back to Gunnison it would be another 90 miles, 60 of which they would then retrace the next morning. This is definitely a better plan. Here’s the map. Or click the link to view the larger map.
The day begins with a short jaunt west on US 50, just to the eastern end of the Blue Mesa Reservoir. Here you find CO 149, which goes south to Lake City and beyond. Lake City is a pretty little town that is famously home to Texans and the Alferd Packer Massacre Site. For whatever reason, Texans who like to vacation in Colorado have settled on Lake City as their main spot. I even heard a story some years ago that the state of Texas was considering acquiring property around here and creating a Texas state park. That was probably bull, but you get the picture.
As for Alferd Packer, he is Colorado’s only convicted cannibal. He and some other men were stranded by snow in the winter of 1874 and he was the only survivor. It turned out he had survived by eating his companions. The University of Colorado at Boulder has named the cafeteria in its student union the Alferd E. Packer Memorial Grill. There’s a monument that marks the site as you head south out of town.
Heading south out of town on CO 149, you soon cross Slumgullion Pass and then Spring Creek Pass. Once over Spring Creek Pass you will definitely want to stop and check out South Clear Creek Falls. It’s just a quarter mile off the highway on a good paved road. No fees as I recall.
Further along on CO 149 the route leads to Creede. If you just stay on the highway you’ll go past the town but that would be a mistake. Stop here for lunch, or at least for ice cream. Ice cream is very big in Creede.
CO 149 runs into US 160 at South Fork and our riders here take a right. This goes up over Wolf Creek Pass and down to Pagosa Springs. Wolf Creek Pass is another of those great passes you come to Colorado to ride. Here’s an example of what you’ll see coming down on the west side.
From Pagosa Springs US 160 leads west over Yellowjacket Pass, another low pass, and on to Durango. Durango is another town that would be well worth staying at for a day or two, but that’s not on the agenda today.
Heading north out of Durango on US 550, our riders will cross two lower passes, Coal Bank Pass and Molas Pass, before descending into Silverton. This part of Colorado seems thick with picturesque towns and Silverton is another of them. It’s also the home of a big hang-gliding festival each summer.
Continuing north, the road crosses Red Mountain Pass. You may get tired of me saying this, but this is another great pass to ride. Plus, one of the really spectacular parts of it is the descent into Ouray. I definitely prefer to take this road north to south rather than going the other way.
Ouray is an excellent place to stop for the night after a day in the saddle. Good restaurants and hot springs are a terrific way to end the day. Be advised that unless you stay at one of the motels that have hot springs on their property you will have to pay to soak. We stayed at the Box Canyon Lodge one time and that is one I could recommend. If anyone else has recommendations please leave a comment with your thoughts. Thanks.
An Aside
For those of you who have been here before and are surprised to see the change in the layout, let me explain. I just updated to a new version of WordPress, the blog application I’m using, and it blew away all my customizations. Now it’g going to take me a while to make this thing look the way I had it. Bear with me.
Tags: Colorado motorcycle rides, Colorado roads, motorcycle, Red Mountain Pass, Slumgullion Pass, Spring Creek Pass, Wolf Creek Pass
