Las Vegas/Durango/Albuquerque/Boulder/Grand Junction/Las Vegas

[Dave]

Hi glc and thank you for your help. Grand Junction is to visit friends. Richfield because it looked about half way to Vegas from Grand Junction. Our Boulder stay with friends has fallen through so I now have to fill ten days with hotel stays somewhere between Albuquerque and Las Vegas via Grand Junction. That is what I am doing at the moment, finding possible places to stay.. Nothing is in stone from July 6th. ( leaving ABQ) to July 17th ( Arriving Las Vegas). Again, hanks for all your help. Cheers, Dave

[glc]

Understand. There's no reason whatsoever to spend 2 nights in Richfield though. In fact, I wouldn't even go near there!

If you are going to be in Durango for 10 days, make sure you take a day trip up the Million Dollar Highway to Montrose and back.

From ABQ, you could then go visit Santa Fe and Taos. Go north from there on US-285/CO-17/US-285 to Poncha Springs, then take US-50 west to Grand Junction. You can visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison on the way.

From Grand Junction, you can go to Moab to see Arches and Canyonlands. Then you can head to Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon via Scenic UT-12, and Zion on your way to LV.

You may even be able to work in a visit to the Grand Canyon.

You have 10 days, you might as well take advantage of it rather than just driving down an Interstate highway and biding time in roadside motels.

[Southwest Dave]

If you are going to be in Durango for 10 days, make sure you take a day trip up the Million Dollar Highway to Montrose and back

This is a great drive, but you might want to make a [full] day of it and drive the 'San Juan Skyway' that includes the 'Million dollar' section and makes a complete loop. You only need to go as far as Ridgway on US 550 and then to CO62/145 and detour to the mountain town of Telluride and to Dolores, an incredible drive !

[Dave]

Hi glc, Could I run my plan past you and see what you think. A little local knowledge goes a long way.
We leave Las Vegas on Friday 17th and will probably drive to Flagstaff or Tuba City where we will stay on Friday night. Saturday we will complete our trip to Durango ,hopefully arriving on Saturday late afternoon. We will stay in Durango as long as you can allow us to. At least the 28th June, a day or two later if you can. from Durango we travel down to Albuquerque where we will stay until Sunday 10th. We drive North from Albuquerque to Taos where we will spend Sunday night, before continuing North on US-285/CO-17/US-US/285 to Poncha Springs before heading West on US-50 to Grand Junction. We have yet to chose a place to stay on that trip. So Monday Night will be spent somewhere on that trip from Poncha Springs to Grand Junction.
We will stay in Grand Junction for a day or two before heading off for Moab and visits to Arches and Canyonlands. Then the trip from Moab to Bryce Canyon via Capitol Reef and UT-12 . Still not sure If I should enjoy the scenic drive in a day or stop somewhere on route. Overnight near Bryce Canyon and visit the following day before heading off to Zion. Another overnight and then down to Las Vegas.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dave

[Dave]

Hi Dave, I plan to. Thanks for the tip. Dave

[glc]

Flagstaff is going to be considerably cheaper and have a much greater lodging selection than Tuba City. LV to Flagstaff is about 4.5 hours, add 1 hour if you take old 66 from Kingman to Seligman. I'd allow 7 hours to get from Flagstaff to Durango via 89 and 160.

Taos to GJ can actually be done in 1 day without sightseeing, it's about a 7 hour drive. If you wanted to go through the Black Canyon, you could spend the night in Montrose and head through there the next day on the way to GJ.

Moab to Bryce via UT-12 can be done in one day, including a quick trip through Capitol Reef. If you wanted to make it more leisurely, there are a few places to stay in Torrey.

[Dave]

Almost finished the planning! One last question. We leave Taos early on 8th July and head for Grand Junction. There seem to be several ways to do this trip especially since we have an overnight somewhere between the two places. We plan to arrive in Grand Junction sometime on the 9th of July to visit friends. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[AZBuck]

Since you will have already spent considerable time in Durango (and environs) then your best bet would be to head north hugging the Front Range on US-285/C_17 to Great Sand Dunes National Park and then take scenic US-50 west and overnight in Gunnison. The next day continue on through Curecanti National Recreation Area and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and on to Grand Junction.

AZBuck

[Southwest Dave]

That's a nice route laid out by Buck, but you could go through Questa on NM522 to CO159 to Fort Garland on route to the Great sand dunes, it's slightly shorter. That will take you through San Luis where up on the hill is the 'Stations of the cross shrine'. I found it quite an interesting stop and the bronze sculptures are quite amazing.

Your friends in Grand junction will want to show you around I expect, but a short journey from there you can take an interesting and scenic rim drive around the Colorado National Monument.

With the number of National parks on the 'to do' list, it will make financial sense to by the annual pass for $80 from the kiosk of the first park you visit, it would have paid for itself after entering your 4th major NP.

[Lifemagician]

... go through Questa on NM522 to CO159 to Fort Garland on route to the Great sand dunes, it's slightly shorter. That will take you through San Luis where up on the hill is the 'Stations of the cross shrine'. I found it quite an interesting stop and the bronze sculptures are quite amazing.

That is the route I took, without knowing anything about the area. When I stumbled upon the Stations of the Cross Shrine, it blew me away. Well worth the climb to the top, and a visit to the colourful chapel, not to mention the view from the top.