We originally planned to Canada Rockies in 2020 summer, but Canada boarder was closed due to COVID. Then we moved our target to Colorado Rocky Mountains and forge our plan ready. Unfortunately this plan also faltered in late summer. In the year of 2021, we want to finish what we dropped in 2020. Colorado is domestic and goes first in our list. Last year our itinerary was driving from Denver to Salt Lake City. This year price of flight and car rental substantially jack up so we modified our plan to do a driving circle from Denver.
Trip Highlights
- 2 states: Colorado, Utah
- 7 national parks:
- 4 National Monuments:
- Other:
Click below or here to view Picture book of our 2021 NPS trips – link will open a new tab on picaboo site.
Day 0 Fly into Denver
We arrive Denver late around 9:30 PM after picking up the rental car we made a quick stop at grocery store close to denver airport before driving 1.5 hours to Estes Park.
Day 1-3 Rocky Mountain National Park
| First day | |
| 08:00 – 12:00 | Bear Lake/Dream Lake/Emeral Lake/Lake Haiyaha |
| 12:00 – 1:30 | Moraine Park Discovery center/view Moraine park |
| 1:30 – 5:00 | Afternoon rain/ back to hotel |
| 5:00 – 7:00 | Bear Lake loop and Sprague Lake |
| Second Day | |
| 8:00 – 1:30 | Cuplake trail hike |
| 1:30 – 3:00 | Drive to Sheep Lakes Information Station Fall River Visitor Center |
| 3:00 – 5:00 | Lily Lake, Wild Basin ranger station, Copeland Falls area |
| Third Day | |
| 8:00 – 16:00 | Drive Park Ridge Road to Grand Lake |
| 16:00-18:00 | Drive to Glenwood springs (original plan) |
| 18:00- 20:30 | Drive to Gunnison see * below |
* Due to mudslide and road closure on I-70 close to Glenwood Spring
We were 1 hour away around Walcott when we found out about road closure. The detour adds 3 hour drive so we decided to rebook the hotel to Gunnison and drove at night on HW24 and HW50 (there was a section that has a lot of twist and turn, we assume it must be beautiful but it was completely dark and a bit scary to drive at night)
Day4 – Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park & Colorado National Monument
| 7:45 – 9:00 | drive to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park |
| 9:00 – 13:00 | drive Black canyon south rim to high point with stops at viewpoint (12 overlooks) |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch at Cluvers at Montrose |
| 14:00-3:30 | Drive to Fruita |
| 3:30 – 19:00 | Colorado National Monument |
| 19:00- | Hotel check in at Grand Junction |
Day 5-7 Capitol Reef National Park
| First day | |
| 09:00 – 12:00 | Drive to Capitol Reef Visitor Center |
| 12:00 – 14:00 | Gifford House (buy pie for lunch), Fruit picking |
| 14:00 – 16:00 | Hike Hickman Bridge |
| 16:00 – 18:00 | Hike Grandwash trail (1 mile in and out) |
| 18:00 | Drive to Torrey/check in hotel |
| Second Day | |
| Original plan to drive Cathedral valley road cancelled due to road condition | |
| 7:30 – 12:30 | Capitol Gorge Scenic Drive and hike to the Tank |
| 13:00-14:00 | Lunch and fruit picking |
| 14:00 – 17:00 | Cassidy Arch Hike |
| Third Day | |
| 8:00 – 9:00 | Panorama point – Goosenecks point and Sunset Point |
| 9:00 – 12:00 | Sulphur Creek Hike |
| 12:00-14:45 | Drive to Arches National Park |
Day 7-9 Arches National Park
| First Day | |
| 14:45 – 15:30 | Arches visitor center, pick up permit for next day |
| 15:30 – 18:30 | Moab hotel check in/dinner |
| 18:30 – 20:30 | Delicate Arch hike/sunset view |
| Second Day | |
| 7:00 – 11:00 | Fiery Furnace Hike |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | Drive to Devils Garden and Balanced Rock |
| 12:30 – 18:30 | Hotel rest/swimming to avoid afternoon heat |
| 18:30 – 21:00 | Arches Windows section/Double Arch |
| 21:00 – 23:00 | Back to Hotel for dinner |
| 23:00 – 1:00 | Stargazing at Arches National Park |
| Third Day | |
| 09:00 – 12:00 | Devils Garden Trail |
| 13:00 – 19:00 | Hotel rest/swimming to avoid afternoon heat |
| 19:00 – 20:30 | Arches Park Avenue Trail |
Day 10 Dead Horse Point State Park & Canyonlands National Park (Island in the sky)
| 7:00 – 8:00 | Drive to Dead Horse Point State Park |
| 8:00 – 8:30 | Dead Horse Point State Park |
| 8:30 – 9:30 | Drive to Canoynlands island in the sky visitor center |
| 9:00 – 10:00 | Grand view point overlook/trail |
| 10:00 – 11:00 | Aztec Butt Trail |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | Mesa Arch Trail |
| 12:30 – 13:00 | Shafer Canyon Overlook |
| 13:00 – 17:00 | Drive back to Hotel/rest/swim |
| 17:00 – 20:00 | Moab Downtown dinner/shop |
Day 11 Canyonlands National Park (Needles district) & Natural Bridges National Park
| 7:30 – 9:00 | Drive to Canyonlands Needle District Visitor Center |
| 9:00 – 11:30 | Needle District |
| 11:30 – 13:00 | Drive to Blanding/check in hotel |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Drive to Natural Bridges National Monument |
| 14:00 – 17:00 | Natural Bridges National Monumnet – hike to Sipapu Bridge – Kachina Bridge view point – Hike Owachomo Bridge |
| 17:00 – 18:00 | Drive to Blanding |
Day 12-13 Hovenweep National Monument & Mesa Verde National Park
| First Day | |
| 8:00 – 9:00 | Drive to Hovenweep National Monument |
| 9:00 – 9:30 | Hovenweep National Monument |
| 9:30 – 11:00 | Drive to Mesa Verde National Park |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Mesa Verde Visitor Center |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Drive to Far view lodge/check in |
| 13:30 – 14:00 | Drive to Wetherill Mesa and hike to long house tour meetup point |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | Long house tour |
| 15:30 – 17:30 | Mesa Top Loop Driving tour |
| 17:30 – 18:00 | Hotel |
| 23:00 – 0:00 | Stargazing Mesa Verde National Park |
| Second Day | |
| 8:30 – 10:00 | Square House Tour |
| 10:00 – 13:00 | Far view site (private walking tour with Bob) |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Drive to Durango/Lunch |
| 14:30 – 18:00 | Drive to Alamosa – Stop at treasure Falls (short hike) – Wolf Creek Overlook |
Day 14 Great Sand Dunes National Park
| 9:00-9:30 | Rent Sandsled |
| 9:30 – 1:00 | Sandsledding at Great Sand Dunes National Park |
| 13:30 – 14:30 | Zapata Falls Hike |
| 14:30 – 18:00 | Hotel rest |
| 18:00 – 19:30 | Dinner |
| 19:30 – 20:00 | Drive to Grand Sand Dunes for sunset/evening view (too many mosquitos) |
Day 15 Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument & Pikes Peak
| 8:45 – 11:00 | Drive to Florissant Fossil Beds national Monument |
| 11:00- 12:00 | Florissant Fossil Beds national Monument – Petrified Forest Loop |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Drive to Pikes Peak |
| 13:00 – 18:00 | Pikes Peak summit |
Day 16 Colorado Springs & Denver
| 9:00 – 13:00 | Garden of the Gods |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | lunch |
| 14:00 – 15:00 | Drive to Denver |
| 15:00 – 16:00 | Denver Mural |
| 16:00 – 18:00 | Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge |
| 18:00 | Denver Airport car return fly back |
Where we stayed/Hotel
| # nights | City |
| 3 nights | Estes Park, CO |
| 1 night | Glenwood Spring, CO Changed to Gunnison, CO due to mudslide |
| 1 night | Grand Junction |
| 2 nights | Torry, UT |
| 4 nights | Moab, UT |
| 1 night | Blanding, UT |
| 2 nights | Mesa Verde Far View Lodge |
| 2 nights | Alamosa, CO |
| 1 night | Colorado Springs, CO |
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