Hello All,

A small group of us are going to do a three day trip on July 31, August 1, 2. This is the first time I have been through these areas of CO and I am new biker only having had a scoot for a year. What do you think about this route? Any ideas to improve the ride? Anything going on in these town on these dates? Also, are there ample gas stops on this route or are there any areas we need to be concerned about?

We will spend the first night in Durango and the second in Creede.

http://www.mapquest.com/mq/10-q3_5vKBZELh1bW3jWsCf

Thanks in advance for your input.

-Eric

 

Bear Creek: You've got a good route there...I grew up in that part of the state and have ridden most of it.

First, your ride from Durango to Creed is rather ambitious...yes, you can do that easily...but you're SURE missing some incredible stops just to say you did it.

May I suggest a couple of diversions? First night - Durango...Second night -Gunnison (much better hotel choices too)...third night - Taos.

Silverton: Take an hour to walk around town.
Ouray: Beautiful place, but because of the street slopes, a real hard place to park a bike.
Montrose: HD dealer just north of the Hwy 550/50 intersection...they have an excellent restaurant attached to the dealer - Killer burgers (try the Blue Cheese )
Just east of Montrose: Be sure to take the 10 mile route north of Hwy 50 to see the south rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park - Incredible views! Be sure to stop at the Painted Rock overlook...give yourself two hours for this side trip.

With the stops I've suggested, you'll be pushing it hard to get to Creede. We stayed in Gunnison last month...excellent lodging...be sure to have dinner at The Trough - best steak I've ever had.

From Gunnison, head back west to the Lake City/Creede turnoff...take an hour to walk around in Creede.

Suggestion: From Creede, head to Alamosa...south to Tres Piedras...turn east and be sure to stop at the Rio Grand Gorge bride...can you spend that night at Taos? Some excellent places to visit there (Taos Pueblo is a World Heritage Site)....next morning will get you back south in a couple hours.

PM me if you need any other ideas or have any questions.

Ride safe.

 

Thanks for the info Whiskers, I was hoping you would respond. That is exactly the type of information I was looking for.

We are all pretty familiar with Taos and the gorge, so we would prefer to spend any extra time in CO. Can you reccomend any good restaurants in Durango? What do you reccomend we check out in Creede?

 

Whiskers got it spot on with the southwest side.

I've always just ridden straight through Creed, so I don't know that area good enough to comment

 

When we visited Durango last month, we ate at Serious Texas BBQ...I had a pork loin sandwich with a Jalapeno/Pineapple salsa! It was pretty damned good...then I helped a friend finish off her plate of ribs...they were even better!!...then I ate someones pulled pork...well, you get my drift.

I found their website (I understand there are two restaurants in Durango...one near the HD dealer and other at the north end [where we ate])

http://www.serioustexasbbq.com/

Creede is a small mining town with a few artsy-fartsy stores. Their municipal building / museum is carved into a mine so thats pretty cool to see. I love Creede, but I think the ride from Gunnison there is pretty much the best part of the trip. We had lunch at the Hungry Logger in South Fork and had a good meal.

If you don't want to head straight south through the San Luis Valley, you could take a diversion to the Great Sand Dunes National Park...or if you don't want to go there, instead of swinging south from Antonito back into NM, you can take the longer/more scenic route over Cumbres/La Manga Pass...which'll put you in Chama, NM...but that would make for a long day, especially if you have to get back down south that night.

On the other hand, here's another route from Gunnison:

East on Hwy 50 to Salida...east to Texas Creek....south on Hwy 69 to Westcliffe...east on Hwy 96 (this is where people get lost...there is a Hwy 69 and a Hwy 96...either one will get you home...but you need to transition from 69 to 96 in Westcliffe)...keep going east on Hwy 96 to Hwy 165...now head south to Bishop's Castle (we have a whole bunch of pictures from our June ride posted in the SW Regional Forum and there are many of Bishop's Castle...all of our group who had never heard of it thought it was worth the trip). After Bishop's Castle you can head south on I-25 to Trinidad...some new hotels built there in the last year...and on into NM the next day.

Here's the link to the SW forum (Green Chili Ride):

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/south...-pictures.html

The pictures of Bishop's Castle are about half way down the page.

Talk soon.

 

Great tips! Thanks guys.