Hi.....starting to plan a route for the southwest....trailering to Denver from Chicago ( boring ride might as well be comfortable ).dropping off car/trailer at friends house....Anyways i want to do alot of riding zig zagging the southwest...
What are the "must see"...

One caveat...i do NOT do well on high roads with sheer drop-offs...these must be avoided!!!

looking at Denver-Dennison-Durango-Albuquerque-Sedona-Flagstaff(grand canyon)-Vegas-StGeorges-Grand Junction-Denver.
Keeping in mind we are going to do the major national parks etc. etc.

 

You gotta check out Canyon De Chelly!

 

You have to ride through Silverton and Ouray and ride the million dollar highway.

 

Dennison? You mean Gunnison? SJ Ron

 

You might want to avoid the Million Dollar Highway if you want to avoid sheer drop-offs. In some places you're on a ledge with a drop-off of several hundred feet. But it's one gorgeous ride with spectacular scenery!!!

 

If your going to be in Durango the train to Silverton is super cool, buy tickets in advance if you plan on trying this.

 

Doesn't look like they have ANY guard rails....jeez. I just hate that !!!

 

No guard rails on the 550 between Ouray and Silverton (Red Mtn. Pass) or even Molas or Coal Bank Passes between Durango and Silverton. I think you just need to put on your big boy pants and go for it. J/K. SJ Ron

 

I agree, it's worth it.

 

"One caveat...i do NOT do well on high roads with sheer drop-offs...these must be avoided!!!"

Now that is really funny with you starting from Denver since there is one mountain range after another starting right outside of Denver. There are 28 mountain passes (not mountain peaks) that are over ten thousand feet in Co.
I don't think there are more than a dozen guard rails in the whole state and just about every road has a straight drop off within spitting distance. Well, maybe that was because we sought them out. I'm not from CO but three of us did the Colorado Springs Hog Chapter Five in One Ride this summer (five mountain passes over 10k in one day) and I ended up putting on 2000 miles riding in Co. One of the guys after riding along the Black Canyon almost had a nervous breakdown and had to bug out out of CO.

Might want to buy this Butler Map of CO - excellent riding info and it is topographic which might come in handy for you. http://www.butlermaps.com/Motorcycle...1/Colorado-Map

Good Luck!