Motorcycle Day Trips
These rides are a great getaway that can be done in a day, usually 4-8 hours with lunch and bio breaks, and site seeing that are a little further from Denver. These are great tours through canyons and mountain passes that will take you through beautiful valleys and mountain peaks. Take a day to unwind and enjoy the vast beauty of Colorado.
Cottonwood Pass Via Silverthorn and return Via Fairplay, CO
Another Spring time (or anytime) day trip ride is to head up I-70 W, over the Continental Divide through the famous Eisenhower Tunnel and down into Silverthorn, CO. Continue from Silverthorn on I-70 W to CO-91 S, Fremont Pass (elevation 11,318 ft), which is also called “Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway”. CO-91 S will go down to US-24 W and into Buena Vista, CO. In Buena Vista, pick up Co Rd 209 up to the summit of Cottonwood Pass at 12,126 ft. Continue on Co Rd 209 and turn into Co Rd 742. I did this part of ride earlier this year as a three day tour to Gunnison, it was a great ride then and when the trees are in Fall colors, it is simply amazing! Stay on Co Rd 742 and it turns into CO-135 S which will run into Gunnison, CO. In Gunnison you pick up US-50 E and it goes over Monarch Pass (11,312 ft) into Poncha Springs. In Poncha Springs you pick up US-285 N, go over beautiful Kenosah Pass (10,000 ft)and back down to the Denver Metro, Lakewood area.
Be sure to check out the Cottonwood Pass to Gunnison videos on the Day Trip Video’s Page!
Cripple Creek, Victor Colorado, Woodland Park and Deckers
Spring and fall are my favorite times to ride here in Colorado! The temperatures are comfortable, plenty of sunshine, and this year, not much precipitation to worry about. This ride took us from the Denver Metro area to the beautiful fall mountains, through quiet little towns, and the weather was perfect, in the mid to upper 70’s.
You can click on the link below the displayed map to get the full details of the route. Basically we headed South on HWY 285 to Pine, CO and turned left onto Co Rd 126 (Pine Valley Rd) toward Deckers. At Deckers we stayed on CO-67-S to Woodland Park and made a right onto US-24 W. US-24 took us into Divide and we made a left onto CO-67-S, again, and we enjoyed a very beautiful ride to one of Colorado’s Gambling towns, Cripple Creek. Besides gambling, there are a couple great places to visit in the area, like Molly Kathleen Mine, the Museum/Visitor Center, and an Old Fashion train ride.From Cripple Creep we continued on to Victor, which is just a cool Old Western Town that has a lot of mining history. We completed the loop on Co-81 back to CO-67 to US-24 through Woodland Park and down to Manitou Springs, CO where we had lunch at Rudy’s. Manitou Springs is another great little town with a lot of things to do, check it out if you have the time.
Be sure to check out the great video’s I posted in the Touring Video’s page!
Twin Lakes, Independence Pass and Aspen in the Fall
Riding mountain passes is one of my favorite things to do, the only thing that can make it better is riding mountain passes in the Fall Season! Here is a great day trip that takes about 7 hours in the saddle and has plenty of eye popping colors of the season.
Lakewood to Independence Pass:
Aspen to Lakewood:
You can see the whole route in the first picture, with Rever, but Google Maps has already closed the pass for the season (actually closes early November). There is construction for rock mitigation going on and there are full closures scheduled between now and seasonal close, so be sure to check the website before you head up there. Check out these websites for status and information about the Independence pass: https://www.codot.gov/projects/archived-project-sites/SH82/independence-pass/independence-pass-travel-information.html OR https://www.independencepass.org/hwy-82-status.
Basic Directions:
Hwy 285 S to Johnson Village
Turn right onto Hwy 24 W through Buena Vista
Continue on Hwy 24 W to Hwy 82 W, turn left
Hwy 82 W will take you through Twin Lakes, Over the Independence Pass, into Aspen and all the way to Glenwood Springs/Glenwood Canyon on I-70 E.
Be sure to click on the link above to check out the stunning videos from this ride and then leave me a comment and don’t forget to “follow me” so you get updates when I add a new post.
Poudre Canyon and Cameron Pass
From the Lakewood/Denver area up to Fort Collins is a short ride up I-25. In Fort Collins you will make a few jots through the city and make your way to HWY-14 which will take you up the Poudre Canyon. Mishawaka Inn is a great place to stop for food and entertainment in Poudre Canyon. Continue up HWY-14 and you will enjoy beautiful scenery, rivers and mountain views until you reach the top of Cameron Pass (10,276 feet)! Stop for a while and take in the fresh, crisp, clean air of the Rocky Mountains! Now continue down HWY-14 and you will end up in Walden, CO, another great place to stop for lunch and take a break. When you leave Walden, you’ll pick up HWY-125 all the way to Granby, CO. In Granby you’ll catch HWY-40 that will take you through Winter Park, CO and over Berthoud Pass (11,315 feet) where there are plenty of places to stop for photo ops. Continue down HWY-40 and you’ll hook up to I-70 East which will take you back down to the Lakewood/Denver area.
Four Pass Fall Season Day Ride:
This is a ride I usually do with the HOG Chapter I ride with, The Denver Chapter HOG (DCH)! They are a great bunch of fun loving, Harley loving, Motorcycle Touring Enthusiasts, like me, and we always have a great time viewing the beautiful Colorado fall colors together.
From Golden, CO
I-70 W to Georgetown to Guanella Pass Rd (381)
Over Guanella Pass to 285 south (right)
Over Kenosha Pass to Fairplay, CO to Hwy 9 (right)
Over Hoosier Pass
Through Breckenridge, CO to Swan Mountain Road in Frisco, CO (around the East side of Dillon Reservoir) and to Hwy 6 (right)
Stay on Hwy 6 and go Over Loveland Pass to I-70 east back to Golden
We just did this ride and I will be posting some pictures and video on the Touring Videos page. The only variation to the ride we just went on was we went down Hwy 285 S to Kenosha Pass and the last part was over Guanella Pass to 285 N back up to Golden.
This is just a very small sample of the many tours I’ve taken in Colorado. I will show you routes that are close to Denver along the Rocky Mountain Front Range, I’ll show you places Up North, Down South, East and West that will just fill your senses!
Have you ever ridden your motorcycle over a 10, 11, 12,000 ft pass before? How about a 14,000 + ft pass? Let me tell you, there is nothing like reaching the summit of one and seeing the view to be had! Ears are popping, the air is thin, and the temperature will be chilled, but you will feel like you’re on top of the world!
I will be adding rides for
Horse Tooth Reservoir and Carter Lake
Colorado Springs and Garden of the Gods
Canyon City and Bishops Castle
Mount Evans and Pikes Peak
Rocky Mountain National Park
I will take you on rides to the top of Mt. Evans and Pikes Peak that are over 14,000 ft above sea level, and I will take you to the beautiful valleys below so you can experience the vast beauty of Colorado like I do. Well, I’ll do the best I can to make you feel like you’ve been there, but in order to really experience and enjoy Colorado you’re going to just have to come out here and visit!
There is a lot more to come! Check back soon and check back often!
Be Safe, Have Fun and Ride On!
Short Shot
