ten days . eight states . seven parks . 3,600 miles
2022 Autumn Colorado Road Trip
Monday, Sept 19 to Wednesday, Sept 28, 2022
09.19.22 . Day 1 – Drive. Stop at Willow River S.P., Wisconsin. Drive. Stay in Chamberlain, SD.
09.20.20 . Day 2 – Hike Badlands N.P. Stay in Keystone, SD.
09.21.22 . Day 3 – Hike Custer S.P. Stay in Keystone, SD.
09.22.2 . Day 4 – Hike and Cave Tour at Wind Cave N.P. Drive. Stay in Denver, CO.
09.23.22 . Day 5 – Explore Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P. Stay in Telluride, CO.
09.24.24 . Day 6 – Mountain Bike in Telluride. Stay in Telluride, CO.
09.25.22 . Day 7 – Hike Ouray Perimeter Trail. Drive Million Dollar Highway. Stay in Durango, CO.
09.26.22 . Day 8 – Visit Mesa Verde N.P. Drive. Visit Great Sand Dunes N.P. Stay in Alamosa, CO.
09.27.22 . Day 9 – Drive. Visit Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City, KS. Stay in Kansas City, KS.
09.28.22 . Day 10 – Drive home!
When and with whom
This trip was a short “bonus” trip for Scott and I as the main reason we wanted to go was to ride the Telluride Bike Park. The rest of this Colorado road trip was created around this event. I wanted to do some more hiking in the Badlands and Custer so I completed the first half of this trip solo, picking Scott up from the Denver airport at the end of Day 4.
The southwest corner of Colorado is now our favorite region of this beautiful state and experiencing it during fall color or “golden aspen” time was a huge bonus. We were also lucky to get warm temps and blue skies and planned this trip just in time – the following weekend brought the first snow fall to the area which closed the Telluride Bike Park!
