Rocky Mountain NP to Moab Utah along the Colorado River ?

[julievojo]

Can it be done?

We have about a week to make the drive from Rocky Mountain NP to Moab. We would love to find a route that follows the Colorado River. Has anyone made this trip? Do you have any suggestions for routes?

Many thanks!

[markopolo]

I've never done it..........

I looked at maps (both online and in print) and it is difficult to see if it is doable.

[julievojo]

Yeah, that's what I thought. I think we'll just wing it and see where we end up. Hopefully we'll be leaving this Sunday. We'll stop and see my brother in Evergreen CO, then go up to Rocky Mountain NP for a visit (it's been snowed it the last 2 times we've been there) and from RMNP we'll just see what we can find. I don't mind gravel roads as long as the weather is dry.

[Mike]

Did you get the pontoon option on your Pleasure Way? Should be simple, then.
Actually, if you can find your way to Denver (US 34 east to I-25 south?), take I-76 / I-70 south/west down
the Glenwood Canyon. That's how we went. It is possibly the most incredible drive I have ever done.

[julievojo]

We went a really roundabout way.... from RMNP we went to Steamboat Springs then to Craig CO. While overnighting in Craig, we got a call from some friends that were in Taos NM and said "come on down", so we did. We just kind of wandered though, including about 100 miles of NPS gravel roads that took us through some incredible scenery, and finally down CO 17, which has quite possibly one of the straightest stretches of road that I've ever traveled. After a few days in Taos we drove up through the 4Corners area to Cortez CO, and then to Moab.

After Moab we wandered some more, went across UT and NV to Yosemite NP, then to San Francisco and down the CA coast. It was a great trip! We love to just wander around aimlessly. We've found some great places that way.

[Mike]

We were impressed with the I70 Canyon route, mostly the engineering feat of putting an interstate on/beside/over a river the size of the Colorado, with very little flat ground to work with on either side. Nice scenery there, too. I wish we'd had the stamina to keep going to California. We bailed after visiting Las Vegas, and retraced our steps back home. We were just exhausted, but had found some really nice places along the way, for future trips. Our original intent was to get to LA and then do the coastal highway north to Vancouver BC, then the Trans Canada highway home. Oh well, maybe next time.