Are you planning on a trip in or to Colorado and are you wondering what the best motorcycle rides in Colorado are? Well, you came to the right place!
I love doing long rides with my motorcycle and I thought it would be cool to write a blog about the best motorcycle rides in the state of Colorado.
Do you have any cool rides that I didn’t include in this post? Feel free to leave a comment and tell other readers what your favorite places in this state are.
Trail of the Ancients – 187 miles
From Bluff (UT) to Durango (CO)
This is what you can call a cultural ride. It starts in Utah but over 75 percent of this ride occurs in Colorado. You will ride past the only point in the USA where four states meet each other.
This ride goes through a remote region, but not without any cause! You will visit a great concentration of ancient historical sites on the way. There is a lot of archaeology along the route, which relates to the Anasazi. This is the Ancestral Pueblo civilization that existed in this area between 200 and 1300 CE. It used to be a sophisticated agriculture-based community. The inhabitants would build complex clusters of cliff dwellings, the well preserved remains of which will be seen during your trip.
Whiles leaving Buff, there will be four main sites. The first ruins are at Hovenweep National Monument. It’s a group of oddly shaped stone towers. Just outside Pleasant View is Lowry Pueblo. It was constructed around 1060 and housed as many as 100 inhabitants.
You can find all the decorated pottery and other artifacts recovered from the various sites in the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores.
The best has been saved for last. The Mesa Verde National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage with hundreds of cliff dwellings. Just make sure you take the loop road and take one of the many guided tours around the sites.
The motorcycle ride ends at Durango, terminus of a narrow-gauge steam railroad.
San Juan Skyway – 233 miles
Durango to Durango Colorado
Did you know that Colorado has over 25 National Scenic and Historic Byways? It’s a great state to enjoy the freedom of your motorcycle.
Are you planning to ride one of these byways? I would recommend riding the San Juan Skyway. It’s hosts some of the most amazing views over the North American forests and mountains.
Your journey starts in the old town of Durango. You’ll start by heading west via Cortez, where the road loops through the heart of the San Juan Mountains. The road parallels through the narrow-gauge railroad and turns northeast along the banks of the Dolores River through forested box canyons to Telluride.
Telluride used to be known for all the silver mining activities in the area but is now known for its music festivals and ski areas.
Are you in for an adventure? You can go and explore the Alpine Loop National Back Country Byway, which is a network of 4×4 trails through thick pine forests and eerie ghost towns, just south of Bear Creek. Make sure your motorcycle is capable of taking this route because you don’t want your tourer stuck in the mud.
The best part of this road trip is the cliff-clinging stretch between de towns of Silverton and Ouray, which is known as the Million Dollar Highway. Legend has it that this was the number of dollars needed for each mile of this highway. The road had to be hacked from the granite canyon walls.
Rim Rock Drive – 31 miles
Fruita to Grand Junction
This next ride might be a little bit shorter, but it is as pretty as the long rides! This ride takes you from Fruita to Grand Junction Colorado. The start and the finish of this ride are only 9 miles apart, but the curvy road takes you 31 miles through the canyons of Colorado.
The whole road has been constructed by a team of 800 men and was part of a public works program during the Great Depression in the ’30s. The road was designed for maximum scenic impact and we’ll have to conclude that they did a great job at making it one of Colorado’s nicest rides. They used nothing but human strength and some explosives to create this amazing road and three tunnels.
Nowadays this road is as smooth as a runway, the gradients are gentle and there are some amazing views behind each corner. Just look at the map below to get an idea of what you’ll be facing in terms of curves and bends.
This road passes by dramatic red rocks canyons, towering flat-topped mesas and desert peppered with juniper. You’ll love this road when you love watching nature. Look out for golden eagles, Hopi chipmunks and bighorn sheep on the way.
The Saddlehorn Visitor Center is a great place to go when you want to find out more about this area which is more than two billion years old.
Gold Belt Tour Scenic Byway – 114 miles
Florence to Florence
This ride goes around the Florence area, linking several old mining towns together. These mining towns sprang up during the Colorado Gold Rush. The ride combines scenery with history and characterful urban settlements.
The ride is great in any season of the year. The best advised time for car users is during autmn when the aspens turn yellow and the mountains are crowned with crisp, fresh snow. We prefer the summer though since the road conditions are more suitable for us motorcyclists.
From Florence you head west on Freeway 50, bypassing Canon City, and you turn right onto Country Road 9 after 10 miles. A right fork after another 8.6 miles leads on to High Park Road, an easy ride through rolling ranchlands dotted with isolated miners’ shacks.
Joining Teller Country Road 1, the route passes the unmistakable Dome Rock before winding into the little town of Florrisant.
For the way back, you return via Cripple Creek, hub of the mining area, where fork offers two routes back to Florence. The Shelf Road is partially unpaved and only suitable for adventure bikes. It wiggles along a ledge on the canyon wall. The road is very narrow and dusty so only suitable for those who are in for an adventure. The alternative is the Phantom Canyon Road. It is also unpaved and has some high wooden bridges and two hand-cut tunnels as well. Are you on a motorcycle that is not suited for these conditions? In that case, you might consider driving back the way you came here.
More information and maps can be found on the Gold Belt Tour website.
Pikes Peak Highway – 19 miles
From Cascade to Pikes Peak summit
This next ride is short, but absolutely amazing. Pikes Peak is known to many as ‘America’s Mountain’ and since 1916 it has been home to one of the country’s greatest motorsports spectacles, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC).
This event is hosted every year in the weekend closest to the 4th of July. Some of the worlds best race drivers descend on this famous road, handling 156 turns on a 4,720-ft tall rise to the summit.
The PPIHC became very popular after the award-winning short film Climb Dance in 1989. The good thing is that this road is a public road 51 weekends of the year! The first half is spectacularly scenic, but after Glen Cove, things start to get more serious. Above the tree lines, there are perilous drops beyond the narrow scrubby shoulders. As you gasp the final few yards to the highway’s end at 14,110 feet above sea level, you will be left awestruck by two things: the phenomenal panoramas and the astonishing bravery of the men and women that compete in the PPIHC each season.
Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway – 186 miles
From Aspen to Leadville
This long-distance ride will bring you to the most scenic spots in the Rockies. The route rarely dips below 9,000 feet and it offers great access to all the hiking, mountain biking and off-road trails that branch off from this amazing route. It’s an amazing place to be in, for those that want to combine a motorcycle ride with some adventure hiking. Just bring your camping gear and you’ll be in for a great week.
This byway will offer you sights of bighorn sheep, elk, and red foxes. The rivers and lakes on the way offer you some great fishing opportunities.
The ride starts at the well-known winter sports village of Aspen. On Highway 82, head east towards Twin Lakes. This road is better known as Independence Pass and has been voted one of America’s PRettiest Fall Drives by Forbes Magazine.
Turn north on Route 24 and proceed towards the quintessential mountain town of Leadville. The town is now known for its Victorian architecture, but it was once the seedy social center of Colorado’s gold mining boom, sporting nearly 100 saloons, dance halls, and brothels!
Go left through Tennessee Pass past the ghost town of Gilman towards Vail; right on CO-91 towards the lovely holiday resort of Copper Mountain. Both of these roads are amazingly beautiful so it’s best that you turn this itinerary into a loop via the I-70 and return to Leadville.
Colorado River Headwater Byway – 72 miles
From Grand Lake to Bond
The Colorado River is an icon of the landscape in North America. It flows from the Rocky Mountains National Park to the Gulf of California and cuts its way through the rough area of the Grand Canyon. This ride shadows the Colorado River on its way, taking you to some beautiful places where nature is at its best.
We start in the town of Grand Lake and head south, passing the stretch of water that gives the place its name. Two big human-made lakes will follow. These are the Shadow Mountain Lake and Lake Granby. Then the road crosses the river whiles you head up to Granby, 8,000 feet above sea level, before once again crossing the Colorado River.
From there on, this ride is a combination of twists and turns whiles following the Colorado River, partly along the Trail Ridge Road. This is another fantastic rider’s route once traversed by horse-drawn stagecoaches.
There are loads of places to stop on the way and some of them are absolutely worth stopping by. Examples are the Hot Sulphur Springs, where you can take an invigorating steamy soak. Another place worth stopping by is the old silver-mining settlement of Kremmling. It is in striking distance of three national parks and known for its fishing, kayaking, and white-water rafting.
The road is entirely covered in tarmac, making it suitable for most motorcycles. Its southern endpoint is near the town of Bond, which is originally a stop on the never-finished Denver and Salt Lake Railroad.
Trail Ridge Road – 63 miles
From Estes Park to Granby
This ride starts at Estes Park, right beneath the snowy peaks. The Ridge Road is part of Route 34 and has been described as ‘scenic wonder road of the world’ when it was first opened back in 1932.
Starting from the east gate, the first leg is strung between a series of speaks on a spur of the Rocky Mountains between Fall River and Big Thompson River. It has some spectacular high-level road climbs, but they are never more than 7% by design. These climbs bring you towards the Alpine Visitor Center. Most of the bends are furnished with commodious shoulders that offer majestic panoramas from your motorcycle. Make sure to stop every now and then to enjoy the amazing views.
About 1/4th of this ride is above the tree line, snaking across barren alpine tundra to a height of 12,183 feet. The winds can be quite savage and the temperatures can be significantly lower than at the start of this trip. Keep this in mind when you are doing this ride with your motorcycle since the conditions could be uncomfortable at some seasons.
From the top on, the route descends southwards. The final descent to the valley floor loops through a series of switchbacks towards lush flowering meadows in springtime. The trip will end in Granby, knows by many energetic outdoor types.
