McClure Pass, Glenwood Springs, and Grand Mesa -- 291 miles
[click map for larger view]
This route includes two exceptional stretches of riding road:
CO-133 (part of the West Elk Scenic By-way and the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway).
After departing Paonia, CO-133 becomes an exceptional ride with larger sweepers
with a mix of tight twisties (particularly along Paonia reservoir) as it follows
the North Fork of the Gunnison River and then Muddy Creek to the top of McClure
Pass. As the road climbs towards the top of the pass, you are surrounded
by awesome views of the West Elk Mountains. Dropping down on the north
side of McClure Pass provides awesome mountain views, following by more great
riding along the Crystal River. Glenwood Springs is famous for its mineral
hot springs (open to the public). I-70 west provides some interesting
riding as it follows the Colorado River (mix of mountains, canyons, and open
roads) to your turn-off for Grand Mesa. After turning on CO-65 you'll have
more twisties and as your through the Plateau Creek Canyon and Valley, turning
into large sweepers with awesome views as you climb to the top of Grand Mesa.
The Mesa provides some nice riding through trees and lakes before dropping down
on the south side (great views of the West Elk Mountains to the southeast, the
San Juan Mountains to the South, and the Uncompaghre Plateau to the west).
Temperatures will be much cooler on top of the Mesa.
GPS Data Files:
[NOTE: After downloading these
files to your computer, you need to re-calculate the route in MapSource or your
software before transferring them to your GPS.]
US-50 west from Montrose for a quick ride up to Delta ~23
miles
CO-92 north/east through some pretty barren country, but with
views of Grand Mesa to the west and the West Elk Mountains to the north and
northeast), to Hotchkiss ~20 miles
CO-133 north on part of the
West Elk Scenic Byway to Paonia and then through the Somerset coal mining
country, turning into some awesome riding along the North Fork of the Gunnison
River (to the turn-off for Crested Butte [road to Crested Butte is NOT
paved]), nice twisties along Paonia Reservoir, then the awesome, gradually
climbing sweepers along Muddy Creek and to the top of McClure Pass. Just
some great views of the West Elk Mountains, but you'll probably be
concentrating on the riding on this great road. After cresting McClure
Pass you'll have great views of the backside of the mountains near Aspen, with
views up the valley towards Marble (the marble used in many of the buildings
and monuments, including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in Washington, DC,
came from this area). Riding along the Crystal River is a lot of fun,
and think about stopping in Redstone (turn off to the right about 5 miles
after you reach the bottom of McClure Pass). ~50 miles
Continue on CO-133 along the Crystal River with Mt. Sopris to
the right and on to Carbondale ~16 miles
CO-82 west to Glenwood Springs ~13 miles
Glenwood Springs is famous for its mineral
hot springs (open to
the public) and the gateway to the Aspen ski areas in the winter.
Several places here for lunch if you did not stop in Redstone.
I-70 west along the Colorado River provides lots of high-speed
sweepers with both mountains and canyon views to the turn-off for CO-65.
~72 miles
CO-65 south/east riding some twisties and sweepers, then
climbing to the top of Grand Mesa, then dropping down into Cedaredge to CO-92
~55miles
Grand Mesa is another one of Colorado's more hidden spots and
is the largest flat-top mesa in the world. It will be much cooler at the
top, which you will undoubtedly appreciate; take a side trip to the
Grand Mesa
Lodge and enjoy some of the sights in this area, eventually dropping down
through the town of Cedaredge.
