Tell me about east of Moab

[Boondocker]

My nose tells me that the area bounded by Moab on the west and Montrose on the east; Grand Junction on the north and Ridgeway on the south must have some really nice country in it. Who has been in it? Whats there, best seasons to visit? The attached map shows the area of interest.



School me.

[Mollysdad]

I used to go to that area every summer. I loved it.
East of Moab is a "road" that takes you through Nucla and up and over the Uncompahgre range. The road ends in Montrose as hwy 90 I believe. It's a road made for logging trucks, I tried to go from Montrose to Moab on my dual sport bike and gave up. Gravel switchbacks with no guardrails, basically one lane. To make it more exciting there's a thunderstorm every day in the summer on top of the plateau. So IF I crossed, I probably wasn't coming back right away.
I probably could have done it with the bike, but at a certain age you start thinking of survival if you're by yourself.
Don't be fooled, leaving Montrose the road is great, then less and less until you're on the logging road.
Words like "It's only ninety miles, I can be there by lunch!" were forgotten by twenty miles.
There is a WONDERFUL paved road running N/S through Gateway from north of Telluride to Grand Junction. Hwy 141, a scenic masterpiece. Light or no traffic, sweeping curves through Gateway Canyon and the Delores river.

[Ron Glow]

[QUOTE=Boondocker;2486895]My nose tells me that the area bounded by Moab on the west and Montrose on the east; Grand Junction on the north and Ridgeway on the south must have some really nice country in it. Who has been in it? Whats there, best seasons to visit? The attached map shows the area of interest.

I lived in Fuita, CO back in 1981 and used to go up the Colorado National Monument and on to Glade Park, farther south. I was told by locals that one could head west from Glade Park, cross into Utah and ford across the Colorado river and on to Moab. It sounded interesting, but I never checked it out. Not sure how deep the river was at the fording point.

[kidjedi]

Following. Heck, the information already posted by Mollysdad is worth bookmarking the thread!

[Ken G]

CO-141 follows the Dolores River from Telluride to Dolores, it is a beautiful drive with NPS as well as commercial campgrounds. Many opportunities for hiking, fishing and four wheeling.

[kidjedi]

This may be getting a little off-topic, but how is 50 for getting over to Telluride from Denver (instead of taking 70)? I was thinking I would take 50 west to catch 141, then down 141 and over to Moab. This would also be a good route to get to the area in discussion.

Just deciding if I should tow or drive the motorhome (in regard to mountain driving).

[greenflag]

We travel to Montrose every year to visit family. Black Canyon of the Gunnison east of Montrose is beautiful. Take a trip to Gateway. At the resort there is the Gateway Auto Museum. The road to Gateway is beautiful. I have seen Bighorn sheep right near the road. If you spend some time in Montrose do go to Ouray. It is Americas Switzerland. I hiked to Box Canyon Falls. They also have a natural hot springs there. Ouray is just up the road from Ridgeway.

[greenflag]

kidjedi

I have towed my 30 footer. from Ridgeway over Lizard Head Pass. I encountered no issues. There is only one spot where the road gets a little narrow. It could hold ice at certain times of the year.
I have not towed into Telluride but you can see it from the highway.

[kidjedi]

Originally Posted by greenflag

I have towed my 30 footer. from Ridgeway over Lizard Head Pass. I encountered no issues. There is only one spot where the road gets a little narrow. It could hold ice at certain times of the year.
I have not towed into Telluride but you can see it from the highway.

Thanks for the info. I towed the 25 footer up and down Wolf Creek pass (to and from Pagosa) last October with no issues, and I just took the Argosy motorhome out for mountain driving tests a couple weeks ago and it did pretty well. I'm just wondering what sustaining that kind of driving for the entire length of 50 (taking 285 from Denver) to Montrose will entail. Thanks again!

[GammaDog]

We drove (w Airstream in tow) from Devils Garden in Arches NP to Ridgway SP in May of 2016.

Here’s my blog post from that day. The specifics of that route are at the end. https://silvercliche.blogspot.com/20...-colorado.html

Now, five years later, I remember that drive for a bunch of things. 1. It’s truly off the beaten path 2. It had one of the steeper sections we’ve ever driven. That is the descent from the Utah side into Paradox Valley 3. Paradox Valley was very scenic and, well, a paradox since the river in it runs perpendicular to the valley 4. It was a great example of western slope geography... unspoiled... beautiful without being overpowering.

[kidjedi]

Originally Posted by GammaDog

We drove (w Airstream in tow) from Devils Garden in Arches NP to Ridgway SP in May of 2016.

Here’s my blog post from that day. The specifics of that route are at the end. https://silvercliche.blogspot.com/20...-colorado.html

Thanks. Good information. I have taken the liberty of copying that paragraph here for others:

So on we went. During the day we crossed Paradox Valley, Colorado. This vast and unknown (to me and I believe 99.999% of Americans) place was a beautiful valley about 2,000 feet deep and 2-3 miles across and 15 miles long with a flat valley floor. It is a “paradox” because the only river in it runs perpendicular to the axis of the valley. It literally comes through a cut in the 2,000 foot tall cliffs on one side, crosses the valley floor and heads out another cut on the other side. During the day we climbed about 10,000 feet in total as we crossed three separate passes. Then after each we descended steep grades totaling about 7,000 feet. In other words, we are 3,000 higher tonight in the Rockies than we were when the day started. The first descent was shortly after La Sal and placed us on the Paradox Valley floor. It was a 9% grade with a 15 MPH hairpin turn at the bottom. This was only our second 9% grade (the other heading east from the Big Horn National Forest in Wyoming included flashing lights, runaway truck ramps and all the bells and whistles). This one had some guardrails… and not much more. You may understand why Mrs. C' vetoed my suggestion that this could make a great “Silver Cliche' Driving Experience” photo series. The highest point in the day came near the end as we passed Telluride, Colorado and headed the last 20 miles to Ridgeway. The top of the pass was 8,980 according to our altimeter. The day that had been 72 and sunny in Moab, Utah was now 36 degrees and… snow flurries. We even saw a sign at one point that said that this Colorado route has a tire chain law. Violators were subject to a $500 - $1,000 fine. The requirement was to have chains available from September to May. Wait a minute. This is May. Holy cow, they expect me to have chains on Memorial Day. We need to get back to Florida!