I'm never driving I-70 again between Moab and GJ! Okay fine when the passes are snowed in I will...but that's it!
So I started out trying Saturday afternoon thinking I'd run up through the Colorado National Monument and camp out somewhere after that point and then press on into Utah and cross the Dolores River...unfortunately most of the land from there to the border of Utah is private land and as it was getting dark a snow storm rolled in leaving me with about 15 feet of visibility as i was driving....so i retreated back down to the Colorado National Monument. Here's a post with some info on this route.... http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168548&highlight=dolores+river+road
Sunday morning I decided to give going through Gateway, CO and then up through John Brown Canyon a try. Man what a cool drive! The drive from GJ to Gateway is extremely scenic, beautiful views the entire way. Then the Gateway area itself is just gorgeous. There's not much of a town there but they are building a nice resort...apparently it's being built by the guy that started the Discovery Channel. I had lunch at the little grill they had there and then headed out.
The John Brown Canyon road starts immediately after the resort...it actually looks as if the future plans for the resort will go up into the canyon a little ways. Once again an extremely scenic drive over a nice dirt road. As I climbed higher the road became a bit muddier and eventually had some snow on it as well. The van was actually handling a bit squirlier than I had expected at this point and after thinking it over a bit I think it's because the front axle is a couple inches wider than the rear axle and so when i was getting into the tracks other people had driven the van wouldn't track very well. I really need to look into getting some wheel spacers for the rear. The road is not maintained in the winter but there are signs along the way pointing you in the direction of Moab which was nice. Overall it was a very cool drive and I'd definitely recommend it.
Here's a few pics from the trip...
So I started out trying Saturday afternoon thinking I'd run up through the Colorado National Monument and camp out somewhere after that point and then press on into Utah and cross the Dolores River...unfortunately most of the land from there to the border of Utah is private land and as it was getting dark a snow storm rolled in leaving me with about 15 feet of visibility as i was driving....so i retreated back down to the Colorado National Monument. Here's a post with some info on this route.... http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168548&highlight=dolores+river+road
Sunday morning I decided to give going through Gateway, CO and then up through John Brown Canyon a try. Man what a cool drive! The drive from GJ to Gateway is extremely scenic, beautiful views the entire way. Then the Gateway area itself is just gorgeous. There's not much of a town there but they are building a nice resort...apparently it's being built by the guy that started the Discovery Channel. I had lunch at the little grill they had there and then headed out.
The John Brown Canyon road starts immediately after the resort...it actually looks as if the future plans for the resort will go up into the canyon a little ways. Once again an extremely scenic drive over a nice dirt road. As I climbed higher the road became a bit muddier and eventually had some snow on it as well. The van was actually handling a bit squirlier than I had expected at this point and after thinking it over a bit I think it's because the front axle is a couple inches wider than the rear axle and so when i was getting into the tracks other people had driven the van wouldn't track very well. I really need to look into getting some wheel spacers for the rear. The road is not maintained in the winter but there are signs along the way pointing you in the direction of Moab which was nice. Overall it was a very cool drive and I'd definitely recommend it.
Here's a few pics from the trip...