Although most of you come to Colorado
to ride the great roads in the Rocky Mountains, western Colorado (as well as
most of southern Utah) provides some beautiful red rock canyon riding also.
The Unaweep loop provides a fun ride that includes a great ride through the
Delores River and San Miguel River canyons, as well as skirting the San Juan
Mountains; however, there may be a few of you that would like to do a FULL day
of canyon riding. If so, then this loop would be for you. This will
be a long day, but includes some awesome scenery and riding, including rides
through the Colorado River canyon east of Moab, UT, as well as the Paradox
Valley, Delores River Canyon, and Unaweep Canyon in Colorado. If you are
interested in such a day, then this one may be just for you. Check-out the
map, directions, and photos -- it could be a lot of fun!
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.]
Montrose US-50 through Delta
towards Grand Junction to 32 Road ~55 miles
32 Road to I-70 ~6 miles
I-70 west through Fruita into Utah
and get off at Exit 212 for Cisco ~55 miles
Cisco Road west through the
abandoned town of Cisco to UT-128 ~13 miles
UT-128 south/west over relatively flat country
with the LaSal Mountains getting closer by the moment, dropping down to the
Colorado River ~12 miles
Continue on UT-128 along the
Colorado River and through the canyon with the red rock cliffs to Moab
~30 miles
A short drive off UT-128 at 16
miles before Moab will take you into Castle Valley (just beautiful). You
have a choice here as you can continue on past Castle Valley and climb up the LaSal
Mountain Loop Road, eventually coming out on US-191 south of Moab, joining the
planned route. The
road is a little rough in a few spot, but it is all paved and it offers awesome views of Castle
Valley, the LaSal Mountain peaks (you will be close to them) and a perspective
from above of the canyon country around Moab -- it will be much cooler also
due to a gain in elevation. {NOTE that where the paved road bends and
begins the climb up into the LaSal Mountains -- a dirt, 4x4 road goes straight
ahead from that point, eventually arriving in Gateway (which you might right
through much later in the day). Or,
if you are not interested in the LaSal Mountain Loop, you can ride to the end
of Castle Valley and turn around before starting up the mountain, returning to
UT-128 to continue through the Colorado River Canyon (it gets even more
beautiful) on
to Moab. For today's ride, I'd recommend just visiting Castle Valley and
returning to -128 to travel on to Moab for lunch.
Moab has a lot to
offer for some great riding, but unfortunately you will not have time today.
If you get the chance to return to Moab for a full-day of riding, you should
include Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, Canyonlands
National Park Island in the Sky, Potash Road, and the LaSal Mountain Loop.
Lunch at a nice place along Main
Street in Moab.
US-191 south through Moab
continuing on to LaSal Junction ~25 miles
East on UT-46 (becomes
CO-90 when you enter Colorado) with a great mix of sweepers and twisties as your cross the
southern end of the LaSal Mountains, heading into beautiful canyons before
exiting above the Paradox Valley. Dropping down into the valley and
passing Bedrock (36 miles from LaSal Junction; stop at the Bedrock store [IF it is still open--it was for
sale] for some photos and a bit of history) and continuing on towards CO-141
(just north of Naturita) ~55 miles
Decision time: You can head
back to Montrose via one of two routes:
South via Naturita, Norwood,
Placerville, Dallas Divide, and Ridgeway, or
North via Delores River Canyon,
Gateway, Unaweep Canyon, Whitewater, and Delta
Northern Route:
If you did not gas up in Moab you
might want to go right into Naturita to top your tank.
CO-141 North through the Uranium
mining country, traveling on to the Delores River Canyon with sheer red cliffs
and lots of sweeping turns; be sure and stop at the overlook on the left for
the Hanging Flume some several miles after the Uranium mining area (Uravan)
before heading down into the Delores River Canyon. Just an awesome ride
through the canyon with sweeper after sweeper after sweeper, with a few
twisties mixed in -- you'll be surrounded by sheer red cliffs on your way to
Gateway. ~50 miles
If not done on the Unaweep Loop,
and if you have time, you might want to spend some time in Gateway (an old
town that had run-down over the past years, the founder of the Discovery
Channel is spending big bucks in Gateway, constructing an awesome "canyon
country" resort (perhaps the Moab of the future) and the Gateway Auto Museum
(open to the public for $9, and worth every penny). You'll may want to
visit the museum.
CO-141 north/east from Gateway to
Whitewater ~44 miles
Just an awesome ride as you climb
into the higher plateau and valley, with twisties giving way to sweepers
through the valley, then returning to twisties as you drop down off the
plateau.
US-50 east/south from Whitewater
through Delta to Montrose. ~52 miles
Southern Route:
CO-141 south to Naturita and on to CO-145 to
Placerville ~38 miles
Easy riding out of Naturita; in a
few miles CO-141 ends and you will be on CO-145 (continue straight and do
not turn right on CO-145 west to Utah), continuing to Redvale, eventually
dropping down off the plateau to follow the San Miguel River canyon to Placerville
(lots of nice twisties).
CO-62 east to Ridgeway and US-50
~23 miles
A beautiful ride as you climb
from Placerville on CO-62, with lots of large sweeping turns as you climb to
the top of Dallas Divide; stop at the pull off on the right just past the top of
the Divide for great views of Mt. Sneffels and the San Juan Mountains to the
south; continue down from the Divide to Ridgeway and US-550.
