the best sights in colorado ( Archived) (8)

Yay! Finally something I can answer!

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is downright awe inspiring. Grand Mesa can be pretty fantastic as well. Down in the slickrock country around Rico and Delores, there are photo ops around nearly every bend. Same goes for the drive along US550 from Montrose through Ouray and over the top to Durango - It's called "The highway that runs through the clouds" for a darn good reason. And while you're in that part of country, take a ride on the Silverton train from Durango - I promise you won't regret it.

Mesa Verde is pretty darned neat, as is 7 Falls just outside Colorado Springs, but they've both become too commercialized for my taste. The Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Monument can be both awe inspiring and a little daunting, but if you're a backpacker and have the resources/personal abilities to cross the dunes into the mountains beyond you'll wonder why you didn't pack more film.

Dinosaur Nat'l Monument to the west of you has some really neat, almost moonscape terrain features, but it's also high desert, so be prepared to bake during the day and freeze at night if you're backpacking in.

Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park also has some pretty awesome scenery, but a lot of people go there and it's nearly been photographed into submission.

And if it's ease of access you're after, then I-70 runs right through Glenwood Canyon - 13 miles of 'strain your neck to see the sky,' pure, glorious ruggedness (which just happens to have a major interstate highway at the bottom).

I could go on and on - The Spanish Peaks, Garden of the Gods, Devil's Thumb, Thumb Butte, Cache La Poudre River, McClure Pass, The La Plata mountains, Rollins Pass... I've hiked, backpacked, ridden and driven thousands of miles in Colorado and there's always a new vista waiting to be seen; One more eagle to be glimpsed soaring amongst the peaks... One more Aspen grove alongside one more stream to offer shade and music to one who takes the time to sit and listen...

Hope these suggestions helped!

One of my brothers used to live outside of Durango as well. He worked for a time as a hunting guide for Rocky Mountain Outfitters in Pagosa Springs. Several years before he moved there, I spent almost an entire summer backpacking alone and loosely following the Rocky Mountain Trail from Durango to Denver. One of the greatest summers of my life until I moved to Tennessee last year.

I've also spent time in the Wind River and Bridger Mountains in Wyoming, the Sawtooths in Idaho and up on the San Rafael Swell in Utah, as well as down in the 4 corners country. The American West is just nothing short of amazing! (But you have to like lonely country!)

One more thing I might mention: It doen't matter how good your photgraphic equipment is - Unless (and maybe even if) you're a professional photographer, the very best pictures will be the ones taken by the camera of your mind. Those are the ones that will remain with you your whole life long, no matter what happens to the ones stuffed into albums and shoeboxes and shuffled from place to place to eventually be lost in the quest for the future.

I can close my eyes right now and be back in the glade at Deadman's Gulch even though I haven't seen the pictures I took there in almost 15 years.

Look, see, absorb and then, no matter where you go the mountains will always be a part of you and you of them...