Bike tour/Utah and Colorado (Summer 2022)
Alternate pages
- /Old: Mika's original alternate plan
- /Packing list
Planning page for our hot summer bike tour in Utah and Colorado!
- Someone's Salt Lake to Denver trip
- direct Google routing from SLC to Breckenridge.
Day -1 βοΈ: Seattle β Salt Lake City
Thursday July 28, 2022
- Stay
- [TODO] hotels are all super reasonable in the $150 range for a DoubleTree! Want to do this? Or something else?
-- Sounds great!
- Highest altitude
- ~4200ft
Itinerary:
- Flight from SEA @ 6:20pm β SLC @ 9:20pm
Resources:
Day 0: Salt Lake City
Friday July 29, 2022
- Stay
- [To Be Decided], same as previous day
Resources:
Day 1: π² Salt Lake City β Kamas (Knotty Pine)
Saturday July 30, 2022
- Stay
- Knotty Pine Resort is a private RV park w/ swimming pool [DONE]
- Mileage
- ~65mi 6200ft or ~60mi and 7100ft
- Food
- breakfast [To Be Decided]; lunch: Five5seeds in Park City; dinner: camping dinner #1
- Weather
- Hot (>30C).
- Notes
- Lodging is paid in advance plus one thing of firewood which should be included! There is a pool, hot tub, water and WiFi and probably even power for our phones.
Alternative Lodging:
- Yellow Pine Campground (33 sites; all first come, first served; vault toilets, no water; $20)
- Shingle Creek is also first-come/first-served and is 3mi down the road from Yellow Pine (21 other sites)
- Should be all National Forest land so dispersed camping should be an option
- The Saturday is fully booked at the nearest campground (Soapstone) so it might be worth thinking about staying at Knotty Pine instead.
Day 2: π² Kamas (Knotty Pine) β Starvation State Park
Sunday July 31, 2022
- Stay
- Starvation State Park, Rabbit Gulch West Loop Site #5 (primitive campground w/ no water; but right on the lake; pre-paid) [DONE]
- Mileage
- (~62mi)
- Food
- breakfast camping breakfast; lunch: Hanna Hilton Cafe and Bar (~30mi); dinner: camping dinner #2
- Weather
- ~30C
- Stops
- Pick up beer at the Hanna General Store
- Alternatives lodging
- Starvation State Park seems to have lots of availability
- Alternative: Strawberry River Bed and Breakfast in Duchesne (or a best western)
- [DONE] save/print the reservation
- There seem to be some FCFS campgrounds at Rabbit Gulch and elsewhere within Starvation.
Day 3: π² Starvation β Vernal
Monday August 1, 2022
- Stay
- Dinosaurland KOA (which has pool and minigolf) [DONE]
- Mileage
- 67.4mi (1700ft but mostly down)
- Food
- Breakfast: Cowan's Cafe in Duchesne seems like the place but is likely closed Sunday+Monday; alternative could be Betos Mexican Food (open at 6am); and should be great.
- Lunch Frontier Grill in Roosevelt (~35mi); alternative is Rocky's or Burger King. Many options!);
- Dinner: Vernal Brewing Company (open until 9pm) or the slightly lower-key Dinosaur Brew House
- Weather
- Likely Hot (~33-35C)
- Itinerary
- Breakfast and lunch on the road
- Arrival in Vernal by 4pm so we can stop by the Utah Field House (dinosaur museum/state park which is apparently good!) [open 9-5 every day]
- Drop off bags and check in at KOA in Vernal (>2mi from the center of town)
- Dinner in Vernal
- Alternative lodgings
- A bunch of hotels in Vernal
Day 4: π² Vernal β Kenney Resevoir
Tuesday August 2, 2022
- Stay
- Kenny Reservoir [1] (FCFS and $8.00 but the person one the phone said there's one free camp spot we can use "at the wildlife viewing area past the campground and the Jesus is coming rock") [DONE]
- Mileage
- 63mi 1500ft (pretty flat)
- Food
- breakfast: recommendation for Betty's Cafe in Vernal (open at 6am); lunch ?; dinner ?
- Weather
- Hot (highs of 30-35Β°C)
- Stops
- Early breakfast in Vernal on the way out
- Dinosaur National Monument!
- Stop at the Quarry Exhibit Hall at Dinosaur National Monument
- Take the 0.5mi hike to see petroglyphs at the Swelter Shelter near the QEH
- Lunch in Jensen (pretty close to coming back from the monument) or in Dinosaur (40mi from the start)
- Notes
- We'll cross from Utah into Colorado
- the more attractive route goes south along 45, changes to old bonanza hwy and crosses along a little unpaved road but it might be a little too long?
- Alternative route going into Bonanza and then Stanton seems doable. It's only 6-7mi more.
- One idea is to visit Fantasy Canyon along the way but it would probably add 15mi (so like 85mi instead of 67).
- Alternative places to stay
- Moose Head Lodge
- Buck N Bull RV Park
- Silver Sage RV Park
- Blue Mountain Inn and Suites ($100 for the night)
- Outside Inn (slightly less nice hotel)
- Notes
- "For more information on Kenney Reservoir ... contact the water district at (970) 675-5055."
- Map of Kenney Reservoir
Day 5: π² Kenney Resevoir β Rifle State Park
Wednesday August 3, 2022
- Stay
- Rifle State Park (Site 45 Lakeview) [DONE]
- Mileage
- ~87mi but only 3k feet
- Food
- breakfast?; lunch ?; dinner ?
- Weather
- Hot (>30C).
Resources:
- kenney resenvoir to rifle gap state park (87 miles (quite long) but only 3k ft
Alternatives:
- Elkhaven Lodge is in a better place but it's $300 and minimum 2nights. We could call?
- Trail and Hitch RVpark and Tiny Home Hotel has a sauna and wifi and $15 tent spots (Available); sadly, tinyhomes are only available for a 2-night stay. It's only (54mi from kenney) but it sets up a killer 100mi day for the last day assuming we stay in Glenwood Springs.
Day 6: π² Rifle State Park β Wolcott BLM Campground
Thursday August 4, 2022
- Stay
- Wolcott BLM Campground (no reservations; FCFS; $10)
- Mileage
- [To Be Decided]
- Food
- breakfast?; lunch ?; dinner ?
- Weather
- Hot (>30C).
Resources:
Itinerary:
- Leg 1: 15mi from campground to New Castle
- Bus: from New Castle to Glenwood Springs
- Bus from New Castle to to Glenwood Springs on Hogback Rifle route which leaves New Castle 6th and Main 40 minutes after each hour and also 10 minutes after 7am, 8am, 5pm, and 6pm.
- Not all bus stops take bikes but there is a [page about this here] and a map of bike stops here so I think we need to go from the stop on 6th and Main in New Castle to the Park & Ride in Glenwood springs.
- Loading bikes is either a two-bike rack which is the same as metro or a complicated 4-bike rack which is actually two racks and we should load them to the driver side first and then the passanger side.
- Pool in Glenwood Springs Hot Springs (open 8am-9pm; kinda pricey at $~39)
- Leg 2: 40 mi to Wolcott BLM campground
Alternative places to stay:
- Gypsum Campground (BLM)
- Stay in a Best Western (or similar) in Eagle. Kinda expensive for what it is, honestly
Resources:
It's hard to do given the 100 mi to Breckenridge but It would be nice to stay in Glenwood Springs for the night since there's a hot spring there but it sets up a pretty rough day.
Glenwood resources:
- If we stay in glenwood, there is a "resort" with camping sites although they are quite expensive ($67) so a hotel might be easier.
- Hotels in Glenwood Springs are werdly expensive. the "best" hotel is a 3-star Hotel Denver is that is like $250 for the night.
Day 7: π² Wolcott BLM Campground β Breckenridge
Friday August 5, 2022
- Stay
- Mileage
- Food
- breakfast?; lunch ?; dinner ?
- Weather
- Hot (>30C).
- The first thing with emma is 5-9pm so it would be good to arrive as close to 5pm as possible. if we do 100 we'll want to be rolling by like 6am.
- Option a: if we stay in glenwood, it's a little under 100 mi into breckenridge (and 5.6k feet of climbing. Basically the first 80 seems like a gradual river valley climb).. it's possible and it's the last day so might be OK?
- If we stay in Eagle or Wolcott it would be just 70 or 60 mi into breckenridge the next day.
Resources:
Day 7+1: Wedding!
- Stay
- Mileage
- Food
- breakfast?; lunch ?; dinner ?
- Weather
- Hot (>30C).
Day 7+2: π Breckenridge β Denver
- Stay
- [TODO]
- Food
- breakfast?; lunch ?; dinner ?
- Weather
- Hot (>30C).
Itinerary:
- [TODO] bus ticket (buy tickets)
- 4:20pm: Meow Wolf Convergence Station (tickets are in Google Pay) [arrive 10min early]
- 7pm: Dinner reservations at Uchi Denver at the counter (award winning sushi joint with a vegetarian tasting menu)
- https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Breckenridge_(Colorado)
- https://gobreck.com/plan-your-visit/transportation-maps-directions/how-to-get-to-breckenridge-from-denver
- This seems to be $60 each: https://www.mountainshuttle.com/shuttle-services/breckenridge/
- Epic Mountain Express seems to give a discount: "Book reservations at least 48 hours prior to travel. Reservations made the same day of travel are subject to a $5/per person fee. Accepting reservations through 10/31/2022"
Vail/DIA times: 7:00 am / 9:15 am 8:30 am / 10:45 am 10:00 am / 12:15 pm 11:30 am / 1:45 pm 3:00 pm / 5:15 pm
Day 7+3: βοΈ Denver β Seattle
- Stay
- [To Be Decided]
- Food
- breakfast?; lunch ?; dinner ?
- Weather
- Hot (>30C).
Places to visit
- Arches National Park
- Dark Sky Parks - parks where you can see lots of stars
- Canyonlands National Park
- The Narrows in Zion National Park