Do you want to road trip Colorado, but short on time? Here are the stops I visited in the Summer, and recommend! Including national and state parks, scenic byways, dispersed camping, and random fun stops!
Here’s a map to help you locate each stop on the map!
Something to note:
While on this road trip throughout Colorado, We woke up every day an hour before sunrise, and went to bed an hour after sunset. This gave us the most time available during sunlight hours. We slept in my jeep, and utilize dispersed camping every night on this trip to save money, and save on driving time. Our goal was to see and cover as much area as possible. Keep in mind while you’re planning, that you may spend more/less time at a certain place, so plan in the driving time it may take to get there. We spent most of the night time hours, driving to the locations, so we can soak up all sunlight hours with views and adventure!
Here is some information about dispersed camping in Colorado.
Day 1: Colorado Springs, CO – Buena Vista, CO
Begin your day in Colorado Springs, CO. We started our morning entering Garden of the Gods Park. It’s an amazing sight to see the mountain landscape, red rocks, and city skyline light up from the sun. We also saw quite a few deer at sunrise.
I highly recommend getting your morning coffee at Dutch Bros Coffee. If you’ve never been there, it’s amazing. They have stickers they hand out for free. Their mocha flavors are made with a milk chocolate base. They have such a variety of drinks, you’re bound to find one to try for your road trip!
Next, we were going to head up to Pikes Peak. But, there was a long line, and it is a fee to do the drive, so we decided to pass on this mountain this trip. Here’s some info on pricing.
Pikes Peak is known as American’s Mountain. Why? Because the song writer, Katherine Lee Bates, wrote the song “American the Beautiful.” You can drive your own car, or get a tour on a train, bus, or Jeep, or even bike all the way up. This is one of the only 14ers accessible by car!
We did make a stop on the way up to Santa’s workshop. It was closed but looked like a super fun amusement park, great stop for the kids!
After, we ventured into Muller State Park. This is a popular wildlife watching area. The rangers told us there were multiple bear sightings, on the back country and local trails. This state park offers many, many trails. We ended up hiking the school pond trail. It is a 3.5 mile loop hike. This hike offers beautiful views of Pikes Peak.
Something to note: The park is dog friendly, but they MUST be leashed. Dogs are NOT allowed on the back country trails.
For the evening, we drove to Buena Vista, CO. We ended up heading down to Riverside Park Drive. This was a beautiful scenic dirt road, that goes along the Arkansas River. As it weaves around the rivers edge, you go through rock tunnels that seem like you’re going to squeeze through, but there’s actually lots of room.
Something to note: Be aware that parts of this drive are only fit for one car, so drive slow and cautious!
Whitewater rafting is a huge attraction here. Some of the companies that provide that service are:
We sat by the water, ate dinner, and ended up dispersed camping at Elephant Rock Campground. It’s completely free!!!
Can you see the elephant?
Day 2: Leadville, CO – Aspen, CO via Independence Pass
We woke up super early and began the trek (about 40 minute drive) to Leadville, Colorado! Leadville is a small town that we didn’t venture much into. Incredibly, the San Isabel Forest was something we stumbled upon, and I’m so happy we did. Within this forest, you can find mountain views, clear lakes, and even rushing rivers with waterfalls. There was one of the most beautiful spots along our drive, in my opinion.
There was some campsites within this forest as well. Here are a few recommendations:
- Crescent Mining Camp – which has cabins for rent as well as camp sites.
- Pike-San Isabel National Forest – they have lots of dispersed camping here!
- Molly Brown Campground – located on turquoise lake.
We ventured around here far longer than we had planned, as it was something we came upon. Just outside of this forest, near Leadville, there is the Fish Hatchery. This is worth a quick stop, too. Especially, for the kids!
After we had spend the morning adventuring into the forest, we took Independence Pass. This was a drive recommended to us, and I’m HIGHLY recommending it to you. Be aware of the weather, it is NO JOKE. We ended up waiting at a parking lot pull over for a bit, as the roads were totally invisible. Mind you, this was in the middle of the summer. It was too bad, because we didn’t get to see and explore around this area much due to the high rain and wind volumes. The mountains are very unpredictable and checking the weather before hand is a must. Here’s a link to the latest travel information of independence pass.
We did end up disperse camping within the forest, near Aspen. I can’t disclose the location, as a local gave the information to me. The locals around that area, were super friendly. This dispersed camping site had a fire pit, all ready as well. But, we weren’t able to have a fire, due to the fire restrictions. Always check the counties website for their restrictions before hand, due to wild forest fires.
Side note: please be familiar and know the 7 rules of leave no trace. Here is a link for some more information!
Day 3: Colorado National Monument, CO
The next day, we woke up early and started our trek towards Colorado National Monument. Colorado Monument requires a national park pass. You can purchase one here. Otherwise, you can purchase at the gate, or online before hand.
National Park Pass Information:
- It is $80 for an annual pass.
- For seniors, an annual is $20, or $80 for lifetime.
- If you are in the military, you can get a park pass for free!
- They have a special national park pass for those in 4th grade as well!
Colorado National Monument has beautiful views on the entire drive, from mountain ranges to canyons, and deserts. This is a very popular place for cyclists, too. Keep your eye out for the bikers!
Day 4 – Rocky Mountain National Park
After seeing the Colorado National Monument, plan two hours to get to the Rocky Mountains from the Monument.
Something to note: My mother and I actually ventured into Utah and Wyoming, and then looped to RMNP on our way back, but if you’re sticking with just Colorado, loop back to RMNP on Day 4.
Rocky Mountain National Park is such a beautiful national park that you must see. Sunrise and sunset are the best times to view wildlife within this national park, we saw moose, elk and many deer roaming. There is tons of trails throughout the park as well, and plenty of pull outs to enjoy the views. Make sure you watch the roadway through the park, as it’s close to the mountains edge. This drive is not recommended if you’re afraid of heights.
Additionally, you do need a national park pass to enter this park, but if you venture to the national monument, you’d have one! The top of the mountain, was foggy and even had snowy weather. Lastly, It’s important to check the weather before venturing into the mountain. We weren’t able to hike much, as the weather conditions were unsafe, and we had to leave the mountain without completing our entire itinerary. Sadly, we didn’t get a pass to go to Bear Lake, so next time I’ll aim for this!
Rocky Mountain National Park, as of 2022, is requiring you to get a pass to enter the park at a specific time, to help limit on crowds during this covid pandemic. You can find more info here.
The locals recommend grabbing food from Bird and Jim. We weren’t spending money on food this trip, so we didn’t end up going here, but the reviews are immaculate.
