| Author | Message | ||
     Rwven |
On June 12th a friend and I are heading out to Denver from North East MD. We plan to ride a few of the passes over the Continental divide and make a run up Pike's Peak. To save a few bucks we are planning to try to take advantage of some of Colorado's State Parks $10.00 primitive camping areas. Does anyone here have any experience and pointers on this? | ||
| Tootal |
Boy are you in for a treat! I try and do a Colorado ride every year. Primitive camping is nice. I highly recommend riding up Poudre Canyon, (14) out of Ft. Collins. Many camping places along the river. Two shear cliffs, a river and a road! If your going off road there are some great places down South between Ouray, Silverton and Lake City. Really, once you hit the mountains there really is no bad place to go. A couple of the campgounds we went to had fire wood for sale and usually next to a stream. Here's fully loaded on top of Pike's peak. Get there early for the best ride and view;  Between Ouray and Lake City:  | ||
| Crusty |
Ride over Independence Pass(CO RT. 82) from Aspen to Twin Lakes. You won't regret it. | ||
| Maximum |
Not far from Denver...just 20 minutes into the foothills...you can camp at Golden Gate Canyon State park. The road to get there is pretty fun too (Golden Gate Canyon Road). I ride this road all the time...partly because I live up that canyon, with a panoramic view of the State Park!  | ||
| Rwven |
Thanks for the information gents. Those pics are getting me psyched up for this trip. Maximum, If I run in to trouble I know who to call! I was in error when I posted state parks, we are planning to camp at NFS sites. Only about $10.00 per night and no $6.00/vehicle/day park pass required. Primitive, yes, but that's part of the adventure right? (Message edited by rwven on May 04, 2010) | ||
| Pkman |
Sound great! I'll be heading out there in July for the Rocky Mountain ADV rally. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51 3600 I'm hoping there'll be other Uly riders. (Message edited by pkman on May 05, 2010) | ||
| Terrafirma |
Ron, If you really want to get primitive, don't use a camp ground. The Forest Service lands are filled with free camping areas. I haven't used a "campground" when my boys and I are camping for the past 5 years. Just ride along some of the FS roads away from the beaten path and you'll find an recently used fire-ring. The only thing that the campgrounds have are tent pads, fire rings and either vault or flush toilets. You'll see many old/recent fire rings that indicate that folks have used this particular area. I believe that this type (dispersed) camping is the best in the west. You are relatively alone and will really enjoy the solitude. The only time that you cannot camp in an area, is in case of high fire dangers/critical habitats (near some important habitat or watershed). Before you leave, just log onto the forest service website and you can ask them their opinion of great areas that you can camp at, during your travels of here in Colorado. Much of the FS lands are labeled as multi-use, that means that camping is part of the "multi-use" experience. Also, do not forget about BLM lands, out in western Colorado their are many great dispersed sites that are incredible for camping. Good luck in your ride! and remember, enjoy, take a bunch of photos and only leave footprints (or in our case cycle tracks). | ||
| F_skinner |
Rwven, is a link for some rides in this area. http://www.coloradomotorcyclerides.com/rides.html I do not know how up to date it is. I ride a lot to Bishops Castle and area. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2047 If you get further West you will want to ride 550 from Durango to Highway 50... I took Jinance up to Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak last year when he rode out so you would have to ask him if he had fun or not. June 27th is the Pikes Peak Hill climb so you will want to avoid it during that time if you want to ride it. But if you want to see a great race get your tickets now. There will be a Buell or two in the race. Pkman, have fun down in South Fork, I go through that area a lot and got a ticket on Wolf Creek pass. Be careful. I hope you see some other Ulys but I would be happy to see another Buell. Have fun. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/37/ 194028.html?1273154677 There are a lot of Buellers in this area but they do not all have Ulys so you may want to post in the CBR (Colorado Buell Riders) section if you want specifics.  | ||
| F_skinner |
One more thing, it can get pretty cold at night in Colorado in June. Depending on what altitude you are camping at. | ||
| Rwven |
Thanks for the tips guys. My friend and I are still fine tuning the route. I've got an old RoadRunner article with maps and GPS coord. called "12 Passes in 4 Days" We are thinking about riding 1 or 2 days worth of that. We are think about a run down the Gold Camp Road also. So many roads, so little time...We have 9 days start to finish. We are planning to do an IronButt and a BunBurner consecutively on the way out, if successful that will get us all the way to Denver (technically within 200 miles of it) in 36 hours. That gives us 4 days to ride until we head home. For shelter I have a Eureka Solitaire backpacking tent, a Coleman fleece sleeping bag, and a nylon bivy bag to put over the fleece bag if it comes off cold. Oh, and most importantly a small air-mattress to keep the heat in me from going into the ground (not to mention the rocks and sticks on the ground from going into me). I only hope I have enough wind at those altitudes to blow it up! |
