Here's a map that's 1024 miles starting at Denver International Airport. If you are an experienced city dweller, you shouldn't have too much trouble negotiating the route across town (it's not nearly as bad as some make it out to be) You could skip the ride from Delores to Durango to cut off a few miles but Durango is about the only place in that corner of the state to rent a car if you want to go that route.

If you need to shorten the route, you might consider markf's suggestion of a shuttle to Summit County but that will only take off 70 miles or so. You could also consider going from Denver to Glenwood Springs by Amtrak and then through Aspen (I can help with the route). That would cut off about 200 miles.

A van shuttle to Frisco would knock off 90+ miles and 6000+ feet of climbing, plus eliminate the need to ride over Loveland Pass with all the haz-mat trucks and oversize loads as well as the ride through Denver and the short stretch where you still have to ride on I-70. It would also put the OP in walking distance of at least 2 USFS campgrounds, a bunch of cheap hotels, a good bike shop and and a good supermarket, as well as a few wild camping options. It would also put the OP in cycling (or transit bus with bike rack) distance of 2 hostels and a couple more campgrounds. On the other hand, it would cost about $120 per person with the bikes. Not bad for the first night of the tour, IMHO.

On the other hand, they'd be missing riding over Loveland Pass and up the I-70 corridor. It may have a big road running through it but it's still damned pretty. And Loveland Pass is breath taking...literally and figuratively.

But your idea of using shuttles may be a good one. Tobias: The problem with the western US is that we are backwards. We don't belong to the rest of the developed world and we shun things like public transportation. For example, Greyhound's only goes to limited places and Amtrak goes to even fewer places. Where you want to go is off the beaten path and has even less service than major areas.

You could use airport shuttles (not cheap) to get you from some of the smaller Colorado towns to other smaller Colorado towns. The St. George Shuttle, for example travels from St. George to Salt Lake City along I-15. You could visit Capitol Reef and then catch the shuttle at Beaver UT. There are some other shuttles that might be worth looking into as well.

The other issue is that Greyhound and Amtak require that you package your bike before you put them on the bus or train (so the the US airlines). It's dumb policy but that's what they do.

Either of the routs mentioned to Montrose are stunning---albeit quite different. Jamawani correctly points out the cool Silverton-Durango railroad which cane taken to get to Silverton and then grab the Million dollar H-Way there---US550---the climb up to the top of Red Mountain (between Silverton and the next town Ouray is not bad) and then an awesome descent down to Ouray---where thankfully you are on the inside of the road----plenty of photo ops on this road.

Alternatively, the road from dolores to Telluride over Lizard Head Pass is also tremendous---much less traveled than US550. Awesome scenario and light gradients to the top of Lizard Head and a nice descent into Telluride. From there a bit of work over Dallas Divide to get back to US550.

Enjoy this area and what might be the most scenic of al of Colorado, especially to take in on a bicycle, IMO. safe travels.

Hy - back again ;-)

thanks again for all the input. We are now going nto more concrete phase of planning. What we already know now is the time of travel. We will be going to do the trip in 3 weeks during 25 of june and 18 of july. Exact date is not set yet, but now very concrete.

We have not yet decided on the direction. Sure the finish in Las Vegas would be great, but we also consider the winds and temperature.

Also we have taken into consideration a lot of things on the road you mentioned and also the durango-railroad and shutlle busses for some small "shortcuts".

One question that is quite interesting is: how much are these shuttle busses for a couple wiht 2 bikes? Markf mentioned that it would be 240$ from Denver to Frisco - this is quite a lot compared to the costs of the flight ;-)

We also have been in some parts of the area for 3 times now. Once we rode through Arizona by bike and 2 times we made a round trip by car (once with bike-trips attached). So we know some parts already - but miss some as well. To Mesa Vera e.g. we have already been, so we will skip that for sure. To go near Canyonlands would be great, do you have a glimpse of it when you cross from Blanding to Hanksville?

I liked Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion a lot on the last trips - so come to this region again would be great as well, even if we may not enter the parks,but just enjoy the area which I like a lot.

A possible way to shorten would also be to rent a car one way. But getting infomation about possible places and one-way-routes is difficult. I remember the trip in AZ some years ago. We did not succeed in time and I transported the bikes from Boulder to PHX by rental car then back by car to Boulder and to PHX alone by Greyhound. This was not so great and I would like to avoid this.

I also am still not sure about taking my bikes from germany on the plane as I have not checked fares already. Can you tell me about prices for bike rentals (one-way???) in Denver or Las Vegas? If we take our own bike we would come wiht mountain-bikes but with easy road tires (broad but not - do not know the word - maybe "grumply" describes it ;-) )

thanks again!!

yours Tobias

Hy,

just had a long thought with my wife about the trip. We decided to skip the idea of the whole trip Denver to Las Vegas. The idea was so great, but it seems the realisation is not as good as the idea was.

So we think now different ways. As you concentrated on the Denver part in most repsonses, I will focus on this area - especially as we have been to the other parts already.

So an idea is now to fly to Las Vegas, rent a car one way to Durango start the trip there and then go back from some other place with a rental car to Las Vegas. On the way with car I will try to see Canyonlands as well and I will have the end in Las Vegas - a bit different, but still it is ;-)

Now we have to think about the route in Denver and also if it is possible to go there by one-way car-rental. Do you think it is possible? Route now maybe even to Rocky Mountain NP and then back via Colorado Springs and Sand Dunes? All these ideas are really great. And we can focus this way on the area we are most intrigued to finally go to ...

Any further support is greatly appreciated ...

yours Tobias

You can probably do a one way car rental from Las Vegas to Durango, and you can definitely do a one way car rental from anywhere to Denver airport, but the drop-off fees for a one way rental can be expensive. If you're going to start your trip in Durango, why not just fly to and from Denver? That way if you rented a car you could pick it up and return it in one place, and avoid the drop off fees.

Getting your bikes on the plane from Germany to the US and back is not going to be cheap. I think Lufthansa charges 150 euros each way. I would go to the websites for the individual airlines that you are thinking of using, and keep the charges for bicycles in mind when you compare airfares.

I think you mean that your bicycle tires are wide but not knobby (knotig, knopfig). I would not plan on finding one way bike rentals in Las Vegas or Denver, but you could definitely rent bikes in either town if you picked them up and returned them at the same place.

Another option would be to start as planned in Denver and do a roundtrip through Colorado. I would like to do the trip from Durango to Silverton by train - this would be a nice event on the trip, so the trip should be clockwise. SandDunes on the way and back over Loveland or RM NP. Maybe we will make a break in Durango for some 2-3 days, rent a car and do a roadtrip ...

Now we are sure. We will go to Las Vegas - because flights are way cheaper and more frequest from germany - and then rent a car one-way to go to Colorado and make a roundtrip there for 2,5 weeks. At the end we go back by car to Las Vegas.

Now we have to see how to do the trip. Durango seems a good starting point, as one-way-car-rental is possible to it. I will now see to take into account all the good ideas mentioned above like: Sand Dunes, Alligators, Loveland Pass, Rocky Mountain NP, ... and hope in the end we will succeed to see most of it ;-).

Help here is appreciated - expecially to find a trip which is not only upwards ;-)

yours Tobias

Are you up to a post count where you can send and receive private messages yet? If so, contact me and I'll help you work out a route. I'm quite familiar with that part of Colorado since my parents and daughter lived there for several years. I've toured most of the rest of the route that you are considering too.

Thanks again for all your support. We finally booked a flight form 6th to 22nd of july to Las Vegas. We did not suceed in getting more free time, so we will only ride for about 10 days and now need a smaller trip around the rocky mountain region. We plan to go by rental car to Durango and start there.10 days later we will go back again to Las Vegas from there. So effectivly 10 days of riding our bikes.
Now I could again need some help in deciding on the tour more concretely. We want to do the train ride from Durango (I guess I must be lucky to reserve now anymore?) and nothing else is yet decided.
We also could need some tipps on the one-way-car rental from LV to Durango and back later - are there any "cheap" ways to get this? Or alternatives to get from LV to Durango?

Thanks again!

One way rentals can be expensive. National Rental Cars is probably your best bet but expect to pay around $150/day (24 hr period) for a small SUV that would have enough room to carry two bikes inside. I've used National before and they are a good resource for one-way rentals, just make sure you book both legs in advance to ensure that you have a way back to Las Vegas.

For a route I suggest this one. It keeps you high enough to be comfortable but you will have to endure some hot places. Cortez tends to be hot in July as does Delta and Montrose. The route does go past Mesa Verde and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. I would suggest that you not ride into Mesa Verde because it's a 30 mile (one-way) trip to the ruins and camping is available at about the half way point. There is a lodge about 10 to 15 miles from the ruins but, either way, it's a couple of bicycle days of riding to get to see anything.

You could rent a car in Cortez from Enterprise, do the trip in one day and then be on your way the next day. Enterprise will pick you up from a hotel or even a campground within 20 miles of their offices and their rates are very good. I'd almost suggest the same for the Black Canyon. The rim of the Black Canyon is more bicycle accessible, however, and wouldn't be a bad ride. You might not want to East Portal Road, however. It drops down to the river but you have to climb back out and it has some very steep sections.

FWIW, I wouldn't go the SUV route until there are 3 or more bikes and riders. You can get two bikes, two riders, and quite a bit of gear in even an economy model especially if it is a hatchback. It might involve taking off both wheels, but that isn't a big deal. I think that 3 riders in a hatchback is likely to be a reasonable value if other options are not plentiful.

Regional buses in some places can work very well and be very inexpensive. I do not know it that is an option there, but in some parts of California they are real cheap and have a bike rack.

I don't like Cyccommutes' route (usually I do like his routes!) it maximizes hot/dry/busy areas and minimizes mountains. That road between Paonia and Delta straight-up sucks (traffic, ugly, dangerous) and the Mancos-Durango stretch will be brutally hot. Question: Is Crested BUtte to Panonia paved or dirt?

Try this one: https://goo.gl/maps/9467

You do have to keep an eye on the Little Sand wildfire burning near Pagosa Springs though - you could do an end run around it through Alamosa/Chama/Dulce if needed. The Chama area is really nice.

The price differential between a small SUV and a compact is only $20 per day. That's hardly worth the hassle of trying to stuff 2 bikes (perhaps boxed), gear and 2 people into a small car. The economy cars that National uses are even smaller...the one pictured is an Aveo...and the difference is only $25.

I'm not sure whether Kebler Pass (Crested Butte to Panonia) is paved or not, although I can find information about the parts of it being paved. It is an old rail bed and is considered passable for passenger cars. It's also relatively short at 30 miles.

I haven't ever been on the Paonia/Delta road but I have driven US160 between Durango and Pagosa Springs and that road is 60 miles of very bicycle unfriendly road. There are ways around it but they take you a long way out of the way. US160 and the alternative routes would hardly be cooler than the Durango to Mancos route which is only 30 miles and then you head back into the mountains around Telluride.

Another suggestion is to stay at the Rochester/Leland House in Durango. It's not the cheapest hotel in town...you probably don't want to stay in those anyway...but it's full of Western cinematic history. The Rochester was a favorite hotel for film crews and actors for the many films shot in the Durango area.