New Mexico and Colorado Roads
With WeSTOC (a non-HSTA event) coming up in Colorado, I thought y’all would like to see some good roads in the area. I pulled this post from John Harrison out of my archives. He has some great suggestions and route ideas . . .
The northern NM and southern CO area is one of my favorite places to ride. US 64 in NM from Cimarron west through Taos is great. Lots of cool places to stop and shop in Taos.
Then 64 gets straight for a while, cross the Rio Grande bridge (stop andlook over the side), then it gets great again in the Carson NF.
Then 64/84 north to Chama (with a side trip on 17(I think) to watch the Chama steam train), then 84 north to 160 in CO is a nice ride. Watch for deer (and CO hwy patrol) on 160 between Chimney Rock and Durango. Durango has great places to eat (trying to remember the Mexican place on main street near the old hotel…will get back to you on that) plus the old narrow gage RR that runs to Silverton. The RR museum in the old roundhouse is great entertainment for gearheads.
550 north from Durango (the “Million Dollar Highway”) to Silverton to Ouray is NOT to be missed. Breakfast at the Chattanooga Cafe in Silverton ( we met Peter Fonda and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell there several years ago). Take time to walk the streets of Silverton and get the old west flavor. There is a gold mine tour north of town that is neat, the tour guide is a former mining engineer that worked in the mine and he is a motorcycle rider. Ask him about good places to ride and camp.
There are good roads in the Mesa Verde park and great hiking and photo ops.
The Four Corners Monument is kinda a “been there, done that, took the picture” place, but you can sample Navaho fry bread.
Over in UT, Arches and Canyonlands NP are not that far away, with great views (and the road in Canyonlands is fun).
There are endless side trips in the area, but if you are pressed for time, this should help.
John Harris