Scenic drives
I don’t need a “scenic byway” designation to tell me a road is pretty, just like I don’t need a “vista point” sign to tell me where to take my pictures. But when you’re rounding the curve of a gorgeous Colorado road and one of those little rectangular scenic-byway designators pops up with the wildflowers on the shoulder, well, there’s something exciting and comforting about that.
In my travels, I’ve sometimes targeted one of Colorado’s 26 Scenic and Historic Byways, planning an entire trip around the Highway of Legends, for example — but just as often, I’ve found myself on a scenic byway by accident, and then let the story behind that road help inform my trip. No fewer than 11 of Colorado’s scenic byways are also designated America’s Byways by the U.S. secretary of transportation, giving them a “best roads in the country” prestige — and that’s more national designations than any other state, by the way.
Here are six scenic byways that I’ve traveled and recommend. Remember: Traveling these blue highways takes you through not only some the most beautiful
landscapes in the West, but also through scores of little towns. These proud, alwaysfriendly places are the nuts and bolts of any road trip, so before you go, look up the local chambers of commerce in each town through which you’ll pass — you’ll find those perfect, creakywood historical hotels, breakfast joints and roadside attractions that make any trip.
1. CACHE LA POUDRE-NORTH PARK
The roughly 100mile Cache la Poudrenorth Park Scenic Byway begins with a turn onto Colorado 14, just north of Fort Collins. You enter the mountains via the Cache la Poudre Canyon, a steep, rocky river road along one of America’s few designated Wild and Scenic Rivers. You’ll pass the Mishawaka outdoor music venue and a multitude of small riverside campgrounds in the Roosevelt National Forest.
The river has a few famed stretches for whitewater rafting and flyfishing, and Chambers Lake is a classic destination to camp. Keep going and you’ll top Cameron Pass, at 10,276 feet, skirting the north edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, passing the remote State Forest State Park, North Park and the Rawah Wilderness; these vast public lands comprise a little visited, barely populated, stunning chunk of mountains and forest that extend to the Wyoming border.