Empire to Grand Mesa Overlanding Colorado: COPS Section One, Colorado Overland Photo Safari

Route Details: coloradooverla...
This journey was designed for a friend and his photographer wife that lived too far to bring their own rig to Colorado; the plan was to fly into DIA, rent a stock 4Runner or Wrangler and go Overlanding without (hopefully) damaging the vehicle.
We had a book in common, Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon which became part of the inspiration for this route, but with a twist; instead of focusing on local cuisine like the book, he and his wife wanted to see “local” Colorado; quiet places that aren’t in vacation guides or popular on social media, places where time has stood still and history can be seen and felt. This route is largely dirt roads and “blue highways” leading to excellent adventures, unique photo opportunities, great camping, historic places and really good pie in Paonia. We nicknamed it the “dirty road trip” because it’s more of a road trip featuring dirt roads than an offroad challenge. It’s designed to be an easy route, so much so that I never thought I would run it myself. I saved it and forgot about it. Our friends never ran it either, it remained a concept until a few years later when a last minute change of mind led to one of the best decisions of my life.
We went to the shelter looking for a puppy but ended up adopting an 11 year old, 107 lb. Australian Shepherd / Great Pyrenees mix that had lived his life outside in a small pen, had untreated medical conditions, was deaf, scared in general and afraid of men specifically. There was something about him though, I felt him from the moment I saw him. He was sweet and kind, he liked our cats, and loved walks; everything was new and interesting to him, but he remained stressed out and riding in the back of our Xterra was the only time he truly relaxed. I’m not sure he had ever been in a vehicle before and it seemed to hypnotize him, he would stare out the window smiling and often drift off to sleep. My wife suggested we take him on a long road trip to help him relax and see some of the beautiful state he lived in. I remembered this route, found the planning files on an old laptop and we set off a few days later to run it. It was epic for us, I loved this adventure from beginning to end. We connected and bonded with him, saw Colorado through his eyes and made memories that will last for our lifetimes. He was with us for 32 months until his passing, they were some of the best days of my life.
0:29 Road List / Map of Route
1:06 Shelter Dog Appreciation
1:32 Start, Interstate 70 Denver to exit 232
2:13 SECTION ONE: Empire to Grand Mesa / Hwy 40 to Moffat Road
3:03 Moffat Road- Abandoned Railroad Trestles / Needles Eye Tunnel Hike
6:01 Highway 40 Fraser
6:52 CR 50 Crooked Creek
7:35 Meet Kix!
8:22 FR 139 Keyser Creek
10:04 CR 3 Upper Williams Fork
10:34 Williams Fork Reservoir
12:32 CR 1 Trough Road
15:00 Highway 131
15:33 CR 301 Colorado River Road
18:50 Red Dirt Creek Open Space
21:23 Colorado River Ranch Historic Schoolhouse
22:46 Coffee Pot Road, Alternative Re-Route
23:55 Interstate 70 Construction Traffic in Glenwood Canyon
27:03 Silt / Collbran Road
#colorado #overland #overlanding #route #photo #safari #coloradooverland #routes #coloradooverlandroutes.com #grandmesa #winterpark #moffatroad #needleseyetunnel #bluemesa #fourmile #twinlakes #independencepass #aspen #marble #marblemillsitepark #overlandroute