Hi All,
Always have gotten great advice on my adventures here! This time it is with a little twist, I won't be flying solo.

Went to Colorado a lot as a kid, but mostly one area (Breckenridge/South Park) to go fly fishing every summer. The girlfriend is off for two weeks in July and had a vacation for this time planned last year that isn't happening.
So, I have bought plane tickets, am going to surprise her, and we will be flying to Denver to spend 5 days driving/hiking/photographing/etc. then popping the big question.

Any advice for places to visit, see, hike, etc.? We are both in pretty good shape, nothing insane, but both backpack a couple times a year and do frequent the gym a few times a week...or try to!
I do have a National Parks Annual Pass I got last Dec when I hiked and drove through a lot of the parks in CA. So, I was thinking we might camp a good bit.

Any restaurants or neat places to check out along the route appreciated. We both enjoy good/clean fun, nice music, a glass of wine or a good beer. History stuff is nice too.
And of course, if you know a spot or area that is nice for asking the question and sharing the memory.

Thank you in advance!

Tentative Schedule
  • We land Tuesday (July 18th) at 7AM. We depart Sunday (July 23rd) at 7AM.
  • Tuesday - land, pick up rental car, then drive toward Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Either stay in Salida (or somewhere for the night) or drive to Black Canyon by evening and camp there.
  • Wednesday - Either drive to or wake up in BCGNP and spend the day and night there.
  • Thursday - Wake up and head toward Rocky Mountain National Park. Spend afternoon and night.
  • Friday - Spend entire day (probably propose that evening on a hike or early Sat morning hike) and night.
  • Saturday - Get up pack, hike a little and head for hotel that afternoon. Check into the Curtis Hotel (I had points), clean up, and go somewhere for a nice dinner.
  • Sunday - Fly out at crack of dawn.


PS: A travel forum (which I received very little advice) had one person share a link to a map they suggested. Seems like a ton of driving for 5 days though. Maybe not too bad. But lots of moving around each day. See a lot of places, but not much time at each one.