Rocky Mountain High!

Welcome to Denver Colorado, the “mile high city” and starting point for your ride through the many beautiful and intriguing places in the Rocky Mountains!

Take the airport shuttle to your hotel. If you have time, take the light-rail train into downtown Denver’s historic Union station and explore the city centre around 16^th Street and enjoy all the wonderful shops, restaurants and nightlife downtown Denver has to offer. Just don’t over-do it, altitude can really affect you here, and get a good night’s rest to begin adjusting to it.

Good morning! We hope you got a good night’s sleep, had a good breakfast and are ready to start your self-guided Rocky Mountains motorcycle trip. Put on your riding gear, and make your way to the motorcycle pick-up location.

Once you have your motorcycle it’s time to get on the road and start the adventure! You’ll start by heading out of the Denver metro area and into the adjacent foothills and mountains. Ride along the front range through Golden, Boulder and then up through scenic Boulder Canyon and into Nederland for lunch. Afterwards it’s a short but beautiful ride via the scenic and twisty peaks-to-peaks highway into Estes Park, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. Time and weather permitting you may want to ride into the park and up Trail Ridge Road pass, the highest continuously paved mountain pass in North America. Then back through the park’s beautiful meadows, keeping your eye out for the wide variety of wildlife found in the park. There’s a good possibility you’ll find Elk, Moose, Mule Deer, Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat.

Have a great dinner and get a good night’s sleep, tomorrow the adventure continues

This morning you descend through the canyons and valleys, and back onto the great plains. You’ll ride along through the foothills and into the rolling plains of Wyoming, through the great expanse and isolation and to a lunch stop at the Virginian Hotel in Medicine Bow. Be sure to check out the old Union Pacific Train Depot museum directly across from the hotel, a historic stop along the old transcontinental railway, Oregon Trail and Lincoln Highway. In front of the depot, look for the plaque celebrating the first transcontinental motorcycle journey by George Wyman in 1903! Then it’s back on the road and to the hotel in Casper for the evening.

This morning continue through the hills and valleys of Wyoming, keep your eye out for the numerous Pronghorn antelope as you ride through the Butch Cassidy & the Sundance kid’s “Hole in the wall” gang’s former territory. Then along Boysen reservoir and the Bighorn river through Teeter canyon to a lunch stop in the natural hot springs town of Thermopolis. After lunch, continue through bizarrely beautiful scenery to the overnight in Buffalo Bill’s historic Irma Hotel. Belly up to the historic bar for a beer, sit on the patio and watch the world go by in this Historic old west hotel. Have a great dinner at one of the many downtown restaurants and have a good night’s rest, your Rocky Mountains ride continues tomorrow!

Today, head East into the valleys and up to Bighorn National Forest for a ride through mountains and forests. After a brief lunch stop in Dayton, head northeast to Montana and the small town of Crow Agency. Take some time to visit the infamous Little Big Horn, where General George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Calvary met their destiny with the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, most commonly referred to as “Custer’s Last Stand”. After learning all about one of the most famous battles in Western history head northwest toward your hotel for the evening in Billings.

It’s a fantastic scenic ride today on your self-guided Rocky Mountains motorcycle trip. Start by departing from Montana and head back into Wyoming by way of an awesome ride over Beartooth highway. This is considered one of the top ten motorcycling rides in North America. It takes you over the fantastic scenery of an alpine pass into one of the USA’s most famous National Parks, Yellowstone! While riding through the northern section of the park, be sure to stop along the way at its scenic overlooks, natural Geysers and hot springs. Keep in mind you’re riding through one of only a few super-volcanoes in the world today. But don’t worry, it only erupts about every 600,000 years! Finally make your way through the park to the hotel for two nights in West Yellowstone, where you can get a nice dinner and a good night’s rest.

This is your opportunity to explore Yellowstone National park at leisure. Ride around to the various natural hot springs, geysers and thermal pools throughout the park or head over to the main lodge and the “Old Faithful” geyser. Keep an eye out for the parks’ wildlife including buffalo, deer, elk, antelope, wolves, and much more! Don’t miss stopping off at Yellowstone falls, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Whatever you decide to do, have a fabulous day in one of the crown jewels of America’s National Park system.

 It’s a short riding day today. Leaving Yellowstone park behind you, take your time riding south and enjoy the scenery. Soon you’ll arrive at Grand Tetons National Park, where you’ll have time for lunch at the Teton Village, maybe take an optional gondola tram to the top of the ski area for a fantastic view of the stunningly beautiful Teton range. Then it’s down the mountain, back on your motorcycle to ride into the scenic and eclectic town of Jackson. Enjoy walking around the town square this evening, with its variety of restaurants, nightlife and shops. Just don’t over-do it tonight, you’ve got more adventures coming tomorrow!

The ride this morning takes you through the small farming towns and valleys bordering Wyoming, Idaho and Utah. Flanked by mountains and bluffs all around, it’s a beautiful ride. Zig-zagging through all three states you’ll enjoy a pleasant ride alongside rivers and mountains to your overnight in the ski town of Park City, Utah, host to the 2002 Winter Olympics.

This morning head West over the Wasatch mountains and into Provo, then turn south onto US highway 6. Ride through the canyons along the Price river’s meandering path to your lunch stop in Price. Then continue south into the bareness of the high desert, flanked by mesas and mountains to our East. Following a rest break in Green River, continue toward Moab. On your way into town stop in at Arches National Park for a look at the wild variety of sandstone monoliths and natural bridges. Then it’s into town to enjoy dinner and a microbrew at one of Moab’s restaurants, then finally to the hotel for a well-earned rest.

This is the day on your Rocky Mountains motorcycle ride to choose what you do! You can pre-book any one of the following adventures:

• Hot air balloon sunrise adventure
• White water rafting (several to choose from)
• Horseback riding
• Hummer Safari

If none of these activities appeals then you can always take your motorcycle into Arches National Park, Dead Horse State Park or Canyonlands National Park to visit their spectacular rock formations and simply stunning vistas.

Start your morning by riding through the canyon and alongside the Colorado river, then onto Interstate 70 and back to Colorado. Be sure to take a short detour through the spectacular Colorado National Monument and it’s wonderfully scenic, twisty road. Then head into downtown Grand Junction for lunch. Afterwards head east and ride into the western-slope mesas following the meandering flow of the Colorado River, twisting and turning through the valleys and canyons. Before long you’ll arrive at the unique town of Glenwood springs. Your final ride of the day takes you south to the famous skiing and celebrity town of Aspen.

Our final day of the tour takes us down Interstate 70 and Glenwood Canyon, considered one of the engineering marvels of the 20^th century. This elevated highway makes its way through the narrow canyon, above the Colorado river. Then onward through the heart of the Colorado Rockies and the famous ski town of Vail. Then (weather permitting) it’s up to the top of Mount Evans, the highest paved road in North America. From there you’ll have a breath-taking view of the entire front range, and the peaks and valleys surrounding us. On a very clear day it’s even possible to see the curvature of the Earth off to the East over the great plains. Finally, you’ll make our way into Denver, turn in your motorcycle and head to the hotel. Now it’s time to have dinner and a celebratory drink (or three), and enjoy your final night in America!

If there’s time, you can do some last-minute shopping and sightseeing, and Denver’s 16^th St Mall is a must. Then it is off to the airport and the flight back home. We hope you have many happy memories of your Rocky Mountains motorcycle trip to take home!