With the wife and daughter out of town, and having little to do, I decided to take little camping trip to the Arches National Park. Arches is one of my favorite destinations and it’s really been far too long since I went there, so I figured I was about due. I already had a tent, sleeping bag, propane stove and camping cookware, but I did not want to get lost in the wilderness so I got an inexpensive watch compass from http://www.watchcompass.net and headed out onto the highway.

It’s a 6 hour drive from Denver through some mightily beautiful scenery and a number of quaint old mining towns. I used to go metal detecting in some of those towns, but it’s getting harder and harder to do that anymore as more and more of them have been blocked off. Even skipping the metal detecting, it’s still a very interesting trip. The mining towns are among the first points of interest as you pass through the countryside. First Idaho springs, then past a side road that leads to Central City and Blackhawk, then past Empire and Georgetown. 

It’s a good ride through the mountains, and can get pretty twisty. Sometimes I’ll hop off for a bit of adventure down an old dirt mining road. The last time I did that, one of the plastic tumblers my drink was in nearly flew right out of the cup holder, so be forewarned, those old roads can get rough.

Vail comes up about an hour and a half into the trip and maybe an hour after that you pass the road to Aspen One of my favorite stops along the way is Glenwood springs, a beautiful old town with terrific hot springs and a number of nice oldish hotels from the mid 20th century and older. As you approach Glenwood springs you drive through an astonishingly beautiful canyon with a railroad on the left, I believe it’s called Whitewater canyon. It’s really not to be missed.

Once you get through Glenwood Springs you have long stetch of lonely highway until you hit Grand Junction, then it’s just a short ride into Utah. I always take the scenic route along Utah 128. Blood red buttes and mesas predominate as you pass through Castle Valley which is a canyon along the Colorado river. This is probably my favorite part of the entire journey, and truly not to be missed.

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