Thinking about Colorado or Montana

[dshark1]

Total newbie here! I Always wanted to visit Colorado/Montana. Would leave today if I knew where to go! Lol…. Any recommendations for just scenic routes , fishing & back country?
nothing crazy, no rock crawling. Just want to take in the beautiful sites, picnic and be off the grid for a bit, take in some nature? If u had to pick between the 2 states, which would it be? I would be traveling from Florida. Any info & lodging ideas would be highly appreciated.

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[Adv_aw8s]

For Colorado I would definitely head toward the Silverton area and explore the alpine loop, all the big passes around ouray and telluride. There is plenty to see and experience.

 

[dshark1]

For Colorado I would definitely head toward the Silverton area and explore the alpine loop, all the big passes around ouray and telluride. There is plenty to see and experience.

Thx for your input. Lots of lodging in that area?

 

[Adv_aw8s]

If you are not camping there are options in Durango, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride.

 

[Themistocles]

For Montana...so many options.

A must see is the Beartooth Highway / Pass Beartooth Highway is the most beautiful drive in America (dangerousroads.org) running between Cooke City and Red Lodge.

I would also recommend getting into the Pintlers Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness: An Excellent Choice for Adventure - This is Montana - University Of Montana (umt.edu)

As wells as seeing the Swan Swan Valley in Montana - AllTrips (allwhitefish.com)

You could run the Mt Badge of Honor trail - Black Tail Wild Bill Trail Blacktail Wild Bill OHV Trail, Montana: Off-Road Map, Guide, and Tips | onX Offroad (onxmaps.com)

Also the entire Bitterroot Valley is amazingly beautiful and has trails and road to explore endlessly. Bitterroot Valley, Montana - Official Travel and Tourism Information (visitbitterrootvalley.com)

You also cant miss going up to Glacier and seeing the Garden Wall The Garden Wall | Map, Guide - Montana | AllTrails

And if you are already up in Glacier then running up to Banff is close and easy...and so worth it Banff National Park (pc.gc.ca)

And that is just scratching the surface. To answer your question about which to pick. They are very different. Colorado is incredibly beautiful...but full of people even during the weekdays. You will share those incredibly sites with 10, 20, of a hundred other people. But it is easily accessible, well marked, and well documented. Montana is also beautiful (maybe not quite is specifically scenic as Colorado...but close), but it is more spread out, things are not as well marked, or easy to find. Much of it is actually still wilderness...real wilderness, like not see another human for a week wilderness. It takes exploring. But for that extra effort you skip the crowds and get to spend time really alone outdoors. If you have a couple days and want to get into the mountains...I would say Colorado would be better. If you have a couple weeks and want to explore the backcountry I would lean toward Montana.

 

[Themistocles]

If you are not camping there are options in Durango, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride.

You do need to plan ahead hotels fill up quickly there. Durango has a good number, enough you will usually be able to find openings...but if you want to stay closer to Ouray or Telluride book well in advance...and be ready for high costs.

 

[grimmjeeper]

For Silverton area book your reservations now. Weekends are probably fully booked but you may get lucky.

Look up the Funtreks books. There's two for Colorado. One for south of I70 and the Northern Colorado book is for north of I70.

 

[At Risk Ute]

Just did three days down there with a friend from Florida who wanted to run all five BOH trails.

Ouray is kind of like Moab in that you’re close enough to the trails that we didn’t air up. Also like Moab as it’s pricey!

Can save some time and money by camping.

 

[Reinen]

Look at trailsoffroad.com in addition to the suggestions here. Many options to choose between from scenic & mild to extreme off roading.

One thing you may not be used to in FL is BLM public land. You can camp for free just about anywhere on BLM land and there is a lot of it. Often just outside of towns.
https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/camping

 

[GATORB8]

Just did three days down there with a friend from Florida who wanted to run all five BOH trails.

Ouray is kind of like Moab in that you’re close enough to the trails that we didn’t air up. Also like Moab as it’s pricey!

Can save some time and money by camping.

I wish I had seen the FunTreks books before our trip, they look awesome.

Any chance you know of a similar publisher for other regions (out east).

 

[kah.mun.rah]

If you are planning on Montana in the near future and have plans to drop down and visit Yellowstone Park while there, check the park website becasue some of the entrances are currently closed from roads that were recently washed out. https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

 

[At Risk Ute]

I wish I had seen the FunTreks books before our trip, they look awesome.

Any chance you know of a similar publisher for other regions (out east).

No, unfortunately. I don’t get lost (as much now) between the funtreks books and downloaded Gaia maps.

 

[Drytellsr]

I wish I had seen the FunTreks books before our trip, they look awesome.

Any chance you know of a similar publisher for other regions (out east).

As far as I know Funtreks only publishes trail books for Utah, Colorado, Arizona and California. Great Trail Guide books.

 

[dchemphill1]

Lake Molas campground near Silverton is nice. You will have others....there is backwoods camping off of Alpine Loop...that you can access if you want to get away from others. Things need to be bear proof and you need to pay attention to fire danger....we could not do campfires last summer....could cook on gas stove.

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