Mountain vacation recommendations
 

I’m looking for mountain vacation ideas. I usually like Tennessee. Especially the area around the Smokies; Gatlinburg, Townsend and Pigeon Forge. We go there once or twice a year. Last year my bride decided she wanted to see different mountains so we went to Montana. That was nice but the drive up was brutal. I guess we could fly but I'm really don't care to go back there this soon.

Right now we are thinking somewhere in Colorado. Maybe Boulder? We like to see the natural sights and hike along with doing city stuff. I also enjoy trout fishing if available. I will bring my fly rod. My son Hunter is going to Costa Rica with friends July 18th thru the 25th so we are going to head out the day after the Salty Cajun tournament for a week while he is gone. I prefer to rent a cabin over a condo. Any recommendations?

I hear Estes Park, CO is nice. Rocky Mountain National Park is nearby

Red River New Mexico. Very beautiful town. Look up claim jumper cabin rentals

We went about 6 yrs ago and it was very pretty and really nice because it's pretty secluded with about an 1.5 hr drive to Denver....
We drove about 9 yrs ago from Lake Charles and hit Colorado Springs, Boulder and Denver along with several small mountain villages and really enjoyed that.... west of Colorado Springs area is beautiful

The best fishing in Colorado is Eleven Mile Reservoir (if you like lakes) and the river just above and below the reservoir. Those stretches of river are known as the "Dream Stream" above the reservoir and "Eleven Mile Canyon" below the reservoir. The fishing is not as good closer to Denver. Fishing holes closer to the cities get a lot of pressure.

11 Mile Marina gives great fishing advice. http://www.11milesports.com/

The best Colorado fishing forum is here: http://www.fishexplorer.com/co/fxrforum.asp

But they are not as open with the advice as folks on Salty Cajun.

July is very beautiful in Colorado, but May, June, and September are the best fishing months. We've had many trips in June where we've boated 20-30 fish an hour.

Fishing is not a priority just a nice to do if I get a chance. Brianna is looking at Boulder and Colorado Springs. We go to mountains in the summer to escape the heat so anywhere near New Mexico is out. Thanks for the recommendations. Math Geek where did you live in Colorado?

I have made trips west on I-70 from Denver. About two hours west of Denver, there is a river along the interstate that I caught a couple nice browns and some decent rainbows. Durango, Co has some nice rocks (Purgatory). You can ride the Silverton train, go to Pagosa springs, jeep trails in southern Colorado or New Mexico. You are 30 to 40 minutes away from Navajo Lake and dam. There is a marina next to the dam that rents house boats, etc. If you want some serious fly fishing, check out Abe's store at Navajo Dam, Nm. He has a list of guide and has lodging. It's the San Juan mountain. About 30 minutes farther south is Blanco, Nm. There is a road called Canyon Large or County Road 4450 I believe. You can take that road south about 5 miles to cutter dam, which is mainly catfish, but explore the bushes. You can find artifacts, elk sheds. Just depends on what you want to do.

Sorry, didn't read your last post before I posted.

My brother found this place in Winter Park. A group of us will be there from the 17th to the 22nd - will be my first time there. I think there are smaller sized ones in the area.


http://www.vrbo.com/494737#location

I went up to Wyoming to roughneck for a summer when I was in College and end up staying 4 years. I worked every where in the Rockies from Farmington New Mexico to the Black Hills in South Dakota. If you have seen the Western Montana Rockies, Boulder will be a disappointment. It is at the foot of the Eastern slop so you do get the wow factor of going from the high plains to mountains, but most of the entertainment options there target the Hippy/Hipster/Green/Uber-Liberal/Marijuana Tourism crowd. Boulder is without a doubt the most Hippy place on earth. I am a Marine also, so I feel the need to warn you about that brother. In my opinion, Jackson Hole or Santa Fe would be better options. Jackson Hole is a hell of a drive but it offers good dining, art, nightlife, whitewater rafting and trout fishing on the Snake River. It is also situated at the base of Grand Teton National Park and i not very far from Yellowstone. Santa Fe is also very beautiful but is not really what I would call mountainy. If your hart is set on Colorado, Durango is pretty cool. The drive from Durango to Silverton is unforgettable. Plus you don't have to drive through Kansas to get there. If I were you i'd try to make it to Elk City Oklahoma or Amarillo on your first day. Check out Palo Duro Canyon, second largest canyon in the US, right out side of Amarillo if you have time. From Amarillo you can be pretty much anywhere in Colorado or New Mexico in 8 to 10 hours. I worked 14 and 14 around Amarillo for a year and could be there in 13 hours if I hit Dallas traffic right (2000-0300 hours). My brother and I drove straight through to Jackson Hole in 27 hours, but I thought about ending it all between between Wi****a and Limon CO. One last thing. Needless to say but I have done a little driving over the years. The single most mind blowing experience of all the miles I've covered was coming over Raton Pass on I-25 at day break and dropping down onto the Llano Estacado. The light and space of that place is like no other on earth. It is like being swallowed by light and grass. There are extinct volcano fields there that are the only land makers for 50 or 60 miles. I saw 4 different Antelope herds that exceeded 500 animals. Kansas is empty and boring, the Llano is completely void but somehow truly beautiful. I got wordy, sorry bout that, just wanted to warn a fellow Devil Dog about Hippyville and offer my recommendation.

Semper Fi

I lived in Colorado Springs. We always liked the more remote stuff and preferred to avoid stuff like Boulder and Estes Park and the tourist type stuff, heading into the mountains further away from the crowds for camping, hiking, hunting, and fishing. There are some boat-in camp sites on Blue Mesa Reservoir that we really liked. We never figured out the elk hunting, but did a lot of hiking in the mountains with elk rifles.

If you want a couple nice spots to hit near the Springs, visit Pikes Peak and the Air Force Academy. There is a lot of touristy type stuff, depending on what y'all are into. Google searches will make it all clear. Everyone raves about Estes Park, but we never went there, preferring less populated areas.

All the mountains are awesome and beautiful, your basic choice is between built up areas with lots of tourist amenities (Boulder, Estes Park, Vail, etc.) and the more remote stuff (national forests) further from Denver.

I visited my brother when he lived in Rifle and he took me to Blue Mesa. We got into the Mackinaw pretty deep. Best time I ever had fishing in freshwater.

Blue Mesa is great, and we've caught plenty of Mackinaw there, but we caught a lot more brown trout. Eleven Mile is a bit better, and I rank it as the best freshwater fishing spot I know. Both reservoirs are awesome to fish and beautiful.

Like this?

X2 on Silverton, Ouray, and Durango! Prettiest mountains I've ever seen! And lots of trails in Silverton for ATV or Jeep.

Dammit man! Now that is a trout! I didn't know they got that big. I like the Jackson Hole area and we did the Grand Tetons (love that name). I just don't have the time to make a trip like that this summer. I think we will end up going to Colorado Springs. Here is a pic from Grand Tetons last year. The views in the Rockies are stunning.

And Semper FI Marque :cheers:

Lake Tahoe has many things to do with a wide variety of places to stay.

Actually Silverton/Ouray area nicer than the Springs area, and they will be a lot cooler since the elevation is greater. Estes Park is also going to be cooler, with lots of elk, moose, deer around. Silverton/Ouray North of Durango, Estes NE of Denver. Pogasa Springs is cool also. Highly recommend these others over Colorado Springs. I generally go just about every year, spent 2 months last summer in Ridgway which is 10 miles N of Ouray and about 25 miles E of Telluride. Also Crested Butte is not far. Its a nice little (use to be mining town) now a ski town. High elevation.

The Ozarks are nice, and Durango was fun but West Glacier is the best place I've ever been.

Asheville NC is a beautiful place to visit, lots to see and do around there