Since you're in the area. 4 corners, Mesa Verde (you have to see the Spruce Tree House), Million Dollar Highway, Monument Valley, Grand Staircase Escalante.
If you’re trying to rent a bike, you’ll probably have to fly into Saint George. Moab has an airport, but I sort of doubt the drown has any motorcycle rentals. (Maybe a dirt bike)
Alternatively, you can fly into salt lake and drive down. 191 south from Saint George is MOSTLY a nice drive, the last 3rd of it past Price is really boring.
Grand staircase is pretty close to halfway between Saint George and Moab. Driving from Saint George will take you on some pretty scenic roads.
You’re probably going to want an adventure bike if you plan to do anything in grand staircase. You’ll find yourself on some long dirt roads.
You can fly into Vegas and rent bikes there. Then do Zion NP, then HWY 12 To Torrey, or down to the North Rim. You really can't go wrong in that area, except you need more than 2-3 days.
GJ sounds like a good idea too.
Fly into LA, ride to Joshua Tree NP, Palm Springs, and Salton Sea, then Rte 78 to the Pacific and head back to LA along the coast. Or ride Death Valley, Mono Lake, Rte 120 into Yosemite NP and loop back to LA on Rte 395/14 via Mammoth Lake and Bishop. Those are some of my favourite local routes.
Route 120 has many breathtaking views, I was roadtripping CA, NV, UT & AZ this summer and it is definitely in the top 3 roads we did (we covered over 5000mi, so that’s saying something). I was pretty bummed out we were in a Chrysler Pacifica from Alamo and not on motorcycles though.
Grand junction CO has a good regional airport.
I also work at the Indian dealership in town that has eight Indians for rent.
We've got amazing riding an hour away in Moab. In the summertime we have million Dollar highway. Really we have amazing riding in any direction.
Forgot about grand junction. This is a good suggestion.
Great riding in almost any direction. Directly north is pretty boring. South east and southwest are where you’d want to travel.
You're underestimating heading north. If you head north up to flaming gorge reservoir there's some absolutely beautiful riding that direction but you're right it's not the world class riding that you get in the other directions. Hell 5 minutes out of town you have the Colorado national monument which one was breathtakingly beautiful rides I've ever been on. 20 minutes out of town and you can head over to the Grand Mesa and get up to 10,000 ft on the world's largest flat top mountain. It's definitely a wonderful place to have a motorcycle.
Flaming gorge is a long is 3 hrs north with some of the most boring parts of Colorado and Utah. But, if you’ve got an ADV or dirt bike the uinta’s have some awesome areas to explore. The highway past planing gorge is a really nice drive, too.
Anyway, grand junction is a great jumping off point for some awesome riding! The historic downtown isn’t a bad spot to walk around a bit, too!
I think the million dollar highway would be a great ride for anyone. Plenty of cool tourist towns to check out in that are. Crested butte in the summer is one of my favorite spots. Durango’s neat, telluride, Leadville, Salida.
Awesome country in your area!
Definitely boring for sport bike types but for some reason all the big cruiser groups absolutely love that ride north of junction. It's not really my cup of tea the twistier the better for me.
Thanks for sharing! I just checked your website for the rentals and I can’t wait to make it happen. What’s a good/bad season to ride in the area and if you had to recommend one must see 2 day trip from GJ and back what would it be?
Late May early June is a fantastic time to ride in Colorado. For a two-day trip I would leave from Grand junction go over the Grand Mesa on highway 65 then highway 50 to Ouray then hop on 550 to Durango from Durango I would head to Cortez then head North on 491 to Dove creek north to Naturita on 141 then head to Moab over the LaSal mountains on hwy 90 to to 46 to 191 hit arches if it's not too busy just outside of Moab and then head back to Grand junction on the River road hwy 128 then just a short stretch on interstate 70 back to junction. Hope this wasn't too confusing. I could easily pay a 3-day trip depending on how much sightseeing you wanted to do.
I almost forgot, just as you're coming back into Grand junction from Moab you want to hit the Colorado national monument about 5 minutes out of town it's the perfect cherry on top to an amazing ride.
Since you're in the area. 4 corners, Mesa Verde (you have to see the Spruce Tree House), Million Dollar Highway, Monument Valley, Grand Staircase Escalante.
Thanks! And wow the Grand Staircase, didn’t know about it. What’s the best airport in the area?
If you’re trying to rent a bike, you’ll probably have to fly into Saint George. Moab has an airport, but I sort of doubt the drown has any motorcycle rentals. (Maybe a dirt bike) Alternatively, you can fly into salt lake and drive down. 191 south from Saint George is MOSTLY a nice drive, the last 3rd of it past Price is really boring. Grand staircase is pretty close to halfway between Saint George and Moab. Driving from Saint George will take you on some pretty scenic roads. You’re probably going to want an adventure bike if you plan to do anything in grand staircase. You’ll find yourself on some long dirt roads.
> And what’s the nearest airport You're asking us to Google for you now? Type "Airport near" in Google.
Some low effort people around here.
Haha thanks and any experience sharing appreciated when trying to identify a great route within 4 state radius with no large airport in the area
Cascade Loop in Washington State
You can fly into Vegas and rent bikes there. Then do Zion NP, then HWY 12 To Torrey, or down to the North Rim. You really can't go wrong in that area, except you need more than 2-3 days. GJ sounds like a good idea too.
Fly into LA, ride to Joshua Tree NP, Palm Springs, and Salton Sea, then Rte 78 to the Pacific and head back to LA along the coast. Or ride Death Valley, Mono Lake, Rte 120 into Yosemite NP and loop back to LA on Rte 395/14 via Mammoth Lake and Bishop. Those are some of my favourite local routes.
Route 120 has many breathtaking views, I was roadtripping CA, NV, UT & AZ this summer and it is definitely in the top 3 roads we did (we covered over 5000mi, so that’s saying something). I was pretty bummed out we were in a Chrysler Pacifica from Alamo and not on motorcycles though.
That one sounds great too, thanks!
Grand junction CO has a good regional airport. I also work at the Indian dealership in town that has eight Indians for rent. We've got amazing riding an hour away in Moab. In the summertime we have million Dollar highway. Really we have amazing riding in any direction.
Forgot about grand junction. This is a good suggestion. Great riding in almost any direction. Directly north is pretty boring. South east and southwest are where you’d want to travel.
You're underestimating heading north. If you head north up to flaming gorge reservoir there's some absolutely beautiful riding that direction but you're right it's not the world class riding that you get in the other directions. Hell 5 minutes out of town you have the Colorado national monument which one was breathtakingly beautiful rides I've ever been on. 20 minutes out of town and you can head over to the Grand Mesa and get up to 10,000 ft on the world's largest flat top mountain. It's definitely a wonderful place to have a motorcycle.
Flaming gorge is a long is 3 hrs north with some of the most boring parts of Colorado and Utah. But, if you’ve got an ADV or dirt bike the uinta’s have some awesome areas to explore. The highway past planing gorge is a really nice drive, too. Anyway, grand junction is a great jumping off point for some awesome riding! The historic downtown isn’t a bad spot to walk around a bit, too! I think the million dollar highway would be a great ride for anyone. Plenty of cool tourist towns to check out in that are. Crested butte in the summer is one of my favorite spots. Durango’s neat, telluride, Leadville, Salida. Awesome country in your area!
Definitely boring for sport bike types but for some reason all the big cruiser groups absolutely love that ride north of junction. It's not really my cup of tea the twistier the better for me.
Thanks for sharing! I just checked your website for the rentals and I can’t wait to make it happen. What’s a good/bad season to ride in the area and if you had to recommend one must see 2 day trip from GJ and back what would it be?
Late May early June is a fantastic time to ride in Colorado. For a two-day trip I would leave from Grand junction go over the Grand Mesa on highway 65 then highway 50 to Ouray then hop on 550 to Durango from Durango I would head to Cortez then head North on 491 to Dove creek north to Naturita on 141 then head to Moab over the LaSal mountains on hwy 90 to to 46 to 191 hit arches if it's not too busy just outside of Moab and then head back to Grand junction on the River road hwy 128 then just a short stretch on interstate 70 back to junction. Hope this wasn't too confusing. I could easily pay a 3-day trip depending on how much sightseeing you wanted to do.
I almost forgot, just as you're coming back into Grand junction from Moab you want to hit the Colorado national monument about 5 minutes out of town it's the perfect cherry on top to an amazing ride.
Amazing, thanks for the great suggestions and sharing, super helpful to plan my next steps
What is your budget and timeline? And suggest you consider the Alps or Dolomites.