Honeymoon Travel Insurance by Tweetanya

You might easily spend a lifetime just exploring the Centennial State’s picturesque mountain country, which features a cornacopia of stellar vistas teeming with wildlife, world class hunting and fishing, and historic mining towns with quaint Victorian inns or bed and breakfasts. Long term cabin rentals are ideal bases of operation for your family’s Colorado escape. The Rockies have something for everyone, from outdoors enthusiasts to history buffs.

Start your excursion of America’s Alps in the town of Durango, located in Colorado’s southwestern corner. In the winter, the visitor has their preference of five different ski resorts  within an hour’s drive. In the summer, there is an almost infinite number of activities in and around the community, including hiking, backpacking and mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking and golf. Rail fans will enjoy riding the Durango & Silverton Railway, one of the last two remaining lines of the old Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge railroad. Powered by steam locomotives and featuring both open cars and antique rail coaches from a century ago,  this is an actual operating railroad that during the winter is the only way to get in and out of Silverton to the north.

Vacationing over the San Juan mountains, on the “Million Dollar Highway”, along the Rio de las Animas Perdidas, literally meaning “River of Lost Souls”, you will run into most historic mining towns that contain Silverton, Telluride, Ouray and Ridgway.  At Montrose, you will need to cut over to the east on U.S. 50, skirting the southern edge of Gunnison National Forest in order to visit Gunnison and Salida, which is home to one of the oldest whitewater kayaking events in the country, the FIBArk Race, which is the “weekend that Salida comes out to play,” held in June during the spring runoff.

It is tough to pick one place in Colorado’s mountain country that stands over the rest but the Rocky Mountain National Park and nearby Estes Park in the north central part of the state are definitely front runners. Take advantage of local cabin rentals, or stay at the historic Stanley Hotel, where author Steven King got the inspiration for The Shining. Founded by a settler from Missouri in 1859, Estes park is situated down the Big Thompson River, and is the gateway to the national park located just a few miles west.

You can ride the length of U.S. 34, the Trail Ridge Road, which has the distinction of being the highest unbroken highway in the country. This vivid drive will lead you to an height of over 12,000 feet above sea level and some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in North America, if not the world.

Of course, Colorado is the West, and that means cattle drives and horses. Well, the amazing cattle drives are long over and were primarily in the level eastern part of the state, but you and your family can re-live some of it at one of the area’s various “dude ranches”. Even with the abundance of highways and  jeep trails, there’s no better method to see this part of Colorado than from horseback.