Cool Towns to Stop In for a Night (Utah, Colorado, WY)

[MuleyFever]

Ouray seems like the coolest town a long that route in CO.

It is but it’s really small. Durango has a good sized shopping/downtown area with some good outdoor stores and breweries. The drive from Durango to Ouray is cool.

 

[ramsdude47]

Ideally on the way up we'd stop somewhere right on the route, so Moab or...What about Rifle, Meeker, Craig, Palisade, Grand Junction? Any of these places worth a damn? I've only heard Grand Junction is mostly an S-Hole but it is in a convenient location...

Fruita and Palisade are both very cool, worthwhile stops. GJ is not a shit hole either.

Telluride is the best MTN town in CO, but pretty far out of the way. Durango/Silverton/Ouray are not too far behind.

 

[Huntinaz]

Yeah good to know, I asked around with some friends this morning and they said GJ is alright as well so that’s good to know

 

[Lawnboi]

Moab

 

[cbeck36]

Moab is tiva sandal HQ .

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

I love Moab. Hell, I was born there, but I’d skip it these days. It ain’t what it used to be. It’s flooded with tourists and hippies.

Go with either Kanab or Torrey (my favorite) instead.

 

[ramsdude47]

I would agree that Moab - just passing through and getting food/beers - is not really anything special. It’s an overpriced tourist town, with almost all of the food/beer offerings being mediocre.

Moab is a special place, but anymore you kind of have to have insider info to tap into that. Or spend at least a few nights.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Moab is a good stop, mainly for the nearby national parks. Torrey for a cool UT small town. If you have a little extra money to burn, Gateway Resort in Gateway CO is incredible. Ouray over Durango by a long shot. Crested Butte is my favorite area in CO. Pagosa Springs CO is cool. Redstone CO is a neat little dot on the map.

 

[Crghss]

Pagosa Springs, CO or Silverton. I had fun at both.

 

[Phaseolus]

Fruita and Palisade are both very cool, worthwhile stops. GJ is not a shit hole either.

Telluride is the best MTN town in CO, but pretty far out of the way. Durango/Silverton/Ouray are not too far behind.

Palisade is the Peach of the Grand Valley.

 

[Akwoodchuck]

Utah, Flaming Gorge/ Uintas are pretty sweet, rest of state sucks
...I'd take the scenic route and go Taos, Alamosa, R.M.N.P, Medicine Bow....longer drive, but jaw dropping and cool little towns the whole way....

 

[GSPMich]

I have 2 travel questions. I'm travelling west in a few weeks for the first time.

First, where is a good specific spot to stay in Durango for a night. Nothing expensive just a decent place to stay in close proximity to some food options.

Also, is there a decent town between Des Moines and Omaha with a Wal-Mart where I could sleep in my truck for a few hours without having anything to be concerned about anything?

 

[Zzyzx]

Definitely Ouray or Silverton over Durango. But hotel rates will show that.

Ogden is very ghetto. SLC if you have to. Park City is cooler of course.

We slept in the bar in Meeker, CO after it closed one night. Every room was sold out and it was the "99 year rainstorm" weekend in Colorado. Bar tender let us crash.

 

[pirogue]

Moab, for sure, and the Rustic Bar in Saratoga for the cat displays. I try to avoid giving those Democrat tree huggers In CO, anything.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Stop by Colorado city, I hear they love to part there.

 

[wildwilderness]

Fruita is more hip than GJ

 

[HighUintas]

I love Moab. Hell, I was born there, but I’d skip it these days. It ain’t what it used to be. It’s flooded with tourists and hippies.

Go with either Kanab or Torrey (my favorite) instead.

This guy is right. Moab is overran with tourists.

Torrey, Fruita, and Teasdale area are all awesome. Kanab is also awesome. I think these are probably the best low key tourist ish towns in Utah. Escalante too.

For Colorado, Silverton is pretty great and is not as busy as Ouray. Ouray is a sweet town but of course is very busy with tourists. Telluride is pretty much the same but larger.

 

[zion zig zag]

Ogden is very ghetto.

Only someone who has never seen a real ghetto would say that.

It's not Ouray or Silverton, but as a place to spend a night it's a pretty good spot. Lots of bars and restaurants, walk distance hotels on historic 25th st: https://www.visitogden.com/directory/historic-25th-street/

 

[Backyard]

Torrey, Fruita, and Teasdale area are all awesome. Kanab is also awesome. I think these are probably the best low key tourist ish towns in Utah. Escalante too.

So what makes these towns "awesome"? The wife and I will be all thru this area next week on the bike and always looking for the unique.

 

[HighUintas]

So what makes these towns "awesome"? The wife and I will be all thru this area next week on the bike and always looking for the unique.

Fruita isn't much of a town, I guess. It's more or less part of capitol reef NP. There's a historic cabin that they have open keep me if as a gift shop where you can buy jams made from the orchard's fruit and ice cream. There's a couple campgrounds there where you can pick as many apples as you want to eat while you're staying and I think it's a pretty small suggested donation to be able to take some with you. The orchard's of apples, peaches, etc are left over from when settlers moved into the area.

Torrey is a just a nice little town with a couple of good restaurants, a few shops, and a couple of art galleries.

Through Teasdale there's at least one little trading post shop and there's a lot of beautiful hikes around there where you can find petroglyphs, etc. Some internet searching might be required to find the best points if interest.

Then of course that whole area has some amazing hikes, archaeological sites, and drives like to cathedral valley. It's a pretty great, less crowded NP.