I had a long weekend October 16-19, with Monday off work as a required furlough day, so I decided to head to Western Colorado. It was my first solo trip in a while, since Nick had to study for midterms.  It seemed like a nice time of year to head out to the area, which is warmer than the Denver area this time of year. For the first day, I decided to drive to Paonia, Colorado. I had heard this was a cool area, but found that you could camp in an orchard, which sounded like a fun way to spend a night of the trip.

I did the typical drive from Denver, heading west on I-70; however, I had yet to drive through Glenwood Canyon since fires earlier this year. I could definitely see some burned landscape, but it was really beautiful as there were a lot of fall colors near the rushing river. Then, I turned onto 133 to get to Paonia, which was all new driving for me. The landscape was really beautiful, with lots of golden fall colors and a river.

It’s a bit over a four drive, but it was lovely, and I made it to the small, cute town of Paonia. I walked around a bit and considered doing lunch there, but I had spotted a few wineries on the way in and wanted to visit those – there was one that had a market as well for food.

I decided to head back to a winery I had spotted on the way to Paonia, just a few minutes away. Blackbridge Winery was down a road next to a river. It was cute as soon as I arrived and they had a lot more than wine – there was a whole pumpkin patch outside! They also had a market with lots of local products from honey to pasta to local art.

I wanted to do a wine tasting. I found the couple running the wine tasting super nice and down to earth, and my tasting included 5 wines which I could choose and the glass below. They had a variety of red and white wines including a Peach wine that was not very sweet but dry, which is nice! Palisade especially in this area of Colorado is known for producing peaches. I grabbed a bottle of their Alpine White, which was on sale.

Black Bridge Winery has an amazing setting along a river, which was stunning this time of year with fall leaves, mountain views, vineyards, and 60s-70s sunny temperatures. They invite you to picnic with a bottle of wine along the river, and have some picnic tables and chairs set up – you can even buy some nice cheeses and snacks inside. It’s definitely a place I want to return to! You could spend several hours JUST here.

But, I did want to check out some other wineries too. Next, I headed to a spot I’d seen right near the road – Qutori Winery/Root and Vine Market.

There was a patio with a just gorgeous view of the vineyards across the way, where many of the wines are made from. I tasted a few and settled on a lovely rose and a croissant sandwich from the market. The people were once again very nice. There was a lovely watercolor mural in the winery tasting area (inside but open air) that the woman told me the owner and her son had completed themselves. This was a lovely, peaceful setting to enjoy lunch. There was another solo person at a table nearby, and we started chatting. He could work remotely so had moved to the area and loved it. It was fun to travel solo and be able to make a socially distant friend! I told him I wanted to head up to Azura Winery next, and he said that had the best views. He was not wrong as you will see!

Azura has a Mediterranean feel to it. You drive up a mountain a bit to these beautiful buildings, which include a small art gallery. The tasting was all outside, and then the seating was outside overlooking just a gorgeous view. Once again, the woman doing the tasting was very nice and invited me to check out the art gallery (which was empty of people) and the lake for the “yacht club,” in which its members use small remote control boats. I ended up with a glass of the “Yacht Club Red.”

The views here were truly stunning. My last stop, the camping spot at Big B’s Orchard, was only a five minute drive away. I wanted to pace myself in enjoying the wine (and ensure I was drinking lots of water!), so I sat for a while and listened to a podcast (I got no cell phone reception here), and enjoyed the view.

Big B’s Orchard is a really fun, unique place that’s also a cidery. There is a store, cafe, and huge outdoor area with tables and swings. It was still lovely late in the afternoon. The store has all kinds of produce and goods! I got apples and some cherry tart cider to go (all excellent). I also ate a delicious pulled pork sandwich and enjoyed the outdoor area.

I then walked around the orchard a bit and enjoyed some fall colors and nice views before heading to my campsite, right in a row of the orchard.

I really enjoyed the simple campsite – I had a picnic table and set up my chair and tent. There were campers in other orchard rows, so I felt safe and not alone, but also had some privacy in my little area. I read for a bit, but sunset is early these days – 6:30 pm! It’s very different from backpacking where I often was tired and just waiting for the sun to go down at 9 pm.

I feel asleep quickly, but woke up around 10 pm and then saw the most amazing stars I’ve ever seen – I didn’t really get a great capture on my phone, but it was stunning! Overall, it was a fun campsite, and I’d love to spend more time at Big B’s in the future.

Covid-19 Notes: Overall, the places I went were very naturally set up for pandemic safety. I wore a mask whenever I wasn’t seated eating, and everyone else did as well. There were all outdoor seating areas, and even areas technically “indoors” had a large garage door or door opening to allow for air flow. The camping check in was in the store, which had open doors for air flow, and was quick. My campsite was very spaced from others so that I enjoyed privacy.

My next blog post will cover heading from Paonia to Palisade for a winery bike tour.