Saturday was Day 2 of my solo Western Colorado trip. After my tour around Paonia, I woke up to a beautiful sunrise in the orchard. I packed up my tent early and stopped in Hotchkiss, Colorado, at the Coaltrain Coffeehouse, a very cute independent coffee shop. It was about an hour drive to Palisade, which turned to a much different rocky scenery (kind of like Paint Mines in Eastern Colorado).
I headed to Riverbend Park, since it was fairly early still. I have a foldable bike that I can fold up and put in my car. I got that out and tried out the flat bike/walking path along the Colorado River. Technically you can bike all the way to Grand Junction! The views are amazing and unique in Palisade with the rock formations, and I still saw some beautiful fall colors.
Next I checked out the town to find some food. The town is small but really nice, with a number of restaurants and cafes. I stopped at a funky cafe called Purple Cow and enjoyed sitting outside. After this, I was ready to start an afternoon of self guided bike winery touring!
I looked at a map online and decided on the West Cruiser Loop, which is 7 miles and passes a lot of wineries and nice scenery. I cruised back through Riverbend Park on this route. The great thing about the loop is that it passes a lot of places, so you have flexibility if somewhere looks busy to simply move on.
Safety Notes: I want to note that I wore a helmet, and a small part of the route was on a busy road, so please be sure to know basic bicycle safety if you choose to do this. I will also note that I wanted to be careful with my drinking amounts since I was biking and then driving to Grand Junction after, so drank slowly at each stop to enjoy my time, only got tasting portions and no glasses, and had my hydration bladder full of water (and each winery provided water as well!).
My first stop was Colorado Vintner’s Collective, a clean modern space with a lovely patio. I did a tasting, which included wines from local wineries as well as some of the Collective’s wine. It was really lovely – once again, I found my host to be extremely nice and friendly in explaining the wine to me. I absolutely loved the rose made by the Collective, and so I decided to put a bottle in my backpack to bike around with on the rest of the Loop (shows you how much I liked it!).
In my research, I really wanted to check Maison La Belle Vie. It was a French themed winery that had an excellent patio, according to information online. This location was busy and only got busier as I was there, but the patio was really lovely with great views of the winery and rocks. Their tastings were pre-selected and came with guide cards, which was nice. They had beautiful charcuterie boards for 2-4 people, but since I was solo, I went with a delicious quiche and salad.
After Maison La Belle Vie, I biked the loop and passed wineries and orchards. I really enjoyed the beautiful scenery and awesome sunny weather.
I came upon an area with Grand River and Talon Vineyard, but it was quite busy so I decided to skip tastings. It seemed nice and they had horse drawn carriage rides there apparently!
Next, I stopped at a fruit stand. They were out of peaches, and I already had apples, but I decided to take advantage of their end-of-season sale and buy some jam. Nick and I have been enjoying the Apple Pie Jam from the stand.
Next, I decided to go slightly off the loop to try one last winery, Varaison. This was an excellent decision, as it turned out. Their tasting is free and includes wine education with a person assigned to your group. Since I was solo, I was one on one. The woman who guided me through the tasting was very friendly, wore a mask, and we sat outside at a table across from each other. She was also from Arizona, as it turned out. It was very informative, and I decided to get one more bottle of wine. Total, from the trip, including Paonia, I brought home three bottles of wines I tried to share with Nick.
Covid-19 Safety Notes: The bike tour of wineries is extremely pandemic friendly. Wineries have excellent patios, and it’s easy to bike and check out to see the space and whether you feel comfortable to choose which wineries to check out. And biking outside is lovely. All the servers and staff wore masks and people were good about mask wearing when not at their tables. While this area of Colorado is busy and has tourists, it is also less packed then other tourist areas, in my experience.
I was staying in Grand Junction, so I finished my bike ride and drove about 15 minutes to my hotel, a SpringHill Suites (I had a free night certificate). I was apprehensive about staying in a hotel during a pandemic, and enjoy camping experiences, but the hotel did an excellent job with social distancing, one person in an elevator at a time, and mask requirements. They even encouraged you to bring your bike to your room to avoid theft (not a Covid related item but nice). I spent fairly little time at the hotel, as well.
I walked around downtown Grand Junction, which was full of fall color. There were several good options for dining with nice patios, and I ended up at a brewery. I also grabbed gelato to go.
My room had a really nice sunset view. I wanted to get started early the next day to maximize my time at Colorado National Monument, which will be my next blog entry!
Gear Recommendations
This part of my post contains affiliate links that allow me to earn a small commission at no extra charge to yourself. I’m genuinely posting items I use and believe are helpful for this type of adventure!
Foldable Bike: I have the Retrospec bike, but as that often sells out, here is a nearly identical alternative that you can throw in your car for flat bike rides – like the West Cruiser Loop on the Palisade Fruit and Wine Byway, or the Riverbend Park trail!
Hydration Bladder: I recommend this and your favorite hydration-compatible backpack to ensure you stay hydrated during a wine bike tour.