I woke up and enjoyed a nice sunrise out my window on Saturday, October 18. I decided to get a hearty green chile breakfast burrito to go at the cafe next door, which I ate before heading on my solo adventure to Colorado National Monument, after my Paonia and Palisade adventures. The Monument is only 10 minutes from downtown Grand Junction, which makes it easy to get an early start.

Colorado National Monument has a 23-mile scenic drive. Starting at the Grand Junction side, I identified a couple of hikes I wanted to try in the morning before I completed the drive, where I would end up camping near the Fruita entrance.

I decided to try Devil’s Kitchen Trail first, which is .75 miles one way as the sign says (1.5 round trip). It was a beautiful morning and I was surprised to see some nice fall colors alongside the prickly pear cacti on the trail.

The trail was really beautiful but got confusing with a lot of “social trails” as I got closer to the rock formations. I tried to take it to the end, assuming I’d end up at the “Devil’s Kitchen” formation, but the trail kind of petered out. Anyways, I found a place to easily walk up to the rocks (no crazy scrambling/stepping on prickly pears required!) to get a closer look.

It was not very busy and I spent some time enjoying the rocks and taking pictures before heading back to my car for a snack and sunscreen application.

I wanted to do more hiking so I chose the nearby Serpent’s Trail, 1.75 miles (3.5 roundtrip). This is an old road once called the “crookedest road in the world” with 20 switchbacks that was converted to a hiking trail. This means it is flat and wide. You start climbing right away and quickly get great views of the scenic road and the trail.

I completed the whole trail with great views all the way up. It just kind of ends at another part of the road. I would definitely do it again, but even just the first mile up and back down would be worth it for the views.

It really started to warm up in the sun. The weather was really perfect, getting into the 60s and 70s. I think it’s a nice time of year to come- summer would be hot! Plus the fall colors contrasted with the rocks is gorgeous. I decided I was done with hiking, having done it during the coolest part of the day to warm up, and was ready to scenic drive to my campsite in the afternoon.

The scenic drive is a bit scary for those of us with a fear of heights, so I focused on my music, the road straight in front of me only sometimes, and stopped at nearly every stop to break up the drive and check out the views. It requires full attention as it’s popular with bikers as well. It’s definitely a must do if you visit! It reminds me a bit of Black Canyon of the Gunnison, which has various stops – some are viewpoints, some are short hikes, and some are trailheads for longer hikes.

“The heart of the world,” is what a man some called an eccentric drifter, John Otto, said about this place. He built trails on his own from 1907-1930s, and then the Civilian Conservation Corps built Rim Rock drive mostly by hand, which is truly remarkable.

One of my favorite moments of the afternoon was on Otto’s Trail, a very short trail to a lookout. There was only one other group, and they left, and I was able to have the place to myself. I sat for a while. The canyon is odd, and you can hear far away voices almost like they are near – that’s how I first realized there were climbers on Independence Monument, and spotted them far away (it’s the big rock formation on the left side in the picture below). John Otto was the first to climb this, of course, and climbers still use Otto’s Route. They continue his tradition of planting an American flag at the top every July 4th.

I enjoyed my meditative silence for a while, but was getting tired after a long day of hiking, driving, and exploring. Luckily, I was almost to Saddlehorn Campground. This is the only campsite within the monument, organized into three loops.

The campsite is really cool! The ground is hard so I used rocks for my tent (it was windy so I flied it out with rocks, Iceland style!). I got in some good reading time at my chair and made an early backpacking meal dinner.

I wanted to check out the sunset, and a viewpoint called Book Cliffs view was only a ten minute walk away. It’s an amazing place – there are trails leading to Window Rock and the Visitor’s center, and it’s easy to find some rocks to hang out on. I had grabbed a Big B’s Cider from my Paonia day, and had a peaceful happy hour watching the sun go down.

It’s fascinating to see how different everything looks in different light, and watch the birds, and listen for animal and people noises.

I headed back to camp and had my hot chocolate, did some more reading, and settled into my tent after checking out the stars. Despite the rocky ground, I slept very deeply. It did not even get too cold at night (my guess is 40s?), so I was very comfortable with my gear.

I set an alarm to ensure I did not miss the sunrise, and I had a plan. Why not head back to the same spot where I watched sunset to watch the sunrise? And, since I had a backpacking stove, I could make my coffee and oatmeal there.

As you can see from this unfiltered photo, the sunrise was gorgeous.

I decided once I was done with coffee to warm up more by hiking from Book Cliffs viewpoint over to Window Rock, a short distance.

After that, it was a short walk back to my campsite. It was nice out, so I enjoyed sitting and reading a bit more before packing up camp. I had a few more stops on the scenic drive on the way to Fruita.

As I was leaving the last stop, I realized I would get to Fruita a bit early for lunch as it was around 10 am. I saw there was a state park right near where I was, called James R Robb Colorado River State Park. They turned out to have a really nice sidewalk by the river perfect for a quick bike ride, with fall color and the Colorado National Monument in the background. I unfolded my bike and enjoyed a quick two miles.

My last stop before heading home Monday was Fruita, which has a nice small downtown. I had to put in a picture of my insane meal from Kamilla’s Kaffe, which had a lovely patio. I grabbed some coffee to go from an awesome place called Bestslope with a walk up window.

Overall, I loved camping at the monument. I definitely recommend the fall for a visit, as the weather was perfect, and hiking in the morning to beat the heat.

Covid-19 Safety: Overall, this section of my trip was very pandemic friendly. I was outside nearly the entire time with a lot of spacing on mostly wide trails, and saw a large amount of people with masks. I skipped a few viewpoints that had full parking lots, but had plenty of others to check out! Camping required no check in as I had reserved the site and the shared bathroom had its door open the whole time.

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.

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.