Colorado 2020 Road Trip- Tips and tricks
Welcome to part two of my 2020 trip to Moab and Colorado. Thank you for following along on one of the most life-changing trips. Below I will discuss places I went, more details on what I did, and where I stayed.
As I mentioned, I went to Telluride, Colorado, after I left Moab. I have visited this small town since 2015 because my friend lives there. I went to Telluride since it was less than three hours away and had a free place to stay. I will do a feature post later about this town, but the key things you want to do are the following:
Places to eat in Telluride:
Siam: best Thai food and my favorite place to eat.
Rustico: they have the best fireplace pizza and, in my opinion, the best flatliners.
Phoenix Bean is a great place to grab a coffee or drink to do work, read, or catch a live band.
New Sheridan: if you want a fancy dinner.
Drinks to try/ places to drink:
Flatliner: you can enjoy this drink almost anywhere since it’s the town's signature drink. It’s a twist of the espresso martini, and I had best at Rustico, New Sheridan, and Phoenix bean.
Hugo: you can get this as New Sheridan: gin, St Germain, lemon juice, and sparkling wine.
Telluride Distillery: they make their vodka (used in the flatliner), whiskey, chair warmer, gin, and agave.
Telluride Brewery: great beer!
Things you should do
Take a Gondola ride to see the sunrise and sunset. Going over the mountains and seeing a new day start or end is just magical.
I recommend walking around town, exploring the local business, walking the river trail, and enjoying the San Juan Mountains surrounding this town.
After I left Telluride, I went to Crested Butte and just made a quick stop and walked around. It’s a cute town that has very bright and colorful businesses. I stopped at Camp 4 Coffee to fuel up my drive. It’s a cute coffee shop that is made from old license plates.
I took Monarch Pass to Salida, where I went to Elevation Beer Company. After my beer-tasting pit stop, I went into the town of Salida and went to High Mountain Distillery to check out their whiskey since I am a whiskey drinker. Then I went to Moonlight Pizza & Brewpub, which had some of the best pizza.
After my whirlwind tour of Salida, I drove to Turtle Rock Campground and found a spot to camp. Best place for epic views. I woke up to the view of the sun rising above Mt. Princeton. I went to Twin Lakes before heading to Leadville, Breck, and Frisco.
When I went to Frisco, I couldn't camp anymore because of the weather and the fires, but I found the cutest bed and breakfast called Frisco Lodge. They had a hot tub with a view of the mountains and gave you wine and cheese each night of your stay. I spent every night in the hot tub with wine and watched the smoke from the fires coming in. Highside Brewing is a perfect chill place to hang out and drink beer.
I went to St Mary's Glacier to hike and wandered Mount Royal in Frisco, two recommendations I took from the locals. I fell in love with driving Loveland Pass. Epic views and a little frighting driving on the pass, but you get those Colorado mountain views.
From Frisco, I went to Garden of the Gods to hike, then to Denver and stayed at one of my favorite hostels, Hostel Fish. This hostel has theme rooms, is close to the stadium, and is easy to walk everywhere. And they have a bar inside.
A block down is Jagged Mountain Brewing. This brewery is still one of my FAVORITE breweries, and I try to go here whenever I am in Denver. Down the street is a great steak sandwich place called Denver Ted's. You can even take the sandwich to the Brewery and enjoy a beer with your sandwich!
I hope you enjoyed this breakdown of most places I visited on my road trip back to Denver. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime. Happy adventures!