West - Transportation from Aspen to Telluride

Hi All,

I'm fortunate enough to have a free trip to Aspen in February. I'm going to extend it and go to Telluride, which I know is about a 100 mile drive away. I'll be flying into Aspen and out of Telluride. Right now I have a rental car, and I paid for a full-size car, and even with my corporate rate, it'll run me about $250 for just a day! I'm justifying it by telling myself that i'm getting so much free in Aspen that I should just pay for it. Okay. So I am. I have a reservation made just in case, but is there any other way to do it? I googled shuttles, and I couldn't find anything. I'm guessing there's probably nothing, and if we have a car, at least we can stop at any fun spots along the way (recommendations?), but if we can save the money, would like to!

Thanks!

Aspen to Telluride? You realize that's a five-hour drive, right? And I wouldn't go the way Google tells you to, especally in winter; I'd take I-70 and US 50 instead.

You're a 1K; I'd first look at award avaiilability on ASE-DEN-MTJ, then rent a car from MTJ. You can also do ASE-DEN-TEX, but DEN-TEX is Great Lakes Aviation and can only be booked over the phone.

Some of the more obvious side trips include the hot springs in Glenwood Springs and Ouray; the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP and Colorado NM; and the view of the San Juans from Dallas Divide (along Highway 62 west of Ridgway).

Lotta travel for similar mountains. Enjoy Aspen.

What about Steamboat Springs? Easier drive.

Nah I've always wanted to go to Telluride. I've been to Steamboat and all of the summit county resorts (keystone, breck, a-basin, etc). I'm a huge fan of Vail / Beaver Creek, but I'm gonna make Telluride happen :-).

I have a one-way car rental booked, and i know it will be a long day, but we'll get on the road by 9AM or so... if it takes the majority of the day, that's fine. I'm just hoping there's no snow storm... otherwise it could get interesting! If anyone has a great lunch recommendation to stop at along the way, let me know!

Thought I'd post back here to let y'all know that the drive really wasn't too bad. Luckily, it wasn't snowing the day we did the drive. We drove from Aspen to Grand Junction, and then from Grand Junction to Telluride. We left around 11AM in Aspen, and we were in Grand Junction in time for lunch at Taco Bell. There's really no "mountain driving" (i.e. windy roads w/ cliffs) if you drive through Grand Junction. We took the drive easy to Telluride, and we stopped at the WalMart in Montrose, and a few stores / brewery in Ridgway. Just got back tonight, and I had a great time... Plus... flying out of Telluride is pretty awesome (http://upgrd.com/blogs/cloudcommuting/taking-off-at-telluride-airport-tex.html)!