Hi there,

I am looking for tips, things to do, and a sanity check on an itinerary I am planning for a 9 day trip in October. Quick notes...I LOVE driving, spending all day in a car with short hikes and photo stops are dream vacations for me. I like being out sun up to sun down.

Day 1 I drive Denver to Albuquerque
I wouldn't mind restaurant recommendations, is that about a 6 hour drive total?

Day 2 ABQ Balloon Fiesta, I am thinking about getting a VIP pass. Anyone experience the Fiesta or the VIP thing? Tips for good photo spots?

Day 3 I am arranging a balloon flight, going to Sandia Peak, and heading to Santa Fe. I am looking for good restaurant recommendations.

Day 4 Probably doing the all day spa thing in Santa Fe

Day 5 Santa Fe I am interested in Petroglyph and Bandolier national parks/monuments. Can anyone give me timeframes for a decent visit, must sees, any other recommendations?

Day 6 I am driving to Great Sand Dunes NP and staying right at the dunes for sunset and sunrise photographs. Anyone been to this park? Must sees/must dos? Suggestions on the most scenic route from SF to the Dunes?

Day 7 I am going to Colorado Springs. Thinking about Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, but wouldn't mind suggestions. I end up in Denver. Any good restaurants or must sees? Most scenic route from the dunes?

Day 8 Rocky Mt National park. I am anticipating the most scenic road may be closed due to snow, but maybe not...anyone have a general guess on that around Oct 13th?

Day 9 I have a little time in the morning in Denver with no plans. Then is the sad part...I go back home.

Any bit of help is much appreciated! Thanks!

From a little north of Denver, I drove to Co. Springs, drove around a bit, went to Pike's Peak and through Garden of the Gods, and drove back in the same day. It was an easy day trip for me, so you might keep that in mind, although some from the COS area may provide you reasons why you would want to spend an entire day there.

Trail Ridge Road may or may not still be open; whether it is will likely depend on whether there have been significant early fall snows. Even if you can't drive all of the way through the park on it, you should be able to drive up it a fair amount and then walk further past the closure on the road. Though if it is closed due to early snows, expect the weather on the portion which is open to be chilly.

You will probably be past the peak of the autumn colors by that time in the Front Range, but if not the drive from Estes Park due south through Black Hawk should have some nice colors.

FWIW, consider combining days 6 & 7 to give yourself a night in Boulder or Estes Park.

For driving around RMNP and the rest of the Front Range, I would try to get a car or SUV with a V6, not a V4. There are enough significant hills that a lot of V4's may struggle and do a lot of switching between gears.

Bandelier is outside Santa Fe, but Petroglyph is outside Albuquerque (both are National Monuments). So, if you want to hit Petroglyph, you'll need to rework your plans a bit.

As far as ABQ/SF restaurant suggestions, any hints on what you're looking for as far as types of cuisine, cheap or expensive, etc.?

Question - do you have your reservations in Albuquerque? VERY hard to get during Balloon Fiesta (must book 6 months or more in advance).

Day 1 - Yes, 6 hours will get you from DEN to ALB. Speed limit on I-25 in southern Colo. is 75, but most go 80. Dinner recs in Albuquerque - we really enjoy Artichoke Cafe (semi-upscale), Garduno's (OK chain Mexican), Quarters (BBQ), Los Coates (the one on Lomas, near San Mateo) - very good authentic New Mexican. For breakfast, try the Frontier restaurant across from UNM - cheap, fast, tasty, fun - good huevos rancheros.

Day 7 - Very ambitious, not much time for COS. Only 2 ways to get from the Dunes to COS - south to Alamosa then East to Walsenburg, then north to COS - pretty dull from Walsenburg on, plus you've already seen this. My advice, go north on 285 then east on 24 coming into COS from the west (Divide, Woodland Park, Manitou Springs). This is about 180 miles but will take close to 4 hours.

As for Pikes Peak - iffy in Oct. The last cog railway of the day is at 1:20 until Oct. 21 but noon after that. Sounds like you're renting a car in Denver - it's a great drive (we love to abuse rental cars, don't we?), but you should call ahead to make sure the road's open - 800-318-9505.

Best time to see Garden of the Gods is from 1 hour before sunset to 1/2 hour after. Drive all around it to see the different vantage points. It will be rather chilly - daily highs in 50's & 60's, nightly lows in 30's and 40's, gets cold quick after sunset.

Hi there,

Thanks for all the information!

TRRed - I am betting that I will miss the fall colors by a few weeks. I am glad to hear that parts of the RMNP should still be accessable as long as it is not snowing when I visit. I have a V6 Mustang reserved and ready to abuse.

Clarence5ybr - Even if I am in Santa Fe, I don't mind driving back down to ABQ. As far as cuisine, I am open to anything...and am really interested to try New Mexican cuisine.

Deubster - One of the first things I did is reserve a room in ABQ. One of the main reasons I am flying to Denver and driving is because the airfare was 4x cheaper...I am sure due to the fiesta. Those look like excellent restaurant recommendations.

I've been agonizing over day 7 a little. I plan on photographing the dunes through sunrise and then leaving. The hotel has no services (no food) that time of year...so I have a little drive to get breakfast. That should put me in COS around 1 if I take your scenic route. I am most interested in visiting Garden of the Gods and photographing Pikes Peak from that vantage point.

Thanks for all the great pointers...post more if you think of anything!

Don't get me wrong. I think day 7 is doable, especially since the Cog Railway is in Manitou, before you get to COS. If you can roll by 8:30 or so, you should make it into Manitou Springs by noon, 12:30 at the latest, time to grab a snack. Then up the Peak by Cog Railway (not sure you want to try driving it in October without 4-wheel) and back with plenty of time to get to Garden of the Gods (also on that side of town). After sunset, head on up to Denver.

I just returned from a trip to Colorado. At Sand Dunes NP I drove my SUV along the Medano Pass Primitive Road up to the Point of No Return. I think I got my best photos along this road. There is some loose sand and it's signed as a 4 wheel drive but I did see a lot of cars driving it. Just don't go past the Point of No Return sign. Otherwise if you don't want to drive it, park at the beginning and walk. There is nice green vegetation that looks good in the foreground with the dunes in the background. As stated late afternoon/sunset is good for photos since you get shadows on the dunes and mountains in the background. There are 2 pullouts by the Great Sand Dunes park sign, on the entrance road to the park, that are great for sunset shots. I also got some great photos in the morning. It takes awhile for the sun to get over the mountains so wait for some light to reach the dunes in the morning. By 10am the light becomes pretty flat.

The best photos of Garden Of The Gods are taken at sunrise and early morning. You could get more information at http://www.naturephotographers.net/i...bbs.cgi?a=vf10
You can read through the forum or become a member it's free and post a question. The people on this forum are very helpful.
The book A Guide to Colorado's Best Locations by Andy Cook is very good. It has pictures and direction to many good locations.

At Garden of the Gods at the visitor center is a good view of pikes peak between the 2 rocks. Best light is in the morning.

Well, it's your vacation! Traffic between ABQ and SF can often be bad. This drive will add a bare minimum of an hour and a half round trip, and likely more. If it were me, I'd try to hit Petroglyph on my way out of ABQ rather than driving back down from SF and then back up. This would give you time to do more at Bandelier. Just my 2�.

As far as food in ABQ, deubster had some good suggestions. Artichoke Cafe is very good ('modern' American). Los Cuates is good New Mexican. The Frontier is a must-do in ABQ, but not just for breakfast. The Frontier Burrito is excellent and the carne adovada burritos are great too. For breakfast, they are also famous for their sweet rolls. Whatever meal you're there for, don't forget the delicious OJ (fresh-squeezed). Quarters is good BBQ. My one disagreement with deubster is Gardu�os, which I'd avoid. For another New Mexican place, I'd suggest El Patio. Il Vicino has great wood-fired pizzas, good sandwiches and salads, and great microbrewed beer. Scalo is a good choice for Italian.

Hi again,

Deubster - Thanks for the clarification. The item of "slippage" that day is going to be the cog railway. I know I will end up in Denver again, so that is something I can do if I don't get a chance.

Photomaven - Thanks for that site link, lots of great photos! You also have me thinking of getting an SUV. How long a walk is the good stuff on the primitive road?

Clarence5ybr - So if you had the choice and if you have been to both, would you do the Sandia Peak thing or the Petroglyph thing? And you said the magic word...microbrew! I'll have to hit the Artichoke Cafe as well, 2 recommendations is good for me.

Thanks again!

I lived an hour south of ABQ for 7.5 years, so I've done everything in question. Petroglyph is nice, but there are petroglyphs (and much more) at Bandelier. Given that you're planning on doing Bandelier, I'd do the Sandia Peak thing over Petroglyph and save Petroglyph for another trip. At Bandelier, definitely hit the 'main' area, but if you have time (and not driving back down to ABQ will give you some), go to the Tsankawi section�the 'other' part of the monument, which is a ways away from the visitor center area. While not as spectacular as what you can see in the main part of the monument, it's still interesting and scenic, and much less crowded (you need to do some ladder climbing to do the loop trail, but it sounds like you're up for that).

I you like microbrew, Il Vicino has good stuff�two locations in ABQ, one in Santa Fe. In Santa Fe, Second Street Brewery also makes some great beers.

I got good stuff from just past the start of the primitive road to the Point of No Return sign. I kept stopping at every pullout I came to and walked around a bit. I would say it's about a mile or so. But it may seem longer walking in the loose sand. If you haven't found it already here is a link to a map of Great Sand Dunes http://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/maps.htm

As far as New Mexican cuisine in Santa Fe, you can't go wrong with Tomasita's at the railyard. Great red and green chile and margaritas to boot. The Shed and La Choza are also good New Mexican restaurants, but Tomasita's is probably more accessable. Good luck and have fun.

for more restaurant rec's in alb., i'll second both quarters (bbq) and el pinto (n.m.). i also happen to like gardunos too.

i recently discovered rio chama (chama river) on a recent trip, on the I-25 frontage road. it happens to be a microbrewery, too, but i was just there for the food.

I will second Tomasito's (Santa Fe) and Los Cuates and El Pinto (Albuquerque). In my opinion, and that of many other locals, Sadie's is the best New Mexican restaurant in Albuquerque, however. Also try Dos Amigos on 4th Street and I-40 for the best "chile-cheese fries" you will ever eat. Cervantes, on Gibson past Kirtland AFB, is also outstanding for local flavor, and has a liquor store attached for convenience.

As for non-New Mexican (which I would not recommend, unless for some reason you can't eat chile, cheese, sopapillas, etc. for a week straight ), in addition to those mentioned, try Paul's Monterey Inn on Juan Tabo, an old-fashioned steak house, and Zinc's, an upscale wine bar/bistro on Central Ave. near Frontier.

I detest Garduno's. It's touristy and the food is just mediocre in my opinion.