If I was going from Grand Junction to Albuquerque, and had 3 days to do it, I'd do
this route. 1100 miles of some of the greatest roads anywhere.
If I had 5 or 6 days, I'd turn it into a 1900 mile mountain odyssey with
this and
this.
On the other hand, you could take the shortest route, which is about 380 miles.
Some notes:
- I have not ridden 141 south of Grand Junction, but a friend who lives near Denver tells me it's her "best road in the state".
- The Days Inn in Montrose is a decent place to stay.
- Ditto the North Face Lodge in Lake City. I think Google Maps has the North Face and the Alpine Moose backwards. In any case, I stayed at the one farther south, with the long deck overlooking the highway. It was nice and the owner was very pleasant.
- There is a neat little bakery just south of the North Face in Lake City. Very tasty treats.
- If you include Pikes Peak on a weekend, be there early. By 11:30 on Saturday, the line to get through the toll gate was almost down to hwy 24.
- There are two campgrounds on 149 south of Lake City. One near Slumguillion Pass and the other farther south, South Clear Creek Falls Campground.
- The St James in Cimarron, NM is also a nice place to stay. Very old but lovely.
- There are 2 campgrounds on 4 west of Los Alamos. Both in the nice high country.
- The Super 8 near I-40 and Juan Tabo in Albuquerque has a standard rate of $48 for a king room. It's very well run, very clean, and the beds are comfy.
- There are probably a bunch more campgrounds along the route, but those I mention are the ones I remember seeing while going through there.
