Our 2021 Road Trip: 3.5 Months in Colorado and Utah
From July 24th, 2021 to November 5th, 2021 we took our longest road trip yet: a 3.5 month road trip through Colorado and Utah.
We covered 11,771 miles, went on (at least) 59 hikes, explored 10 National Parks, and made 8 different towns & cities our home for anywhere from 3 to 30 days.
What do we consider a road trip? Time spent “on the road” exploring without being at home. Road trips can be day trips, weekend trips, week-long trips, or in this case: a 3-5 month road trip.
On July 24th, we packed up our car and left our home in Dallas, TX… and didn’t arrive back until November 5th: tired & homesick but happy & full from our adventures 🚗.
The Backstory: Our First Travel Season
In 2019, Jonathan got his first remote / work-from-home (WFH) job, making both of us “location-flexible”. (I’d been working from home for about 4 years.) What did we do with our newfound flexibility? We decided to travel more, first by taking a one-week road trip to Virginia Beach, then by taking a two-week road trip to North Carolina. (We spent one week in Raleigh and one week in Asheville.)
We enjoyed our trips so much that, in 2020, we decided to take things up a notch with one full year on the road. You can see what 2020 looked like for us here (spoiler: our grand plans changed a lot, one highlight was a 6-week road trip through New Mexico, and we got to stay in our dream mountain cabin).
By the end of 2020, we realized we loved being on the road, but full-time travel wasn’t sustainable for us, so we found ourselves settling into two distinct seasons for our lives instead: (1) The Basketball Season and (2) The Travel Season.
How the “Travel Season” Was Born
In January 2020, to kickstart our year of travel, we took a 9-day trip to Dallas, Texas, so we could attend 5 in-person Mavericks basketball games.
(For even more backstory: Jonathan has been a huge Dallas Mavericks fan all of his life, and I (loving sports and not having a basketball team of my own - I specify because I’ll never become a Cowboys fan 🏈🤪) quickly followed suit. He, of course, loves going to games as a huge fan, but I also love being in-person for all the fan fashion and player interactions you just can’t see on TV. Plus, there’s nothing like the energy of a home crowd, especially during the playoffs!)
So we spent 9 days in Dallas going to games and enjoying the city. It was a blast.
And when our 9-day trip ended, we dreamily thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to live here and watch the Mavs play in person all year long?”
To which that thought was quickly replaced with, “But we don’t want to live full-time in Dallas, so that’ll never happen.” (It’s HOT in the summer, y’all. And we really were enjoying our travels!)
And then an idea was born a few months later as we were in the middle of that first year of full-time travel and realizing we’d like a home base…
What if we lived in Dallas for the basketball season and traveled the rest of the year?
(And maybe even over all-star breaks, too!)
Fast forward to December 2020, and we made the move to Dallas, Texas to officially create two seasons in our lives: (1) The Basketball Season (which takes place during the NBA basketball season, typically running from the beginning of November through May) and (2) The Travel Season (running over the opposite months: June-Early November).
Note: While the basketball season might technically start at the end of October, we made a deal: Since I’m a big fan of fall weather - and Dallas isn’t necessarily known for its surplus of fall-feeling activities - our travel season could continue until November 6th each year. The other deal we made? While we might start traveling at the beginning of June (depending on how far into the playoffs the Mavericks run), we won’t book any non-family or friend travel until after the finals are over.
What’s the deal with “basketball seasons” and “travel seasons”?
Now that we’re 3+ years into traveling, we’ve figured out what works best for us: travel seasons, where we’re on the road for an extended period of time, and basketball seasons, where we stay put in one place.
The “travel season” now refers to how we plan our travels each year… we know we’re going to be on the road for the months of June-November, and we plan one big road trip with the area(s) we’d like to explore before planning a bunch of smaller road trips for each location in which we stay.
The 2021 Travel Season Itinerary: A 3.5 Month Road Trip Through Colorado & Utah
Map created by Atlas.co
As we were thinking about where we’d like to explore for 2021, a few things came to mind: (1) Where could we spend a lot of time outdoors? (2) What states have we been wanting to see? (3) Where could we get to in one day from Dallas?
We’d always wanted to visit Colorado, and we had previously planned (and canceled) a trip to Utah, so we quickly zoned in there. We knew from our time in New Mexico that we loved going “all-in” on a state before moving on, so we got to work planning our season for those two states alone.
In Colorado, we planned one week in Trinidad, two weeks in Durango, 10 days in Carbondale, a long weekend in Denver, and one month in Winter Park.
In Utah, we planned one week in Moab, one week in Salt Lake City, and one month in Kanab.
With both of us working full-time, we do almost all of our exploration in the evenings after work and on the weekends. (We did take a full week off in Carbondale, CO and Kanab, UT, which helped up explore tremendously!)
Stop #1: One Week in Trinidad, Colorado
We were in Trinidad, Colorado from 7/24-7/31 (our first week on the road). We picked this stop for one reason: The Great Sand Dunes National Park. While it’s not the closest possible stay to the dunes (it’s about 1 hour & 45 minutes away), it was the best (for us) Airbnb we could find.
Why Airbnb? Since we both work full-time, we need places to stay with good WiFi, so camping isn’t usually an option for us. We have considered something like a camper van or RV, but for now with our work schedules, staying in homes or apartments with more room(s) tends to be the most sustainable for us when it comes to being on the road for so long at a time.
We visited the Great Sand Dunes twice during our week in Trinidad. On our first visit, we hiked to the highest dune (spoiler: not the smartest idea on our first day in Colorado… Dallas has an elevation of about 430 feet… Great Sand Dunes starts at about 7,520 feet 😅).
On our second visit, we drove at night to see the stars and camped in our car so we could enjoy the sunrise over the dunes. (The Great Sand Dunes National Park is open 24 hours.) It was beautiful. And when we left in the morning to head back to Trinidad, we stopped at Zapata Falls (right near the Sand Dunes) for a quick hike that takes you just about directly into a waterfall.
During our stay in Trinidad, we also explored Trinidad Lake State Park and hiked Simpson’s Rest for a view of Trinidad & the Trinidad sign.
Stop #2: Two Weeks in Durango, Co
After our stay in Trinidad, we made our way to Durango, Colorado. There’s so much to do near Durango, and it had one of the best downtowns of our entire trip. (We loved its laidback vibe and could have happily stayed in this town much longer.)
A few of our favorite restaurants in Downtown Durango included the Steamworks Brewing Company, Grassburger, 11th Street Station, Primi, & of course, Cream Bean Berry Ice Cream.
We also found a ton to do in and outside of Durango, including the Coal Bank Pass hike, the Sky Steps & Rim Trail, the Animas River Trail, Telluride & Hope Lake Trail, Trout Lake, the Million Dollar Highway, and the Durango to Silverton Railroad.
We even took a road trip (day trip) to Four Corners Monument and Mesa Verde National Park!
Stop #3: 10 Days in Carbondale, CO
We picked Carbondale because we wanted to be near Aspen (and Maroon Bells). I was also hoping to see Crystal Mill (this is one of those things you see on social media and get stuck in your head to see one day yourself) and hike Hanging Lake. (We did book a reservation, but unfortunately, a severe mudslide a few days before our arrival closed the Hanging Lake area for about a year.)
We stayed right in downtown Carbondale, which meant we had access to quite a few restaurants (that on weekends open up extra patio seating in the street), a farmer’s market (with delicious mini donuts courtesy of Aspen Mini Donuts), and even a burger shop just 43 steps from our Airbnb (yes, this burger & fry fanatic counted… shoutout to Fatbelly Burgers! 🍔).
While in Carbondale, we took a week off to explore and made our way to: the Avalanche Creek Trail, Mushroom Rock, Maroon Bells & Crater Lake, Aspen & Snowmass, Crystal Mill, Iron Mountain Hot Springs, Thomas Lakes Trail, and the West Elk Loop (including a stop in Redstone, CO, Crested Butte, Blue Mesa Reservoir, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and Big B’s Orchard).
Stop #4: Long Weekend in Denver, Co
We planned just a long weekend in Denver, CO for two reasons: (1) we spend our “off-season” (aka basketball season) in a city so we wanted to prioritize smaller towns, but (2) we had friends visiting Denver at the time, so we wanted at least some time enjoying the city with them!
Because of time with friends, we actually didn’t do many “touristy” things in Denver and instead saved a lot of those things until our next stay in Winter Park.
We did… enjoy a few ciders at Stem Ciders, walk through Denver City Park (and grab a paddle boat that was shockingly dog-friendly for an hour), stroll through Larimer Square, and have brunch at Snooze.
Stop #5: One Month in Winter Park, CO
The first month-long stay of our road trip was in Winter Park, CO (which is about an hour outside of Denver). We usually prefer month-long stays because they allow us more time to explore. (Since we both work full-time, we do most of our exploring on nights and weekends.)
Month-long stays give us enough time to sightsee so that we don’t feel rushed to go-go-go every day, but not so much time that we put off the activities we want to do. It’s that sweet spot for us traveling that gives us time to see & explore without leaving the stay exhausted.
It also gives us time for our other favorite thing: feeling like a local. That’s not to say we feel like true locals in any place we visit, but staying in one place for longer than a few days gives us more time to get to know an area, find favorite restaurants, and do the things we might usually skip in favor of the “bigger”, more touristy things.
So with that context given, we were able to do a lot in and around our month-long stay in Winter Park, CO!
While living at 9,100 feet took some getting used to (RTL Tip: if you’re traveling from a significantly lower elevation, plan a stay around the 4-5k mark first), Winter Park was an amazing stay for its mountain views and an endless supply of outdoor activity.
Places we explored and adventures we took from Winter Park included: Rocky Mountain National Park and Shadow Mountain Lake, Manitou Incline, Mount Evans (including a snow pellet storm and a picturesque mountain goat at the top!), Devil’s Thumb (a hike we attempted after work… and completed in the dark 😅), the Flatirons & Pearl Street in Boulder, Buffalo Pass & Steamboat Springs, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado National Monument, Red Rocks, Vail, & our favorite Big Trout Brewing in downtown Winter Park!
Stop #6: A Week in Moab, UT
After two months in Colorado, it’s finally time for us to move on to our next state: Utah. Our biggest goal for our time in Utah was a re-do of sorts for a road trip we had planned yet had to cancel a few years prior: Utah’s Mighty 5 National Parks.
Utah’s Mighty 5: Arches National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park.
That’s why our first stop in Utah had to be Moab. (We also considered visiting these National Parks from Grand Junction, CO- which would have been great to also explore Colorado wine country, but ultimately I’m so glad we prioritized staying as close to one of these parks as possible.)
We only planned about a week for this part of our stay, so we loved being able to visit Arches National Park after work for multiple days. That gave us time for day trips to Canyonlands and Capitol Reef (plus Dead Horse State Park) on the weekend.
Stop #7: One Week in Salt Lake City
Again, we knew we wanted to see Salt Lake City (much like Denver) but also not spend a ton of time here since we get the city experience throughout our off-season. That’s not to say Dallas and Salt Lake City are similar, but just to say the national parks and smaller towns were higher on our want-to-see list.
From Salt Lake City, we explored Bonneville Salt Flats (amazing!!!!), Antelope Island, and Liberty Park. We also stopped for a quick walk through Park City (which I’d love to see again in the winter ❄️).
Stop #8: One Month in Kanab, UT
Wow, there is a LOT to do near Kanab! And because of that, this was one of the best, most scenic stays of our trip.
We had originally booked a stay about 15 minutes outside of downtown Kanab. At what felt like the last minute, our original host canceled and we had to find a new place to stay… for a month… during the final leg of our 3.5-month road trip.
While we were certainly frustrated at first, this turned out to be a huge blessing. Because our new rental would be directly in downtown Kanab and just a quick 5-minute walk to the in-person lottery for “The Wave”.
We didn’t win the online Wave lottery, so we were planning to attend the in-person one. And after showing up to the in-person lottery every day for 14 days in a row, I can confidently say: We would not have kept showing up if we had to drive 15 minutes each morning. It just wouldn’t have happened. Because while the first few days of the in-person lottery are tons of fun (it truly feels like people are winning the lottery- actual lotto balls are used, and there is SO much excitement for each number drawn), continuing to show up and watch other people win day-after-day gets just a liiiiiittle old.
So we were happy that thanks to our new rental in Downtown Kanab, we were just a 5-minute walk from the lotto and could show up fresh-faced, pretty much still in PJs, about two minutes before the drawing… because on Day 15, we won 😁.
Places we explored from Kanab: The Wave (!), Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Angel’s Landing & The Narrows in Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon North Rim, Coral Pink Sand Dunes 🏂 (highly recommend sand sledding… and googles), Moqui Caves, Monument Valley, the Toadstools, Sunset Crater, Sand Arch, Belly of the Dragon, Jackson Flat Reservoir, K-Hill trail, and Peekaboo slot canyon.
Highly recommend putting Kanab on your travel list if you’re a fan of the outdoors and enjoy a road trip!
Where to next?
For 2022, we upped the ante and planned a 5-month road trip… through New England 🚗 You can see our full 2022 travel itinerary here!
You can read about our 2020 travels here.
And our 2019 travels here.
What about you? What’s your favorite road trip or the next on your list?
We’re always looking for inspiration, and would love to hear about your adventures too! What’s the best road trip you’ve ever taken (and why), or what’s an upcoming trip you can’t wait to schedule? Please share with us in the comments below!
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