Climbing
We spent 1.5 months of our 2017 road trip in Rifle Mountain Park. This was the first climbing destination during the first leg of our trip. The climbing area was amazing with plenty of hard limestone rock climbing. There are not very many “moderate” climbing routes as most of the grades are 11+ and up, but there are a few and tend to be a little more polished than you would like.
This place is extremely dog and kid-friendly. Most of the approaches are very short (i.e. 30 seconds).
Entrance Fee: There is a daily Entrance Fee of $5/day. If you plan on staying longer, consider purchasing the Rifle Mountain Park Annual Pass online or from the camp host.
Camping
We camped at the designated campsites for $10/campsite (rates in June 2017). You can camp for free if you drive further up the road and sleep along a National Forest Service Road. There are pit toilets / portable toilets available throughout Rifle Mountain Park.
Water Fill: Use the Rifle Rest Area for RV Dumping (no charge) and potable water fill ups.
Showers available at the Pool Recreation Center ($2/pp) or the gym ($5/pp).
Food and Drinks
In Rifle:
(1) Brickhouse Pizza: Order their wild mushroom pizza. It’s delicious!
In Glenwood Springs:
(1) Sweet ColoraDOUGH: They’re only open till 2pm each day and they run out of certain flavors early, but the doughnuts are amazing!
(2) The Pullman: A couple of good local beers always on tap. Good hipster-vibe food.
(3) Slope and Hatch: Great tacos, hot dogs, and cocktails.
(4) The Lost Cajun: Great Jambalaya and Crawfish Etouffee. Can’t forget about the beignets either!
(5) Glenwood Springs Brew Garden: Great beer. Plus there is a taco truck outside that you can bring into the beer garden if you’re craving burritos, tacos, or nachos!
Rest Day Activities
(1) Hanging Lake Hike: Get there early as the parking lot fills quickly! Even on weekdays. We got to the parking lot at 7:45am on a Thursday and the parking lot was about half full.
(2) Hike a 14’er: Easiest 14’er to summit would be Mount Evans. However if you are a climber or just up for a challenge, I’d highly recommend hiking Long’s Peak. We hiked to Chasm lake in under two hours and probably could have reached the summit, however we were not planning on it and did not have any food. But it definitely will be something I try to target next time!
(3) Hang out in Glenwood Springs: Visit the hot springs (we like Iron Mountain Hot Springs), visit the Coca Cola Factory (10cents drinks!), eat, buy beer, laundry, etc. Glenwood Springs is the closes bigger city and there’s plenty of activities to do here during the day.
(4) Take a Fly Fishing Class: If you go to Boulder, the local fly fishing store offers free fly fishing classes on a monthly basis. Sign up and learn to fly fish as I hear it’s a great rest day activity! We didn’t get to do this due to our timing but we have been extremely curious and plan to take a course somewhere along our road trip.
(5) Visit Boulder: Plenty of good food. Visit Movement. Hike to the Flat Irons. Drink some local craft brews. Visit the Wholefoods in Boulder, it is HUGE!
(6) Visit Rocky Mountain National Park: Don’t feel like hiking? Drive the Trail Ridge Road and stop along all of the scenic trails for some information about the park.
