National Park Trip

[Tiutis]

Hi folks,

I want to do a national park trip over the Labor day weekend. Leave on Saturday August 31, and come back on Monday!

Day one, visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Mesa Verde. Day two-head to Moab and visit Dead Horse State Park, Canyonlands. Day 3, Arches National Park and Colorado National Monument in Fruita, and head back home.

Round trip about 1,200 miles. This trip would be just as much about riding as sightseeing and picture taking. Riding pace- sport touring. No dirt roads since I'm riding VFR.

Ability to carry some gear to change so that you can comfortably walk around the park a little bit.

Who is interested? Any questions? Speak up before August 24th so that we can make some plans! I'm open to suggestion and route changes, nothing is set in stone.

[Generic]

Camping or motels?

[Tiutis]

Camping or motels?

Motels. I could camp 1 night out of 2.

[Clovis]

I'm interested. I should know before 8/24. I did this trip last year minus crossing over into Utah.

My new house is under construction and the estimated completion date (which is a floating date currently) is right around the first week of September.

I vote for hotels... Clovis doesn't like to camp or lug around a sleeping bag/tent There's a good motel in Cortez that I stayed in last year and would recommend again... if I can recall the name.

[Tiutis]

Hope you can come, Justin. Moab area has great roads and the scenery is sick.

[ghettodub]

Sounds like a great trip. I'll be doing Badlands and Wind Cave NP that weekend.

[Tiutis]

Just checking if anyone can come? Justin?

[Clovis]

Put new tires on the bike yesterday. Had a fun day trip!

Is this still on?

[Tiutis]

It's on as long as you come. I will not be doing it alone. Let me know!

[DOMINasian87]

I'm the new guy here but I'm up for the trip. Is it still happening?

[Tiutis]

It's on. So far it's me and Justin. Meeting at Jan's in Buena Vista at 8a on Saturday.
I'm booking hotels tonight!

[ghettodub]

Ride safe, folks. I'll be doing national parks up in South Dakota this weekend.

[JKOL]

Sounds like a great trip. I'll be doing Badlands and Wind Cave NP that weekend.

The Blackhills have some great riding. The best part is little traffic and even fewer ticket writers. Let me know if you need any ideas for riding that area. I lived in Hot Springs, SD for 10 months which is about 10 minutes south of Wind Cave NP. I hear the Badlands are amazing, I regret never making it there, but I did make it to Sturgis and loved every second of the rally.

[ghettodub]

The Blackhills have some great riding. The best part is little traffic and even fewer ticket writers. Let me know if you need any ideas for riding that area. I lived in Hot Springs, SD for 10 months which is about 10 minutes south of Wind Cave NP. I hear the Badlands are amazing, I regret never making it there, but I did make it to Sturgis and loved every second of the rally.

Cool, good to hear, and I'm super excited. So far, here's what I have planned to see, and ride around/to:

• Custer Lake State Park
• Mount Rushmore NM
• Badlands NP
• Wind Cave NP
• Jewel Cave NM
• Crazy Horse memorial

I figure if I hit all those things, I'll get on most of the good riding roads. Appreciate any tips though

[Tiutis]

Cool, good to hear, and I'm super excited. So far, here's what I have planned to see, and ride around/to:

• Custer Lake State Park
• Mount Rushmore NM
• Badlands NP
• Wind Cave NP
• Jewel Cave NM
• Crazy Horse memorial

I figure if I hit all those things, I'll get on most of the good riding roads. Appreciate any tips though

Ride safe as well! I've done this trip last year in a car though. Custer State Park/Mount Rushmore and Wind Cave stood out the most. The roads are fantastic, very few cars in Custer with fast sweepers and good visibility. The only downside is getting there is kind of boring. Don't ride at dusk, watch for wildlife!
I saw some info about the SD country in the magazine: http://encompassmag.com/2013/08/dances-with-bison/

[JKOL]

Cool, good to hear, and I'm super excited. So far, here's what I have planned to see, and ride around/to:

• Custer Lake State Park
• Mount Rushmore NM
• Badlands NP
• Wind Cave NP
• Jewel Cave NM
• Crazy Horse memorial

I figure if I hit all those things, I'll get on most of the good riding roads. Appreciate any tips though

When east of Mt. Rushmore and north of Custer State Park, look for Iron Mountain Road. It shows up as part of highway 16 or 16a. It is a great, tight twisty road, that has some awesome views of Rushmore from a distance. Highway 385 south out of Deadwood is a great scenic road. Needles highway is another great road, but can get congested with tourists, but it is tight and twisty with lots of amazing views and some very unique things. If you find your way to Sylvan Lake, you will recognize it if you have seen National Treasure 2 with Nichalas Cage, part of the movie was filmed on the rocks there overlooking the lake.

As Tiutis mentioned, there is wild life like you wouldn't believe, especially around the usual times, dawn and dusk. I have never seen so many turkeys in my life and they aren't usually in a hurry to get out of the road. Deer and Prong Horns are thick as well. While I was living up there, my boss managed to hit 2 deer and a horse in a matter of a couple months. My roommate also tagged a deer. If you encounter a herd of buffalo in Wind Cave or Custer, I didn't know at the time when I road through a herd, they are extremely dangerous so don't get too close. That said, make sure to take the wild life loop through Custer State Park, you are almost guaranteed to see on of the 3 huge herds they have in the park.

Iron Mountain Road with views of Mt Rushmore



Wind Cave - safe distance


Custer State Park - unsafe distance

[Tiutis]

Tires-check, chain-lubed, oil-check. Packing my shit tonight, less than 24 hours to the epic roads and scenery!

[JKOL]

Tires-check, chain-lubed, oil-check. Packing my shit tonight, less than 24 hours to the epic roads and scenery!

Have fun and be safe.

[ghettodub]

Well, my ride up there kinda sucked... My battery on my bike died when I hit Hot Springs (bad reg/rectifier), so I had to get the bike towed up to Rapid and buy a battery up there.

I was nervous about the bike, so I just rented a car to explore the Black Hills. And then road home the next day with no issues. I didn't trust the bike, so I figured I'll just do the trip again!

[JKOL]

Well, my ride up there kinda sucked... My battery on my bike died when I hit Hot Springs (bad reg/rectifier), so I had to get the bike towed up to Rapid and buy a battery up there.

I was nervous about the bike, so I just rented a car to explore the Black Hills. And then road home the next day with no issues. I didn't trust the bike, so I figured I'll just do the trip again!

That sucks. I lived about 5 miles southeast of Hot Springs for 10 months. Hopefully you at least got some good ideas of where to ride on your return trip.