weekender.
Weekend trips from Western Colorado University
Hidden spots near Gunnison, day trips and weekend road trips from Western Colorado University in November, scored 1–10 on price, timing and what's happening, with gas, park fees, a campsite or room and food included.
Plan your own trip from Western Colorado University →Local finds near campus
Crested Butte
Colorado's wildflower capital: an old mining town with painted storefronts.
Day trips
Great Sand Dunes
The tallest dunes in North America under snowy peaks, with a beach creek in spring.
Royal Gorge
Walk a suspension bridge 956 feet above the Arkansas River.
Maroon Bells & Aspen
Colorado's most photographed peaks over a lake (shuttle reservation), and Aspen's free gondola rides in summer.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
A canyon so deep and narrow that parts get 33 minutes of sun a day; the Painted Wall is 2,250 feet.
Buena Vista & the Arkansas River
Riverside hot springs under the Collegiate Peaks, and Colorado's busiest whitewater.
Telluride
A box-canyon mining town with a free gondola to the ski village and Colorado's tallest waterfall.
Weekend trips
Great Sand Dunes
The tallest dunes in North America under snowy peaks, with a beach creek in spring.
Mesa Verde
Whole villages built into cliff alcoves 800 years ago; climb ladders into them on ranger tours.
Arches & Moab
Over 2,000 stone arches (Delicate Arch at sunset), with Moab's mountain biking and jeep trails.
Canyonlands
Mesa Arch framing the sunrise over a maze of canyons the Colorado River carved.
Dinosaur National Monument
A rock wall with 1,500 dinosaur bones still in it, plus petroglyphs and river canyons.
Ouray
'The Switzerland of America': hot springs in a box canyon at the start of the Million Dollar Highway.
Long weekends
Petrified Forest
Rainbow logs of stone and the Painted Desert's badlands along old Route 66.
Mesa Verde
Whole villages built into cliff alcoves 800 years ago; climb ladders into them on ranger tours.
Arches & Moab
Over 2,000 stone arches (Delicate Arch at sunset), with Moab's mountain biking and jeep trails.
Canyonlands
Mesa Arch framing the sunrise over a maze of canyons the Colorado River carved.
Grand Canyon South Rim
The Rim Trail at sunset and a few switchbacks into the canyon (going down is optional, up is not).
Capitol Reef
Pioneer orchards where you can pick the fruit, under cliffs of red rock. Pie at the Gifford House.
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