ST Raider,

I ride Colorado and New Mexico a lot. I was just in the San Juans last week and was also there in May. There is a loop ride in the area you are interested in, It is called "The San Juan Skyway" The loop is Durango to Cortez on US160, Colorado 145 from Cortez to Placerville, Colorado-62 from Placerville to Ridgway and US-550 from Ridgway to Durango. The loop can of course be started at any point and run in either direction. I recommend riding counter-clockwise because the climb from Ouray over Red Mountain Pass to Silverton is the most spectacular going south. There are currently two trains a day running from Durango. the first arrives Silverton about 11:30 and the second about 12:30 and it is neat to watch them arrive. They each stay about 2 1/2 hours but watching them arrive is the fun part. The ride up the Dolores Valley and over Lizards Head Pass (CO-145) is also more scenic going north.

From Taos to Durango I recommend US-64 and US-84 to Pagosa Springs and US-160 to Durango. The ride through the Carson Forest (between Taos and Chama) is breathtaking. Chama also has a steam train that runs to Antonito Colo and it is fun to watch it leave.

Jeffedose mentioned riding CO-141 from Naturita through Gateway and I assume onto Grand Junction. He is right this is a spectacular ride, the auto museum at Gateway is really good. The downside of this ride is it drops to 4,000 ft elevation and when I rode it two weeks ago we experienced temps in the high 90s.

If you have room in your budget the very historic Strater Hotel in Durango is a step back in history and very luxurious for a hundred year old hotel. In Silverton the Imperial Grand Hotel is also very historic. The saloon and grill in the Imperial Grand is also the best place in town to eat and they always have a honky-tonk piano player.

The US-160, CO-149, US-50, US-550 loop is a good ride but I don't put it in the same class as "the San Juan Skyway". Just my opinion but I really like the Dolores River Valley as well as US-550.

I hope this helps you. Colorado is some of the best riding in the country and I am always up there at least once a year and usually more often.

Have a great ride