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Montrose is in the heart of the Grand Valley, which is surrounded by high passes and great motorcycle roads. Head south and you'll have the option of Lizard Head Pass over to Telluride or Red Mountain Pass over to Silverton and down to Durango. The whole loop is a terrific day ride but you'll probably want to spend more than one day because you'll want to stop in Telluride, Durango, or Ouray overnight.
To
the north, Colorado 65 will take
you over Grand Mesa, which is also worth more than just a ride-through. A little
to the east of Colorado 65 is McClure Pass over
to Carbondale and the Aspen area. Or, from Hotchkiss, instead of going over McClure
Pass, head south on Colorado
92 along the north side of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Blue Mesa Reservoir,
then back to Montrose on US 50. (This photo is one Andy Simons sent me that he
shot along US 50 looking out over the reservoir.) Or, if you're not coming back
to Montrose, take US 50 east along the reservoir and head south on Colorado 149
to Lake City and over Slumgullion
and Spring Creek Passes to Creede.
A longer but very nice alternate route for anyone traveling between Grand Junction and Telluride, Ouray, and/or Durango is the Unaweep Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway. You'll think you've made a wrong turn into Utah with all the red rock canyons and in fact, Utah is just a few miles west from Gateway.
