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Hit up Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America, located in Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park.
Hit up Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America, located in Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park. (Sue Anne Hodges/Tandem)

Rocky Top Road Trip

A Southern Colorado loop where you can rough it in a yurt and throw one back in Durango.

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(Photo: Sue Anne Hodges/Tandem)

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Bomb down epic singletrack, play in Class IV whitewater, and take in Colorado’s famous 14,000-foot vistas on this 500-mile multisport tour of a lifetime.

Packing List: Your entire gear closet, a big roof box, a GoPro

Highlights: Start this odyssey by playing in the four brand-new features in downtown Durango’s Animas River Whitewater Park. Then head east to soak away shoulder burn in ’ 22 pools (from $25) and cool off with a Skallywag pale ale at .

Near 10,857-foot Wolf Creek Pass, take a mile-long hike to the , which sleeps six, comes stocked with firewood, and is the ideal base camp for hiking and mountain-biking the Continental Divide 
Trail ($139 per night). At ($3 entry), rent a sandboard to descend 750-foot ($18), then go north to Salida to raft 20 miles of Class III-plus through Browns Canyon ($86; noahsark.com). Crash at the three-bedroom cabin at in nearby Nathrop, which has a private pool next to Chalk Creek (from $295).

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In bike-crazy Gunnison, try some of the 44 miles of singletrack trails in the Hartman Rocks Recreation Area, then stay at , where you can rent a cabin or lodge room and step outside the door to cast a fly in the world-class Taylor River for trophy brown, rainbow, or cutthroat trout (from $65).

Wrap up the trip by heading south from Montrose 
on Highway 550 for a jolt of Rocky Mountain highs at 11,099-foot Red Mountain Pass before coasting back through the San Juans to hit all five craft breweries 
in Durango. Bed down at the , a four-story Victorian built in 1887 (from $192).

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