Tour de Colorado: Three National Parks in Three Days

Sep 15

With Colorado Springs as our launchpoint, we took a road trip within the road trip.

August 5 - 12, 2025

Colorado Springs
Great Sand Dunes NP
Pagosa Springs
Mesa Verde NP
Montrose
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
Gunnison

After Fort Collins, the original plan was to spend a week in Colorado Springs decompressing from our quick travel pace, visiting friends stationed in the area, and relaxing before heading to three signature parks in Wyoming and Montana.

I booked a campsite for a full week at the Air Force Academy thinking we could enjoy the on-base amenities (Commissary! haircuts!), close proximity to friends in CO Springs, and bargain full hook-up campsite prices.

As we got underway on the trip, Nick caught wind of the plan—the plan that meant in our time in Colorado we’d only see Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. He asked one question that made everything shift:

“Aren’t there other national parks in Colorado?”

There are. In fact, there are three other national parks in Colorado in addition to Rocky Mountain NP. But in the planning phase of the trip, I was completely intimidated by the thought of hauling our 12,000 lb. fifth wheel over the Rocky Mountains. We’d need several weeks to make all that driving worth it, and we didn’t have that long before we needed to be further north. The interstate route through the valley I routed us on was doable and safe. But, admittedly, it felt incomplete.

Nick’s assertion that we were going to be on The Road Trip and not see all the national parks in Colorado didn’t sit well with me. So I started scheming. And before long, my travel brain figured out a solution.

“What if we leave the RV in Colorado Springs and drive to the three parks in three days?”

The plan technically worked. With a full week booked in CO Springs and no hard plans, we had the days. The RV park on base at the Air Force Academy would be a safe place to leave the rig unoccupied. A couple of AirBNB nights could fill in the gaps between parks. It meant driving a lot of miles—nearly a thousand. But the trio of Colorado parks were too enticing to skip.

So, we went for it.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Within the mountains of Colorado is a giant field of sand. You can sled down the sand and surf down it.

If you come in late spring (May/June), the snow melt forms shallow rivers that pass over the sand with ocean-liked ripples and currents—one of the only places in the world where this happens.

The kids (and the big kid) had a blast surfing down sand hills.

All that sand made of us miss the beach!

Mesa Verde National Park

Our detour was carved out with enough time to book a couple of tours at Mesa Verde National Park. And I’m so glad we did. Some things we learned about Mesa Verde:

This was the first land designated as a national park due to human-made structures.
They’ve found around 32 cliff dwellings, but only four are able to be toured because many can’t be physically reached. Half a dozen more are visible from park roads. We toured the Balcony House and the iconic Cliff Palace.
The mesa’s formation of sandstone and shale create seep springs — areas where water runs beneath the cliff ledges at a steady pace. Archaeologists think this water source, plus a growing population, is what enticed Pueblo residents to move below the mesa top into the cliffs.
By 1300 AD, the communities had moved on to new areas in (now) Arizona and New Mexico, most likely due to drought and crop failures. The cliff dwellings have been amazingly preserved by the arid conditions. Even wooden beams built into the walls are still in tact.

As far as national parks go, Mesa Verde is incredibly unique! Well worth the two days of driving through the mountains to get here. We learned so much!

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

We don’t usually take pictures of the National Park signs. It’s just a sign. But let me tell you how excited we were to get to see this sign.

I began planning the Tour de Colorado in July. Shortly after I’d mapped everything out and identified our AirBNBs, a wildfire engulfed Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, burning many acres of the south, more accessible side, of the canyon. Thankfully, park rangers and firefighters were able to save the Visitor Center and other key structures. But the park was fully closed to visitors.

By the time we rolled into Colorado on August 1, I had made peace with the fact that we wouldn’t see BCOTG this trip. It would still be there. But I was sad — not just for us — but for the fact that one of our beloved parks was ravaged by fire (thankfully not as badly as the North Rim of the Grand Canyon).

Two days before we left on the Tour, I happened to check the park’s status. It was open—on the North Rim. The North Rim added an extra two hours to our already 14+ hours of driving. I asked the family if they still wanted to go even if it meant extra driving. You can guess what they said.

So by the third day of our mini-trip, when we pulled into Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, we were giddy to get to be here. And the views of this canyon, the Gunnison River, and its 2,000-foot vertical cliffs did not disappoint.

We hiked the easy 1.5 miles to Exclamation Point to eat our lunch by these sweet canyon views.

Across the canyon to the other side, we could see the burned-out South Rim, completely charred as far as we could see. It stood as a reminder of emergency responders’ efforts to fight the fire and preserve as much as they did. On so many levels, we were so grateful to be here.

Bonus Material

In addition to delivering us to three unique parks, the drive offered so many beautiful mountain views. Here are a few favorites:

*View from Wolf Creek Pass, near Pagosa Springs*

*Trout Lake, Colorado, south of Telluride*

*A random pull-off south of Montrose… I don’t remember exactly where*

On our way out of Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a kind park ranger pointed out some overlooks to stop at on our drive through the Curicanti Recreation Area. The views from the roadside pull-outs were absolutely incredible. This was such a bonus, as we had no idea we’d even be driving through another national treasure.

Tour de Friends

In addition to seeing Colorado’s four national parks, we had the grand pleasure of catching up with friends who live all across the state. All of these friends we know through the Navy or a past church or both. It was such a joy to catch up beyond social media updates and fill in the gaps of the years since we were last together.

*Laura and Kevin—friends from our church in Annapolis—now living north of Denver. Thanks for the amazing pool invitation as we drove south… the only place to be on a 99-degree day!*

*I didn’t get plastic surgery… the air is so dry my lips are falling off and I can’t smile*

*We visited the Browns at their previous home in Miami, FL in January. What a massive change of altitude and… everything.*

Ann and Berry and their four kiddos. This sweet Navy family that we know from our Coronado, Virginia Beach and NorCal days just moved to Colorado Springs three weeks before we arrived. Their new house backs up to a Colorado state park (so the background above is their sweet new backyard). We’ve visited these friends in every duty station and they truly feel like family. We loved getting to see them and enjoyed some amazing meals in their new home (thank you!!).

I didn’t realize until I started trying to make plans just how many friends have settled in Colorado.

On the last day of le tour, my friend Kristen (who attended a military spouse retreat with me at the Station Foundation) met us for ice cream in Gunnison, CO.

Her family recently bought property on the Alpine Loop in the San Juan Mountains and are basically boondocking while they develop their land for a future build which will eventually include an AirBNB. If that sort of thing intrigues you, you will love her Instagram where she’s documenting each arduous step of the process. Their current projects include installing a septic system and beginning foundation work for the dome structure.

My friend Heather went to the same middle school youth group as Nick (yes, MDUMC!). She also married a Navy guy, and when they moved to Virginia Beach, mutual friends from the youth group put us in touch. Bummer for me, she was only in VB for a year. Now they’re in Colorado Springs, and they had us over for a wonderful lunch to get caught up.

Heather also happens to be a physician and has been an absolute Godsend to our family as we’ve hit healthcare hurdles during the trip.

Ashley and I go back to the early Navy days in Coronado. We spent every Wednesday night hanging out with a small group of team wives and pilot wives whose husbands were also gone (they were always gone). As we passed north of Denver, I sent her a hail Mary text to meet us at a Walmart, and she showed up 20 minutes later. I love how sometimes last-minute works better than planned, and loved getting this hug from a dear friend who has always been such an encouraging voice… one of those people who still occasionally picks up the phone and calls just to catch up.

Our very last stop in Colorado was a super bonus visit with my darling cousin, Hannah. She slipped out of her new job for a long lunch break and joined us at Starbucks for last hugs and fancy coffees before we drove north.

*Love you, Cuz! PS… Nate in the dinosaur onesie :-P*

While we did absolutely none of the relaxing/decompressing we’d planned, the Tour de Colorado brought together fascinating places, beloved people, and towering mountains—all of which knocked our socks off. I left feeling all kinds of envy for these people so dear to us who live here, these mountaintop experiences right out their back doors.

On our way out of Colorado, we drove again through Fort Collins, each of us smiling at the reminder of the fun we had with people we love in a place that seems to go out of its way to showcase nature’s beauty.

*Curicanti National Recreation Area — Nate wearing his four new CO Junior Ranger badges*

For those just finding us, hello! Inspired by the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25, our family is on a yearlong RV road trip in 2025-2026 to celebrate my husband’s retirement after 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, as well as our 24 years together during the ups and downs of it all.

With our 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son in tow, this trip to explore America’s national parks and beautiful places is intended to help our family reflect and reset as civilian life begins.

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Peyton Roberts