Day 23: Pueblo, CO Loop

172.5 Miles | 3:41 Riding Time

Today is Friday, May 3, 2024, and it’s Day 23 of my cross country motorcycle trip.

The ride today started out south on the highway to Colorado City, then on to two lane roads through Rye and into part of the San Isabel National Forest. It was beautiful, and well-paved. There was even snow on the side of the road, but the roads themselves were clear. There were miles of smiles in the forest, and I think I saw a total of a dozen other vehicles.

I made a left and and started heading toward Silver Cliff and Westcliff, when….Holy crap! Wow! OMG! Pick your favorite, and it doesn’t even come close to the feeling of cresting a hill, making a turn and seeing the valley and the snow-covered Rockies towering in the distance. I don’t have a wide enough angle to capture it all.

Rode along the valley until I got to Route 50, and started heading back east toward Pueblo. Through the Royal Gorge along the Arkansas river, it was just a lovely ride with sweeping turns and amazing views.

When planning the ride, I saw that there was a Butler gold road that paralleled Route 50. It was called Skyline Drive, and was one way. Wasn’t twisty, so why was it a gold road? The views! It was an amazing, and a little unnerving. It's one way, 15 mph, mostly straight, no guardrails, steep drop-offs on either side, and a couple hairpins on the way down. I wasn't expecting all that, but it was totally worth it.

After Skyline Dr, I continued back toward Pueblo, and stopped at Liberty Point, which had an incredible view of the water, the valley, and the mountains in the background. Met a nice guy there that told me all about the area and made several suggestions of places I should check out over the next couple days. Thank you, and sorry, I didn’t catch your name.

If this loop was any indication of what the rest of my days riding around Colorado were going to be like, I’m going to be a happy traveller!

The Route

Elevation Profile

Check out this ride on Rever.