Over a weekend in June, Janine and I rented a couple of big motorcycles and explored the canyons and mountains around Boulder Colorado – including the famous Peak-to-Peak Highway that joins two 10,000 foot towns.
We started out along the Central City Parkway leading into the mountains from Hwy 70 – it was a quick climb into the heritage mountain town of Central City. A quaint and pleasant place famous for its old Opera House.
From Central City, Hwy 119 took us further into the high mountains to the 10,000 foot high old Dutch settlement of Nederland where we stopped for a snack at Beaver Creek.
Nederland marks the official start of the Peak to Peak highway – at the North end of which is Estes Park – yet another 10,000 foot town.
The next day we headed back into the mountains along the South St Vrain canyon – which was absolutely stunning.
Our goal was to go back to a site we had glimpsed the previous day but were too cold and wet to stop for.
This day it was sunny and warm when we arrived at the Saint Catherine Chapel on the Rock. An absolutely stunning site. It’s “officially” a funeral home, but is used almost exclusively for weddings.
From there we rode the peak-to-peak highway again to the Brainard Lake recreation area – where we sweet-talked the ranger into letting us in without a reservation. We were yet again back at 10,000 feet for yet another gorgeous view of the lake and glaciers beyond.
We rode back down along the cliff edge and, this time, turned left at Nederland for the Boulder Canyon – another stunning ride down off the mountains and back to Longmont.
Below is a fun 3-minute video of the adventure: