Coffee Pot Road: A long road to nowhere

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You can bury your face in a map for as long as you like but until you set out to see all those little dotted lines with your own eyes, you never really know what you’re going to get.  Could be a total bust, could be unbelievably cool.  Well, spending the prior evening glued to a variety of maps totally paid off and Coffee Pot Road was unbelievably cool.  God only knows how many times I’ve been chugging down I-70 and have passed the Dotsero exit thinking nothing of it.  Now I know that just past Dotsero is Coffee Pot Road.  An ever so windy, steep road leading to nowhere, yet, in a sense it leads to everywhere.  In about the first half of this 30 mile road we climbed from about 6,200 feet to 10,800 feet and in that 30 mile stretch we drove through high desert, aspen groves, tundra and alpine forests.  We encountered thousands of sheep, stood above the canyon walls of Deep Creek Canyon and walked alongside crystal clear water at Heart Lake.  Later that afternoon we settled in for the night amid another golden aspen grove with the forest on one side of our camp and a never-ending sea of sky on the other.
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The only bummer of the entire day was the haze that had settled in to the valley below from several wildfires in neighboring states.  From what we know of the area, without the haze there would have been panoramic views of the Gore and Sawatch mountain ranges.  That’s all the reason I need to go back.
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4 Comments

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  • Hi two happy campers!

    I glad to see someone else who appreciated the Deep Lake area. I have been going up that road since I was a few months old. I’m nearly fifty and I still don’t like it. Ha!

    I’m curious what roads you were able to explore. The possibilities are endless with the number of logging roads throughout the area. You may already know this, but if you had stayed on the main road, past Deep Lake, and taken the fork to the left on the north side of Deep Lake this would have taken you down to the White River. Amazing views!

    About four to five miles down, on the right hand side is Triangle Mountain. On the northwest side of the mountain is an area known as Indian Camp. This is a documented summer camping site for the Native American tribes that frequented the area. You can still find arrow heads on occasion.

    Anyway, to see your pictures of Heart Lake and the bridge going over Deep Creek, the aspen groves, Crane Park, etc… brings back a lot of memories. I will be going up there several times this summer and fall.

    I’m glad you enjoyed it!

    Steve

    • We’ve only been the one time but immediately fell in love with the area and have been itching to go back ever since. I can’t imagine how well you must know the area. Thanks so much for sharing some of your knowledge. We’ll definitely be back to explore further. We only stayed on the main road but were salivating at the many, many roads that we saw off of the main road. So much exploring to had.

  • I was there back in the early 70s, abut a week or so after the 4th or July. The flowers were amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it, before or since, and I’ve been in the mountains a lot. Of course, the timing of the floral peak would depend upon the weather in any given year.

  • Hey guys!!! Thinking about heading that way tonight, and hoping to hear that dispersed camping is Okay along this road! Where did you guys stop and settle? How did you determine it was okay to stop and camp?

By michele

About

Hi!  We’re Mark & Michele, a couple of modern-day nomads perfecting the art of slow, perpetual travel.  Our tiny home on wheels and slow-paced travel style allows us maximum freedom at minimal expense.  This blog is where we share our travels as well as our insights in to this lifestyle that we absolutely love.  Thanks so much for being here.

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