Where in Colorado to stay as a base for Colorado & Moab summer vacation.

[Cribz]

Montrose.....

 

[RivRaptor]

Glenwood Springs CO. Stay at the hot springs resort, it has the hot spring fed pools and they added a water slide for the kids. Good breakfast included. Glenwood is right in the middle of the Rockies and in front of in my opinion (the river) one of the more scenic areas for family biking & tubing. Also there is a gondola accessed small amusement park in walking distance from the resort on top of a mountain with some killer rides (better not be scared of heights). A nice town with good food all walking distance. We have stopped here Many times from SoCal on our trips to Sturgis SD. Think you would like it and its on the way to Moab.

 

[cbakken001]

GJ or Fruita are the places to go to access Moab. There's basically nothing between Fruita and Moab although highway 128 through Cisco is a cool way to drive into Moab if you're going back on I-70 to GJ/Fruita (probably 20 minutes longer). Glenwood is nice but ~100 miles from GJ (and 40 minutes from Aspen). Summit County/Vail are nice to but 2-3 hours from GJ. Telluride is amazing and 4+ hours SE from Moab. You could do a cool loop from GJ/Fruita to Moab and then to Telluride, then Gunnison/Crested Butte back through Buena Vista (take 285 back to Denver through South Park...yes, that South Park). That's a lot of fun stuff and absolutely stunning scenery. Either way, Enjoy!

 

[rhd555]

Do the off road trails around Telluride then go west arches, Moab
Rainbow. monument valley Grand Canyon. Can’t go wrong

 

[SSWIM]

I live in Grand Junction. I am a native. Good suggestions above. There are so many areas to explore and visit. We are Blessed with a plethora of incredible areas and terrain to experience. Moab, the San Juans, Ouray, Telluride to mention just a few. You could spend weeks at each one of the mentioned areas. My personal favorites are the Moab area, which encompasses a lot of area, and Ouray, which is in the heart of the San Juans.
Telluride is amazingly beautiful, but I prefer the Ouray atmosphere. Its a little more laid back and not quite so "Aspenish".

I would suggest at least 4-5 days in each area. The two I suggested are vastly different in geographic attributes. The visual aspect at the top of any adventure. The thing great about our area is the diversity. Desert to 14000' peaks in an hour or two. Be flexible with your time as you will be spell bound with the terrain.

Sam