Customer Reviews

Colorado Off the Beaten Path, 8th (Off the Beaten Path Series)

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Five years ago we came to Colorado agog at exotic scenery in the mountains, on the plains, and along the Front Range. The more we know Colorado, the more we want to know, so I am always on the lookout for books to give us interesting information and suggestions. I wish this had been such a book. Instead, this guide directs readers to some of the roads most most heavily trafficked: to Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, to Mesa Verde in the southwest corner of the state, to Garden of the Gods, and to almost anywhere you already know about in Colorado.

The book takes an unconventional (okay, I'll say it: weird) approach to dividing the state into regions. For example, city smack in the middle of the state ends is grouped with a town at the southwest corner. I am struggling to explain what simply does not make sense about how this book constructs its regions for travel without raining down a barrage of geographic detail you neither want nor need. In the end, I can tell both as a visitor to the state and, now, as a resident, the organization of regions will only obfuscate any rational approach to creating an itinerary.

Relatively few recommendations of restaurants and lodging appear. This matters because so much of the book's territory is the road more traveled. Get a guide that provides lots of ideas. Because you are not deviating much (if at all) from the beaten path, you'll want a lot of information and options.

A number of the nooks and crannies I hold sacred around the state blessedly do not appear in this book. Yet they are covered in glorious detail on the Web. Some pointers can be found in various official sites: state tourism, city and county governments, the National Park Service. Colorado is a great place to visit and, honestly, a wonderful place to live. Some of the best places truly are on roads less traveled. If that is your interest, this is not your book.