Summer Travel: Small Town // Big City

{ No.5-Small Town: Fruita } Elizabeth Escobar

Before Moab became the mountain biking Mecca that it is, Fruita was where all the diehards went. And for good reason. With miles of slick red rock canyons to ride through and bird’s-eye views of the Grand Valley to reap up, Fruita stands apart from its Utah rival as a land that straddles both desert and mountains, offering the best of the southwest. For those who are privy to the richness that exists here, the western slope town remains a riding paradise, beckoning cycling devotees to pack up their Specialized Rockhoppers and head to the valley.B

From the Boulder area, Fruita is just under a five hour drive (unless, like me, you prefer road trips with lots of pit stops), making for an easy destination when you need to get away for a few days (or the whole week). Following I-70 west, take it past the string of touristy ski towns and beyond Glenwood Springs until you’re finally surrounded by crimson walls jutting out over the Colorado River. The landscape starts changing—fewer mountains of pine, more towering pueblo rocks—and terrain opens up for breathing room as you cross into Mesa County.

The biking here is considered by many to be the best in the state. Such a reputation is fortified with rides like those found in the Kokopelli Trail system. Good for intermediate-to-advanced riders, routes like the Horsethief Bench make for mountain biking bliss (and fun names to recount later in stories) as you zip up and around rocky paths that show off the canyon and river below. If you prefer thinner tires and smoother ground, take your road bike over the Colorado National Monument, located 17 miles shy of Fruita proper on CO-340. Forty-six miles of switchback-heavy fun along Rim Rock Drive guarantee that you earn an end-of-the-day pizza, for which you’ll want to try The Zippety or The Kokopelli (sound familiar?) at Hot Tomato on Mulberry Street. Locals swear it’s the best pie in the valley, and I dub it Funkiest Atmosphere: tangerine-colored walls and servers who regularly jump up onto the bar.

You can also enjoy the monument—and earn dinner—by foot, because not everyone is in love with biking. No matter the season, exploring this area of our state is worth the trip, with a choice of hiking paths that cater to however much you want to sweat. Even a mild walk still pays off with views that give the Grand Canyon a run for its money. Gaping canyons run in every direction and cut deep into the sandstone floor, while pink and white desert flowers and granite-gneiss rock formations sporadically pop up along the cracked landscape. If it’s rained recently, a layer of desert fog hovers still over everything.

What you won’t find here are many (any) drinking fountains, so bring your own water reserves. You’ll also want some form of hat, sunscreen and your snake radar (not sold at REI), as those sly guys are routinely spotted here.

But no journey to Fruita is complete without a visit to the Dinosaur Journey Museum. Rotating exhibits bring you up to date on the history of life in western Colorado with real fossils, cast skeletons and robotic reconstructions of dinosaurs. (Robots!) Through the rest of the summer you can check out a model of the Fruitaden, which was a plant-eater found southwest of town. Kids especially will enjoy the simulated earthquake ride (grown ups just get nervous) and a “quarry site” where aspiring archeologists can dig around in the sand and make their own discoveries.

At the end of all of this, you have to sleep, apparently, so while you’re at the National Monument you might as well do so there. Campsites, like Saddlehorn Campground, run $20 per night, with priceless views out your tent window in the morning, and no chance of bears. Temps drop when the sun does though, so bring appropriate cold-weather gear, i.e. a warm sleeping bag, fleece, wool socks. If you don’t much like parting from running water, there’s also a host of low-budget hotels (La Quinta, Comfort Inn) that line the downtown and usually have available rooms.

Outside of complimentary continental breakfasts, Aspen Street Coffee (on Aspen Street…) caters to slow mornings. You’ll barely have walked in before the folks here jump at the chance to put one of their freshly-made (giant) breakfast burritos or cupcakes in your hand. Pair it with a bowl of piping hot coffee and take comfort in the fact that any day beginning with frosting can’t veer too far off course.