Denver and Salt Lake City are the two best motorcycle bases in the interior West, and they work in opposite ways. Out of Denver you climb: the Front Range puts three separate paved routes above 11,000 ft (3,350 m) within an hour or two of the city, including the highest paved road in North America. Out of Salt Lake City you turn: the Wasatch canyons start at the edge of the suburbs and are steep, short and dense, with a handful of high passes linking them. This guide covers the day rides worth planning around from both cities, what each one actually demands, and the two things that ruin more trips here than anything else — seasonal gates and reservation systems.
The two cities compared in one paragraph
Colorado's Front Range rides are about altitude and distance. You spend real time above treeline, the weather is a genuine planning problem, and the best roads are managed — timed entry, seasonal gates, national park permits. Utah's Wasatch rides are about proximity and gradient. You can be in a canyon fifteen minutes after leaving downtown Salt Lake City, the roads are shorter, and almost nothing requires a booking. What Utah does have is a hard winter closure list that takes the passes out of play for roughly half the year.
Top day rides from both cities
| Route | Length | Character | Start and end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway (Colorado) | 49 miles (79 km) total, 28-mile (45 km) climb | Highest paved road in North America, 14,130 ft (4,307 m), timed reservation required | Idaho Springs to the summit |
| Guanella Pass (Colorado) | 22 miles (35 km) | Paved alpine crossing at 11,669 ft (3,557 m), no reservation | Georgetown to Grant |
| Peak to Peak (Colorado) | 55 miles (89 km) | Ridge-running byway around 9,000 ft (2,740 m), oldest in the state | Black Hawk to Estes Park |
| Trail Ridge Road (Colorado) | 48 miles (77 km) | 11 miles above treeline, high point 12,183 ft (3,713 m), park permit hours apply | Estes Park to Grand Lake |
| Lariat Loop (Colorado) | 40 miles (64 km) | Foothills loop over Lookout Mountain, close to the city | Golden, Morrison and Evergreen |
| Big Cottonwood Canyon (Utah) | 15 miles (24 km) | Steep-walled canyon on SR-190, links to Guardsman Pass at 9,717 ft (2,962 m) | Canyon mouth to Brighton |
| Little Cottonwood Canyon (Utah) | SR-210, dead end | Glacially carved corridor, strict watershed rules, no pets | Canyon mouth to Alta and Snowbird |
| Alpine Loop (Utah) | 24 miles (39 km) | Paved backway, steep grades and narrow curves, seasonal | American Fork Canyon to Provo Canyon |
| Mirror Lake Highway (Utah) | 65 miles (105 km) | Long, high Uinta route, seasonal closure | Kamas east toward the Wyoming border |
| Nebo Loop (Utah) | 38 miles (61 km) | Climbs over 9,000 ft (2,740 m) between two valleys | Nephi to Payson |
| Logan Canyon (Utah) | 41 miles (66 km) | Deep limestone canyon to Bear Lake, strong autumn colour | Cache Valley to Bear Lake |
Open the Denver to Salt Lake City corridor in Google Maps — useful if you are linking the two riding bases into one trip rather than treating them separately.
Denver, the high three
Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway, formerly Mount Evans
The headline ride. The byway climbs more than 7,000 ft (2,130 m) in 28 miles (45 km) and finishes at 14,130 ft (4,307 m), which makes it the highest paved road on the continent. The mountain was renamed from Mount Evans by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names in September 2023, and CDOT followed by renaming the road, so you will find it under both names.
Two constraints define it. The summit road is open Memorial Day through Labor Day only, and since 2026 every motorcycle needs a timed ticket bought in advance on Recreation.gov, with no sales at the gate and no cell service to buy one at the last minute. Details are in our full Mount Blue Sky guide.
Guanella Pass
The unbureaucratic alternative. Twenty-two miles (35 km) of paved road between Georgetown and Grant, over a summit at 11,669 ft (3,557 m), with no ticket, no permit and about an hour of riding. The Forest Service says the summit normally opens by Memorial Day and closes by Thanksgiving. The Georgetown side has the switchbacks, the Grant side has the meadows, and the summit trailhead parking is the only real headache on summer weekends. Our Guanella Pass guide covers both approaches and where the winter gates sit.
Peak to Peak
Fifty-five miles (89 km) of ridge running at around 9,000 ft (2,740 m) between Black Hawk and Estes Park, on CO 119, CO 72 and CO 7. Built in 1918 and the oldest scenic byway in Colorado. It is the one Front Range classic with no seasonal gate and no entry ticket, which makes it the reliable answer in May when the passes are still closed and in October when they have shut again. See the Peak to Peak guide for the fuel gaps and the Brainard Lake reservation trap.
Denver, the two that need planning
Trail Ridge Road. Forty-eight miles (77 km) between Estes Park and Grand Lake through Rocky Mountain National Park, with eleven miles above treeline and a high point of 12,183 ft (3,713 m). The park service notes riders climb around 4,000 ft (1,220 m) in a matter of minutes and that conditions on top are normally windy and 20 to 30 degrees colder than either gateway town. It is a spectacular ride and a genuinely exposed one.
The complication is access. For the 2026 season, Rocky Mountain National Park requires a timed entry reservation to enter any area between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily from May 22 through October 12, with a longer daily window for the Bear Lake Road corridor. Enter before 9 a.m. and you do not need one — which is also when the road is at its best. Verified against the park's own pages in August 2026.
Lariat Loop. Forty miles (64 km) linking Golden, Morrison and Evergreen in the foothills immediately west of Denver, including the five-mile Lariat Trail over Lookout Mountain. It is not high, it is not remote, and it is busy. But it is the ride you can do on a weekday evening, and the Lariat Trail switchbacks are a genuinely good piece of early-motoring engineering.
Salt Lake City, the canyons
Big Cottonwood Canyon and Guardsman Pass
The best short ride in the region. Fifteen miles (24 km) of SR-190 from the canyon mouth to Brighton, then over Guardsman Pass at 9,717 ft (2,962 m) and down SR-224 into Park City, with I-80 to bring you home. The canyon itself stays open all year for the ski resorts; the pass is on UDOT's winter closure list and typically shuts from November until May or June. Full detail in our Big Cottonwood Canyon guide.
Little Cottonwood Canyon
The next canyon south on SR-210, steeper and more dramatic, glacially carved, ending at Alta and Snowbird with no way through. It sits inside the Salt Lake City watershed, where the Forest Service says special regulations are strictly enforced, including no pets and no swimming. Worth riding for the walls; not a loop.
Alpine Loop
Twenty-four miles (39 km) of paved backway from the mouth of American Fork Canyon through to Provo Canyon, past Sundance. The Forest Service warns off trailers because of the steep grade and narrow curves, which tells you what it is like on a bike: tight, wooded, slow and rewarding. It is on the seasonal closure list along with Guardsman Pass.
Mirror Lake Highway
The long one. Sixty-five miles (105 km) east from Kamas into the Uinta Mountains toward the Wyoming border, with access points into the High Uintas Wilderness along the way. This is a full day rather than a morning, it is remote in stretches, and SR-150 is another road UDOT gates through winter.
The two things that ruin trips here
Seasonal gates. Both regions run on the same rough calendar: the high roads open around Memorial Day and close somewhere between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, depending on the road and the snow year. Colorado publishes closure dates per byway; Utah publishes a single list of the roads it gates. Check CDOT's byway index and UDOT's seasonal roads page before you book flights around a specific road, not after.
Reservation systems. Colorado's best two high roads both meter entry now. Mount Blue Sky needs a timed ticket for motorcycles, sold only on Recreation.gov. Rocky Mountain National Park needs a timed entry permit during the middle of the day. Brainard Lake, off the Peak to Peak, needs one too. Utah's canyons currently need none of this. If you are planning a single trip that takes in both states, do the Colorado bookings first and build the Utah days around whatever is left.
Altitude. Every headline ride in this guide crosses 9,000 ft (2,740 m) and three of them cross 11,600 ft (3,540 m). If you have flown into Denver or Salt Lake City and are riding out the next morning, read our guide to riding at high altitude before you plan a big first day.
Gear notes for high, dry, thin-air riding
Three practical points carry across every road here. Signal is unreliable above treeline on all of them, so the route needs to be on the bike before you leave town rather than streaming — a riding system with offline maps and front and rear cameras covers navigation and evidence in one unit, which matters on roads where a mountain goat can step out of a blind corner. Temperature swings are extreme: the Park Service puts the tundra on Trail Ridge Road 20 to 30 degrees colder than the towns below, and the same pattern holds on every pass in this guide, so layers you can add at a pullout beat layers left at the hotel. And the combination of cold starts and fast elevation gain moves tyre pressure more than flatland riding does, which is why a Bluetooth TPMS sensor earns its place here more than almost anywhere else.
FAQ
Which city is better for a riding trip?
Denver if you want altitude and long alpine days, and you are willing to book. Salt Lake City if you want to ride within minutes of landing and prefer short, steep, technical canyons with no paperwork.
What is the best month?
Late June through September is the only window when everything in both states is reliably open. Late September adds aspen colour and heavier weekend traffic on the Colorado byways and in the Wasatch canyons.
Do I need reservations for any of these roads?
In Colorado, yes for Mount Blue Sky, for Rocky Mountain National Park during timed entry hours, and for Brainard Lake. Guanella Pass, the Peak to Peak and the Lariat Loop need nothing. In Utah, none of the canyon roads in this guide use a reservation system.
Can I ride both regions in one trip?
Yes, though Denver and Salt Lake City are a long interstate day apart. Most riders treat them as two bases with a transit day between, rather than trying to make the connection itself interesting.
Where do I check road status?
Colorado publishes byway-by-byway information through CDOT, the national park through the NPS, and Utah keeps its gated roads on one Forest Service scenic drives page alongside the UDOT closure list.
