Bagging passes in the Colorado Rockies
Story & photos by GREG DREVENSTEDT
FAVORITE RIDE
Denver to Durango
Bagging passes in the Colorado Rockies
Colorado is a tale of two topographies. The eastern third of the state, roughly everything east of Interstate 25, is part of the Great Plains, a vast grassland known for its rolling terrain and lack of geographic features that cause roads to go up, down, or around. Western Colorado is dominated by the Rockies, a massive mountain range that stretches from British Columbia to northern New Mexico.
Top: Cruising through downtown Golden, west of Denver. Bottom: Some of the fantastic curves on Lookout Mountain Road west of Golden.
To pioneers heading west, the Rockies appeared on the horizon like an impossibly imposing wall, a hellscape of hardship and deprivation to those attempting to cross them. Thousands of its peaks exceed 10,000 feet in elevation; in Colorado alone, there are 58 named peaks that rise above 14,000 feet. To motorcyclists, the Rockies are heaven on earth. Colorado’ s innumerable high peaks and the roads that go over, under, or around them create a challenging, scenic playground. My wife, Carrie, and I spent two days linking fantastic roads between Denver and Durango, bagging
Photos on this page by Kevin Wing
50 / JULY 2026 / RIDERMAGAZINE. COM