Taylor and Salli’s journal recollections day-by-day-ish of our camping trip travelling from Georgia to Colorado.

September 15, 2025 – September 17th, 2025

We got a good start on the morning and headed toward Rampart Range southwest of Denver. The site was chosen because there were not many options around Denver that were fairly cheap. The altitude played a small part, but we fared pretty well. It felt good to finally be in the mountains.

We left Kansas for the final push into Colorado. After taking I-70 most of the way, we took an exit onto 86 which was relatively scenic in comparison to the plains. We fueled up the truck and motorcycles, grabbed a few groceries and went on our way. We wanted to stay close to Denver since we had a handful of things we needed to do before we went out “into the wild” so we landed at Rampart Range OHV area, hoping to find a cheap / free site. We accidentally parked ourselves in a group campsite, finding out only after the host came by for more money since we’d just paid for a regular site for one night at the head of the road. Not in the mood for moving after we’d already settled in, we ended up paying $33 for one night with no hookups. (sigh.. We’ll be in free dispersed camping soon..?)

The day started off cool, but we still managed well with our power. After several miles back down the dirt road, we took the highway back into Denver. We got an excellent slice of pizza at Benny Blancos, did a few more “town things”  then headed over to the Colorado wildlife office to get our OHV stickers for the motorcycles. Very glad to leave Denver and head back to the mountains. After driving a short distance down 285, we stopped at Kenosha East Campground late in the evening. This was the first glimpse of the beautiful aspen groves, and we were truly excited.

After a good night’s sleep, we pushed into Denver to handle the few things we needed to do there, such as getting out of state OHV stickers for our motorcycles, ($50 for 2) we then headed south down 285. Utilising the Campendium website per usual, the Kenosha pass area seemed like a great next stop. There was a campground near the main road, then dispersed camping just past the paid sites, but down a road that was a bit rough. Our truck handled it just fine, however, the dispersed sites had all been taken. We settled into a spot at Kenosha East campground for 2 nights at $24 per night with no hookups. (We paid for one night…) This was really our first glimpse at the changing colors of the aspen trees, as we were right in the middle of a beautiful grove.

The morning was slow and a bit chilly. After breakfast, I walked around the campground until it was time to unload the bikes. We were surprised at how busy the parking area was, but learned that it was a main trailhead for the Colorado Trail. Well prepared, we suited up and rode the Twin Cone Trail into a remote peak several miles up a mountain. The view from halfway was spectacular. Salli fared well on the steep incline and large rocks. It was our first ride of the trip, and was very rewarding. Later that evening temperatures dropped into the 20s and it became pretty chilly. Our heated blanket was a huge help.

After deciding to go ahead and unload the motorcycles the next day after seeing some good trails on OnX, we finally got to use the bikes for the reason we brought them.. To explore the mountains on 2 wheels while the cool air and early autumn leaf colors consumed us fully. We rode our bikes up a blue trail called “Twin Cone” or 126, which was a 6/10 on OnX’s technical rating. I was successful in not laying my bike over at any point, so I deem myself an intermediate rider.. Why not?.. There was a rocky overlook stop along the trail at around 11,000 feet where we chose to make that the turning back point. After reading various trail reports, the top of the peak and end of the trail was likely closed by a locked gate so we deemed this point good enough and headed back down the mountain. 

After returning to the camper and chilling for a bit, Tay decided to ride over to Lost Park road, which was a road we’d originally gone a ways down the day before searching for a campsite, but ultimately decided to turn around because it was incredibly washboard with no end in sight. Perfectly fine for a dirt bike, so he explored several miles of the scenic road, while I stayed behind and opted to do a little reading while he did his thing. We later checked out the abandoned rail lines that are along the grassy area on the way into Kenosha pass to watch the sunset and experience the first of many “holy crap it’s cold!” as the sun moved its way behind the mountain peaks.