Gateway – Castleton Road
Gateway – Castleton Road (Gateway, CO)
The Gateway – Castleton Road is an easy road that starts off in Gateway, Colorado and ends in Castleton, Utah near the La Sal Mountain Loop Road which you can take in either direction to get to Moab. This is an alternate backcountry route from Colorado to Moab that keeps you off the pavement and off of I-70. When the route is not blocked by snow in the winter, it is also my preferred route when I head to Moab from Grand Junction.
This road starts out near the Dolores River and Gateway Canyons Resort in Gateway and takes you through John Brown Canyon. This area of western Colorado is a historic uranium mining area, and now there is currently a new uranium mine that has opened up again. After leaving Colorado and entering Utah you travel through the lower foothills of the La Sal Mountains and are greeted with great views of Castle Valley and Fisher Valley.
There are a number of roads and trails all along the Gateway – Castleton Road that you can spend much time exploring. Some of these trails include Beaver Basin, Polar Mesa, Fisher Mesa, Adobe Mesa, Dolores Point and Taylor Flat. I have spent a lot of time in this area and there are still a lot of places I haven’t been to yet.
Please feel free to leave your comments and post your pictures from the Gateway – Castleton Road below.
Gateway – Castleton Road KML Track
(Right click and ‘Save Target As’)
Open file above in Google Earth.
