Three places you should drive that SUV to

For anyone who has a 4x4, this post is for you. So far, all but about 10 miles of the route has been open to traffic. For the most part, nobody drives it, but it's there nonetheless. So, to visit some of these cool places you don't need to load up a mountain bike the way I did. You can just drive there, eat well, and all the rest. So here are three places to take that SUV.

Place #1: Platoro, CO. Platoro has an old pioneer cafe and cabins that look straight out of the mining days. The cafe was still closed for the season when I went through but I suspect it's tasty. From Platoro, drive to Del Norte (about 55 miles) and you'll go through three mountain passes over 10,000 feet and through one of the coolest valleys I've ever seen.

Place #2: Marshall Pass, CO. Marshall Pass is just south of Salida. It's on an old railroad grade that goes up and over the divide just south of town. There's good camping at the top of the pass, and if you want you can hike one of Colorado's 14ers using that campground as a base camp.

Place #3: Road between Abiquiu, NM, and Cuba, NM. This was the first big mountain range (over 10,000 feet) of the trip. The range towers some 4,000 feet over the NM desert, and you can see forever. Be warned -- most of the road from Cuba is OK for 4x4s and most cars, but up at the top anything less than a full size truck may not have the clearance to make it through. But if you can make it up there, it's well worth it.