Things To Do | Grand West RV Park

Things To Do

Colorado National Monument

Red rock canyons, sheer walls, and Rim Rock Drive, a 23-mile road along the canyon rim with pullouts the whole way. The east entrance is about 25 minutes from us, and the first overlooks come up within a few miles of it. The visitor center sits 19 miles further in, toward the Fruita end, so plan the day around which end you want. Entrance fee applies. Open year round.

25 minutes

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Downtown Grand Junction

About 12 minutes. Main Street is a walkable stretch of restaurants, breweries, coffee, and shops, with dozens of sculptures along the sidewalks as part of Art on the Corner, a rotating outdoor exhibit that has run downtown since 1984. Easy dinner run and easy parking.

12 minutes

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Palisade

About 20 minutes up the valley. Colorado's wine and peach country, with tasting rooms, orchards, fruit stands, cideries, and a distillery, most of them within a few miles of each other on a route you can drive or bike. Peaches run midsummer into early fall. Tasting rooms are open year round but hours thin out in winter, so call ahead off season.

20 minutes

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Colorado Riverfront Trail and Las Colonias Park

About 15 minutes. Paved, flat, and along the river, which makes it the best walk or easy bike ride in the valley. Las Colonias has ponds you can paddle a kayak or paddleboard on, no swimming, plus river access and an outdoor amphitheater that runs a summer concert season. The Western Colorado Botanical Gardens is right next door, separate admission.

15 minutes

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Museum of the West

About 12 minutes, downtown. Regional history from the valley's Indigenous cultures and the Old Spanish Trail through the boomtown years, with a firearms collection, uranium mining history, and an observation tower with 360-degree valley views. The tower is a small extra charge and it closes before the museum does. Indoor, so it is a good rainy day or hot afternoon option.

12 minutes

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Cross Orchards Historic Site

About 15 minutes. A restored early-1900s apple orchard, now a living history site with packing buildings, farm equipment, and heritage gardens. Open May through December, weekends, and closed through the winter and early spring. Call before you drive over.

15 minutes

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Fruita and the Kokopelli Loops

About 30 minutes west. One of the best-known mountain bike destinations in the country, on public land along the Colorado River. Rustler's Loop is the beginner ride and it is genuinely beginner friendly. Mary's Loop is the reasonable step up. Horsethief Bench and Moore Fun are for experienced riders only, Horsethief because of a technical rock entrance and Moore Fun because it is expert terrain start to finish. Bring more water than you think you need.

30 minutes

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18 Road, North Fruita Desert

About 40 to 45 minutes. The other Fruita trail system, and the one locals ride. Flowy, fast, and mostly downhill once you have climbed, with trails at every level. Spring and fall are prime. Summer is hot and there is no shade.

40-45 minutes

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Dinosaur Journey Museum, Fruita

About 30 minutes. Real fossils pulled out of this valley, animatronic dinosaurs, and a fossil prep lab you can watch through the glass when staff are working. This is the one to do with kids.

30 minutes

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Grand Mesa

About an hour and a quarter to the first lakes, closer to an hour and a half to the Grand Mesa Visitor Center. The largest flat-top mountain in the world, over 10,000 feet, with more than 300 lakes on it. Fishing, hiking, and roughly twenty degrees cooler than the valley in August. Highway 65 is the paved year-round route. Lands End Road is part gravel, the descent to US 50 is all gravel, and it closes with snow. The visitor center at the top is seasonal and closes at the end of September.

1 hour 15 minutes

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Rabbit Valley

About 40 minutes west toward the Utah line. Trails, dinosaur quarry interpretive sites, and desert that feels a lot bigger than the drive suggests.

40 minutes

Highline Lake State Park

About 35 minutes northwest. Swimming at the guarded beach from mid-May through September, paddling, and boating in season. The lake closes to boats from October through February for migrating birds, which is exactly when the birding is best. Day pass required.

35 minutes

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Powderhorn Mountain Resort

About an hour, on the north side of Grand Mesa. Winter skiing and snowboarding, summer lift-served mountain biking and hiking. Call before you plan around it. Their website is not always current on operating dates.

1 hour

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Rafting the Colorado

Local outfitters run half-day and full-day floats out of Grand Junction and Fruita in season, roughly May through September, from flatwater family floats up to the permitted Ruby-Horsethief multi-day trip through the canyons. Book ahead.

30 minutes

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Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Roughly two hours to the South Rim. Two thousand feet straight down, and narrow enough in places that the bottom sees almost no direct sun. It is a real national park and it is not crowded like the Front Range parks. Leave early, make a day of it.

2 hours

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Moab and Arches National Park

Roughly two hours. Arches, Canyonlands, and Moab itself. Arches dropped its timed-entry reservation system for the 2026 season, but the park has changed that policy before, so check the park website before you go.

2 hours

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Ouray and the Million Dollar Highway

Roughly two and a half hours south. Hot springs, a box canyon, waterfalls, and one of the most dramatic mountain drives in Colorado. Long day, and the drive is the point.

2 hours 30 minutes

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Gateway and Unaweep Canyon

About an hour southwest on Highway 141. A red rock canyon drive most visitors never hear about, ending at Gateway. Fill the tank before you go. There are essentially no services between Whitewater and Gateway, and the auto museum that used to be the draw out there closed in 2023.

1 hour

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By Season

Spring

March through May

Best mountain biking of the year in Fruita and on 18 Road. Colorado National Monument is comfortable all day. Grand Mesa is still under snow into late spring.

Summer

June through August

Hot in the valley, so go early or go up. Grand Mesa is the cool option. Peaches start in July. River floats and the Riverfront Trail are the best afternoon plans.

Fall

September through November

The best month here is September. Harvest in Palisade, cooler riding, and fall color on Grand Mesa in late September and early October. Water and lift-served activities start closing in October.

Winter

December through February

Powderhorn for skiing, Grand Mesa for nordic and snowmobiling, and the Monument nearly to yourself. Valley days are often mild and dry.

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Ask Us

We keep area maps at the office and we are happy to point you at what is open. If you are not sure how to fit what you want into the days you have, ask when you check in.