my favorite part of colorado is durango to montrose. hwy 550 is amazing and there a good bit of offroad trails that branch off of it. engineer's pass, etc. last time i went i took brother-in-law (they are cajun from the swamps) and showed them mesa verde cliff dwellings south of durango. really cool to see and the driving around there is very scenic. then there is the steam train in durango that goes to silverton, that is definitely a great experience. there is boondocking i know for sure outside of silverton as well as some offroad trails. oury has some really cool hot springs to soak in and the town is really unique and scenic to see. there is the black canyon outside of gunnison that is definitely worth seeing. you can go to ridgeway (just south of montrose on hwy550) and hang a left and head southwest to telluride which is a cool resort town and from there head west and its pretty close to the utah border and there are arches and offroad trails right there. i'd say to get a colorado map, specifically a southwest colorado map and really check out the area from durango north. i lived in colorado springs back in the 70s and step-daughter is living in denver and although east of the rockies is nice...i really like the west side, especially southwest. i know around silverton, there are trails and abandoned mines and stuff like that. some of the offroad is clearly marked for high clearance vehicles and 4x4. some are a bit rough, but definitely worth going on. durango also has some amazing dispensaries...