Want to have the ultimate “Colorado Rocky Mountain High today? It’s only 70 miles from Denver to Colorado Springs and Pike’s Peak. Standing majestically in the distance; the lofty heights inspired the song America the Beautiful. During the 1850s, Pikes Peak or Bust! became the mantra of pioneers travelling from the edge of the Great Plains through the mountains to a land of new possibilities.

The Garden of the Gods is filled with red rock landscapes and Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument encompasses some of the oldest fossilized material in the US. Awesome manmade wonders include the United States Air Force Academy, gold mines, old western towns, museums, the arts, and historic architecture. Couple that with the Cave of the Winds and you’re about to have an adventure that’s “up in the air.” The Peak still serves as a major attraction for visitors who want to travel to the top of one of the highest mountains in the United States by car, cog railroad and even on foot.

Deluxe accommodation: Loews Denver Hotel or similar

Distance: 195 miles

You have the option to visit Cheyenne, Wyoming, where the American West still lives, on your way to Scottsbluff. The Historic Plains Hotel is the perfect home base from which to explore the downtown historic district. There are dozens of historic buildings between the hotel and the Historic Governor’s Mansion. The streets in downtown Cheyenne are so wide that from the centre of the city you can glimpse both ends of the downtown core; the gold domed capitol building that anchors one end and the Union Pacific Depot on the other.

Once you reach Scottsbluff, you’ll find the beginning of a very interesting road in the middle of the Midwest. The region, named after the Sandhill cranes that migrate through here, is literally 20,000 square miles of sand dunes, “tentatively,” as the locals say, covered with grass. They’re more than just sandpiles, they cover the Ogallala Aquifer, the world’s largest underground supply of water. The largest gathering of sandhill cranes in the world—some half a million strong—is a phenomenal sight to see here every spring. Instead of city lights, fence posts, barns, windmills and corn fields are the skyline. This end will be a great place for a wildflower hike, a walk through the Nebraska National Forest, the largest hand-planted forest in the country or a stroll on the actual dunes.

Deluxe accommodation:  Barn Anew or similar

On your way to Badlands National Park, you can take in the Crazy Horse Memorial which is so much more than mountain carving. The Indian Museum of North America has three wings and a cultural centre.

Deluxe accommodation: Grand Gateway Hotel or similar

Distance: 119 miles

It’s hard to describe Yellowstone National Park in words. You have to experience these famous natural wonders. In total, Yellowstone contains over 10,000 hydrothermal features, including 300 geysers, approximately one-half of the world’s total count. Mammoth Hot Springs is very different from the thermal areas located elsewhere in the Park. The surface of the bubbling, boiling springs appears to be covered with white chalk. Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest, oldest and most dynamic of Yellowstone’s thermal areas. Few of the thermal features at Norris are under the boiling point. The hottest recorded temperature here was 459F, just a little over 1,000 feet below the surface. Steamboat Geyser is the world’s tallest geyser.

In the Madison Natural Area, thermal action bubbles up in many colours. A one-mile trail takes you through the colourful hot springs and the two large mud pots of the Artist Paint Pots just south of Norris Junction. The Old Faithful Area is actually made up of four different geyser basins surrounding the famous geyser, where 60% of the world’s geyser’s share a small space. There are nearly 150 of these thermal wonders within one square mile adjacent to Old Faithful.

The Grant Village Area and the Lake Area are both adjacent to Yellowstone Lake, the largest lake at a high elevation in North America. More than 7,500 feet above sea level, it has a surface area of 132 square miles and 141 miles of shoreline. It is 20 miles long and 14 miles wide. The deepest portion is in the West Thumb area at 320 feet. The bottom of Yellowstone Lake has the same terrain as Yellowstone Park, namely geysers, hot springs. A hot spot at Mary Bay got up as high as 252F.

Deluxe accommodation: Lake Yellowstone Hotel or similar

Distance: 160 miles

As you leave Yellowstone, you’ll be driving the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway connecting Yellowstone to Grand Teton National Park.

If you haven’t seen these mountains before, they are spectacular! As you drive along Teton Park Road, it becomes immediately obvious why this is a National Park. The Tetons are a 40 mile long mountain range that rise straight out of the plain. Twelve of the mountain peaks are over 12,000 feet above sea level and Grand Teton rises to 13,770 feet. Even around Jenny Lake, one of the most pristine lakes in North America, they loom overhead.

Three Scenic Drives in the Park are also a must do. The Teton Park Road follows the base of the Teton Range from Moose to Jackson Lake Junction. Jenny Lake Scenic Drive skirts Jenny Lake which is clear, blue and dramatic! Signal Mountain Summit Road gives you panoramic views of the Teton Range, Jackson Lake and the Jackson Hole valley. Jackson Hole you say? It’s the name traditionally given to the bowl-like valley that surrounds the town of Jackson, Wyoming. Sometimes you’ll hear the town referred to as Jackson Hole as well.

Deluxe accommodation: Snake River Lodge or similar

Distance: 251 miles

Near Rock Springs, the Fossil Butte National Monument is located between 6,800 and 8,100 feet elevation in the sagebrush covered hills of rural, southwestern Wyoming. Get ready for wide open spaces, fresh air, blue skies, abundant wildlife and, of course, some of the most incredible fossils in the world. A 7.5-mile scenic drive (3.5 miles paved, 4 gravel) provides another view of Fossil Butte and the surrounding area. Wayside exhibits along the paved section interpret the present-day wildlife and the subtropical environment of 50 million years ago.

Farther south, the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area was discovered on a spring day in 1869 when John Wesley Powell and nine men boarded small wooden boats at Green River, Wyoming to embark on a daring exploration of the Green and Colorado Rivers. Powell and his men slowly worked their way downstream, successfully completing their journey in late summer. It was on May 26, 1869 that Major Powell named the Flaming Gorge after he and his men saw the sun reflecting off of the red rocks.

Deluxe accommodation: Red Canyon Lodge or similar

Distance: 147 miles

Your Rock Resort accommodations for the evening are located in Vail, once a hunting ground and summer residence of the Ute Indians before the arrival of the white man in the mid-19th century. Irishman George Gore, known as Lord Gore, and American frontiersman Jim Bridger were among the first to venture into the region. From 1854 to 1856, they spent the summers hunting and exploring the peaks. A few years later, Bridger returned to the region and named the mountain range and valley after Gore.

By the 1870s, the Gore Range was attracting fortune seekers for both silver and gold. Mines were set up and railroad tracks laid down to transport the precious metals. It wasn't long before the miners departed and the valley returned to a peaceful home for sheep. In 1939 construction began on Highway 6, running from Denver through the Gore Valley and the rest, as they say, is history.

Deluxe accommodation: The Lodge at Vail or similar