12 | Grand Mesa

Length: 63 miles. Driving time: 2 hours.
Open All Year, although Lands End Road is closed in winter
Designated a National Scenic Byway

For those seeking a higher plane of being, this byway offers a truly transcendent experience. This byway has the world’s largest flat-topped mountain. A “must-see” is the Lands End Overlook. No wonder this byway is called “the playground in the sky.” Standing atop the Grand Mesa at Land’s End Overlook, one might easily feel like an eagle, soaring over a landscape of unusual beauty. Old-growth forests, aspens, meadows and so many lakes you’ll lose track.  Emerald-green fields carpet this playground in the sky, which also offers and abundance of fishing, hiking, and mountain biking. Glistening blankets of snow dress the Grand Mesa in winter for snowshoeing, skiing, and snowmobiling.

Grand Mesa was designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation as a National Scenic Byway in 1996.  It is one of ten America’s Byways® designated in Colorado.

Features include:

• Main Towns: Grand Junction and Palisade
• Grand Mesa National Forest
• Designated a National Scenic Byway
• Listed on the National Register of Historic Places are the Lands End Observatory and the Convicts’ Bread Oven

Wildlife: Porcupine, bald eagle, mountain lion, bear, mule deer, coyote, red fox, elk, and deer thrive here, and more than 300 stream-fed lakes swarm with rainbow, cutthroat, and brook trout