Remote Luxury in the Colorado Mountains: Gateway Canyons Resort Is Like Nowhere Else

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated since its original publication date. (2024)

I’m often asked if I prefer adventure to luxury travel. I have no answer: Every journey is different, and I’m not defined by a style. Wherever I may roam, my trips are unpredictable. I’m as comfortable exploring an emerging wine region in Portugal as I am riding a zipline through a cloud forest in Costa Rica. 

At Colorado’s Gateway Canyons Resort & Spa, I discovered that it’s possible to blend both worlds.

Gateway Canyons is part of Noble House Hotels & Resorts’ hand-selected portfolio.  The parent company might be familiar to Napa Valley residents, as its properties include Napa’s tranquil River Terrace Inn and the iconic Napa Valley Wine Train. 

My wife and I traveled to Gateway Canyons after a flight from San Francisco to Grand Junction, Colorado, via Denver.  An hour’s drive in a rental car (which we chose instead of a hotel shuttle) snaked us down Colorado Highway 141, twisting and turning through the Unaweep Canyon of the Colorado River.  We stopped often to photograph the colorfully serrated rock faces and impressive landscape of a gorge once known to the native Ute Indians as “the canyon with two mouths.” 

Gateway Canyons is ideally situated close to, well, absolutely nowhere. And the terrain is supernatural.  Overlooking the resort, for instance, is a giant palisade, an omnipresent red-rock monolith 2,000 feet tall, four miles long and more than 300 million years old. Its chiseled profile is inevitably a temptation for daredevil mountain climbers. As a new arrival, I found it hard to look away. I just stood and stared, absorbing it, letting its ineffable energy seep into me.

The landscape closely resembles that of southeastern Utah, particularly the Moab and Canyonlands areas. Yet its red-rock cliffs fence it into Colorado ski country, with Aspen to the east and opulent Telluride a mere 100 miles to the south. It is forever a part of the Wild West of centuries past.

Love at first sight

Gateway Canyons was the brainchild of John Hendricks, founder of Discovery Communications. When he was a child, Hendricks’ father told him tales of the magnificent open spaces of the American West, with its vast desert and rugged mountain ranges. In 1995 the media mogul bought his first piece of what would become this resort, after seeing its original ranch listed in The Wall Street Journal. He chose the desolate location as a vacation home and slowly accumulated additional acreage.

It was love at first sight. “I just knew that this would become home,” Hendricks said. “I felt compelled to share this unique land with others.”

From a tiny settlement in the heart of Cottonwood Red Rock Canyon, with little more than a gas station, a saloon and an ageless schoolhouse, Gateway Canyons has grown into a sustainable wonderland for adults with a contemporary aesthetic.

Sleep, eat, relax

The 72 rooms include 14 luxurious casitas — spacious studio homes up to 2,000 square feet in size — and 58 guest rooms in the Kiva and Kayenta lodges.  Designer Suzanne Geibel McCammon’s unique and intricate Southwestern motif at once contrasts and blends copper and clay, paying homage to the majestic red-rock setting with a casual elegance. The rooms are subtle and inviting, with private patios or balconies, fireplaces and outdoor showers; they integrate Native American art with Peruvian-inspired touches, such as the casitas’ hand-carved doors.

The Entrada Restaurant & Lounge is the resort’s fine-dining option, and its wine list — including some of Colorado’s own outstanding merlots — will impress any Napa Valley oenophile. The Gateway Canyons specializes in locally sourced comfort food. Paradox Grille is a more casual haunt: ribs and burgers with craft beer and a gaming loft. Kiva Café serves local coffee and freshly baked pastries, while the poolside Cantina bar provides lunch and drinks throughout the afternoon. Truly exclusive is the chef’s tasting table, a private dining option at the onsite Mission Bell Amphitheater.

You’ll want to plan ahead to relax at The Spa at Gateway. You’ll need it after full days of activities. At this first-class boutique sanctuary and salon, you can indulge in deep tissue massages, reflexology and aromatherapy, or join a yoga class.

Plenty to do

A full-service adventure center introduces guests to seemingly endless activity options. Most popular are guided tours on utility terrain vehicles (UTVs). These traverse the property’s boundless backcountry, carrying two to four people per vehicle for up to three hours’ exploration of bygone mining sites, the Beaver Creek homestead, and scenic Dolores and Rattlesnake Points. 

Expert guides also lead half- and full-day hiking excursions through the high desert, ponderosa pine forests and nearby backcountry. Mountain bikers can opt for novice trails or steeper grades through red-rock canyons. Archery and horseback riding at the nearby Palisade Ranch are also popular.

The biggest adrenaline rush is undoubtedly an air tour. Nothing compares to a ride in a $2.4.-million Eurocopter Astar, viewing a grand expanse of the geologically diverse American Southwest from the windows of a helicopter. The craft soars high above the ubiquitous Palisade, over mesas, hoodoos and mesmerizing red-rock canyons, offering a marvelous (if otherworldly) bird’s-eye view.

For those who prefer to drive themselves, there are dozens of day-trip options. Colorado is home to 26 scenic and historic byways, including the incomparable Unaweep/Tabeguache Scenic Byway, which runs for 133 miles along the Dolores and San Miguel Rivers. The sensational drive traverses high sandstone walls and steep canyons above the rivers — and Gateway Canyon is a part of the route.

Visitors may even plan wine tours. Warm days and cool nights make the area an underrated wine region. Merlot is the most planted varietal. Colorado’s most prominent wine festival, held each September in Palisade, is an excellent opportunity to mingle with vintners.

Not to be overlooked is the Gateway Auto Museum. Housed in its own 30,000-square-foot building is one of the most valuable car collections in America, featuring more than 50 classic cars from Hendricks’ private collection. They include a one-of-a-kind 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 dream car created by vanguard designer Harley Earl and an exquisite Duesenberg Model J custom-made for King Alfonso XIII of Spain 1928.

Elixir for wanderlust

My visit to Gateway Canyons affected me more profoundly than I had ever expected. It was as if a native shaman had prescribed the perfect elixir to cure my Western wanderlust.

“Curiosity is universal in everyone,” said John Hendricks. “Gateway is one of the most incredible places in the American West and on the planet. I knew I wanted to develop it so that people could experience the magic of this amazing backdrop for themselves.” 

If you’re like me, you will stand spellbound by the incomparable vistas — the Uncompahgre Plateau, Piñon Mesa, and the La Sal Mountains. If you take a little time to explore, you’ll find prehistoric petroglyphs and other rock-art forms from ancient Native Americans. One can only feel humbled by the vastness of the topography.

To learn more visit gatewaycanyons.com.