Allen and Tammy Gemaehlich recently toured the White Rim via bikes.

A tour of Colorado’s high country starts with a four-wheel drive vehicle getting you to a trailhead lined with wildflowers amidst breath-taking scenery. photo special to the Sentinel

Backcountry four-wheeling sometimes means fording streams , the result being a quick and refreshing bath on a hot summer day. Photo Special to the Sentinel

An amphitheater at Gateway Canyons with the Palisades in the backgound.

The MC Fair hosts a fireworks display as the carnival rides run in 2011.

A mutton buster is run over by a sheep much bigger than the rider at the Mutton Bustin’ event at the 2011 MC fair.

A PBR rider in 2012 highlights one of the popular events which are held at the MC fair.

Hiking outside of Palisade offers another point of view.

Artist Seth Weber of Paonia dips his brush into black paint as he works on the Gateway to the Canyons mural on the side of a building on the south end of Delta. The mural will depict Ute Indians meeting Father Domiguez and Father Escalante, and was designed by local muralist W.R. Doherty.

Western Colorado has a number of wineries to visit and wines to try. You can bike or drive through area vineyards to taste wine from a various wineries. Lyndsay Pratte of Grand Junction tries the Peach Passion wine at St. Kathryn Cellars in Palisade

The early morning sun catches a cluster of bicyclists racing down the berms to the west of Mack Lake as they ride another round of the 6.2-mile loop around Mack and Highline Lakes.

Holding a fossilized trilobite in her hand, Museum of Western Colorado field coordinator Krista Brundridge, left, enthralls Eileen Lepisto of Grand Junction and her two grandchildren, 5-year-old Anika and 7-year-old Parker Rierson, right, as the group stop by the fossil display at Dinosaur Journey

The view from Skyway Point displays green and gold aspen trees around the Mesa Lakes and West Bench area on the Grand Mesa on Color Sunday.

Swing from Exclamation Point in Genwood Springs. Special to the Sentinel/Jack Affleck

The Durango-Silverton Train. Photo Courtesy of Yvonne Lashmett/Durango Area Tourism Office

Sheepherding at the Meeker Sheepdog Trials.

Youngsters enjoy the Taco Bell tournament each summer.

Golfing

Mountain biking on one of many trails

Fishing guide Charlie Card, wearing a sun-proof cover called a Buff, shows off a healthy Green River brown trout caught by Carol Oglesby. Hiring an experienced guide is a great way to learn the secrets of a river. Photo Courtesy of Pat Oglesby

Pat Oglesby, here being rowed down the “A” section of Flaming Gorge on the Green River by guide Boomer Stout of Trout Creek Flies in Dutch John, Utah, shows off one of the estimated 7,000 trout per mile in this part of the river. Photo courtesy of Carol Oglesby

Inside the San Rafael Swell in Utah

Some of the dinosaur bones in the new Quarry Exhibit hall in Dinosaur National Monument.

The new Quary Exhibit hall at Dinosaur National Monument.

A climber gets his photo taken on top of the Corkscrew Summit on the Ancient Art Tower at Fisher Towers along Utah Route 128, (the old River Road as locals call it). Development of the Towers as a climbing area started in the 1960’s.The Towers are about 16 miles northeast of Moab, Utah.

Hiking among Fisher Towers in Utah.

The Out Cove in Mee Canyon, part of the McInnis Canyons Conservation Area.

The JUCO Baseball World Series at Suplizio Field.

Hikers climb in Pollock Canyon, part of the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area.

Whitewater Creek Falls on top of the Grand Mesa at Lands End.

Feeding chipmunks at Lands End on the Grand Mesa.

Visitors admire the Independence Monument in Colorado National Monument.

Hiking outside Devils Kitchen in Colorado Naional Monument.

Devils Kitchen in Colorado National Monument.

A guide gives a tour inside the massive Glenwood Caverns

Inside the massive Glenwood Caverns

The Painted wall in the Black Canyon.

Black Canyon visitors on the south rim of the canyon.

Rodeo at the Mesa County Fairgrounds.

Two boys fish at Confluence Park in Delta.

Backpacking in the Utah desert.

There is plenty of space for dirt biking in the desert in western Colorado. Inexperienced riders may want to head north on 29 Road to check out the public lands open to dirt biking north off Interstate 70.

Hiking in Goblin Valley, Utah.

Fall in love with the mountains around Telluride. Then fall in love with Telluride’s many festivals, such as Mountainfilm in Telluride, May 25–28;  Telluride Bluegrass Festival, June 21–24; and Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, Sept. 14–16. Go to http://www.telluride.com to find information on events.

Boating on Lake Powell

Mesa Verde National Park

The Bangs Canyon Recreation Area off Little Park Road offers a number of hiking options just minutes from downtown Grand Junction. The area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

The Riverfrount Concert Series fills a number of evenings with music from a stage at the Fruita section of the James M. Robb-Colorado River State Park. For information on the 2012 concert lineup and ticket giveaways, go to riverfrontproject.org/concert-series.

The Auto Museum at the Gateway Resort.

The Gateway Resort in becoming popular with Grand Valley residents.