Biking in the Grand Valley

The Grand Valley is a cyclist's paradise, with an abundance of sunshine and spectacular views of the Colorado National Monument, Mount Garfield, the Colorado Grand Mesa and the Little Bookcliff Mountains. In April, May and Early June you can take advantage of the mild weather and desert wildflower blooms. In the Fall, the weather is near perfect and the fall color change in the Grand Valley is in full swing.

Willow Pond Bed & Breakfast offers locked storage for bikes and a washing/clean-up area.

Bike Rentals can be arranged thru Willow Pond and bikes delivered directly to the inn. You can also have your bike shipped to the inn for your trip...

Tour of the Moon is just around the corner, book now as we will book up!

Bike the Monument:

Willow Pond Bed & Breakfast is only 15 minutes from the East entrance of The Colorado National Monument...

Mountain Biking:

Willow Pond is only 12 miles from Fruita. The town of Fruita offers world class mountain bike trails http://www.gofruita.org/biking.html . Kokopeli's Trail, with 142 miles of trails sprawling from Loma, Colorado to Moab Utah, this trail loop offers a self-teaching trail to expert level trails, there really is a trail for everyone! Here is an in depth description of these trails: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/moab/recreation/mountain_bike_trails/kokopelli_s_trail.html
Fruita is also home to the April Fruita Fat Tire Festival.

Willow Pond is only 1.5 hrs from Moab http://www.discovermoab.com/biking.htm and 2 hrs from Arches http://www.nps.gov/arch/. Lodging is limited in Moab, their B&B's fill up very quickly, so you might consider staying here in Grand Junction and making a day trip to Moab for biking, hiking and rafting or daytripping to Arches... Another reason to stay in Junction is that we are about 10-15 degrees cooler than Moab, so you can escape the heat! We suggest April-May and September-October for the mildest weather...

Road Biking:

You are in for a treat! Willow Pond is only 4 miles from the East entrance of the Colorado National Monument, which offers 33 miles of paved road on Rimrock Road, with a climb of 2300 vertical feet! The Grand Valley offers paved river front trails running from Palisade to Fruita, nearly 20 miles of paved trails along the Colorado River. Map of some local trails: http://www.gjcity.org/CityDeptWebPages/ParksRecreation/RiverfrontTrails/Pdf/trailmap.pdf
We are also only 2.5 miles from downtown where you can enjoy fine dining, shopping and the Art on the Corner Sculpture Series on Main Street, Grand Junction.

Willow Pond is only 12 miles from the town of Palisade where you can treat yourself to a beautiful ride through Colorado Wine Country, a wine and fruit lover's paradise. Palisade's Fruit Loop: http://rapidcreekcycles.com/images/map_lg.gif

Biking on the Colorado Grand Mesa is spectacular in fall with the color change, Crag's Crest Trail, Land's End Road, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, to mention just a few...

What about rain? Well, this is the desert, we get very little rain and when we do, it is usually over pretty quickly and the trails tend to dry up in a day or two...

Have fun out there!

Bike Shops:
http://thebikeshopgj.com/
Western Colorado Mountain Biking
Over the Edge Sports
Ruby Canyon Cycles
Single Tracks
Brown's Cycles

More info on biking:
http://www.bikerpellisports.com/
http://www.2pedal.com/multiDay/Kokopelli/
Read the recent New York Times Article about biking the Grand Valley: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/travel/05biking.html
Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Assoc. http://www.copmoba.org/trails/maps/
Grand Mesa: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/gmug/recreation/byways.shtml

"Must Stops" on your trip:

Willow Pond Bed & Breakfast only 3.5 hours from Denver, 5 hours from Salt Lake City...
Colorado National Monument
Golf at Redland's Mesa
Carlson Vineyards ( Cherry Wine with Enstrom's chocolate!)
Meadery of the Rockies
Enstrom's Candy
Moulin Rouge Cafe
662 on Rood
Pablo's Pizza
Zen Garden
Grand Valley Orchards
Wineries

Food Glorious Food!

So, you're wondering where to eat when you visit Willow Pond B&B?

Here are our favorite places in town, we've tried to include menu's for you to peruse:

Fine Dining:

Le Rouge French Bistro & Piano Bar
317 Main St., Grand Junction 970-257-1777
http://www.lerougerestaurant.com/le-rouge-restaurant/
Great food, piano bar featuring live Jazz on weekends. This place gets jumpin', so make sure you have a reservation, even summer weeknights get busy...Make sure you try some of the local wines served here. (Dave's Fav)
Open M-Sa for dinner!

626 on Rood: http://www.626onrood.com/Dinner%202007-10-01.pdf
626 Rood Ave, Grand Junction, 970-257-7663
Great little place off of Main St., featuring domestic and imported "flights" of wine, steaks, lamb, crepes, lots of unique and tasty dishes here. One of our guests said they ordered a couple of flights of wine and a few appetizer dishes, they loved it! Open M-Sa

Il Bistro (Northern Italian)http://www.ilbistroitaliano.com/menus/dinner.htm
400 Main St., Grand Junction, 970- 243-8622
The owner of this resaurant is from Northern Italy, this is authentic Northern Italian fare. Colorado wines are available here. They offer cooking classes (call restaurant for info) and host "dinner and an opera nights" in conjunction with the High Desert Opera, http://www.highdesertopera.org/ . Open Tu-Sat.

Inari's in Palisade http://www.inarisbistro.com/menu.html
336 Main Street in Palisade, 970-464-4911
Inari's is a newer fine dining restaurant in the town of Palisade, about 12 miles east of Grand Junction. They offer a menu featuring local fare, a children's menu, wines from Garfield Estates Winery, http://www.garfieldestates.com/ Open Wed- Sat & Patio seating.

Casual Dining:


Zen Garden
2886 North AveGrand Junction,
(970) 254-8898‎
This is our favorite casual Asian restaurant. Not in the best part of town, but worth the trip. Nice inside...They offer Thai, Japanese and Chinese food and a full sushi bar, don't let the mixed fare fool you, this is some of the freshest and tastiest food in town. they get busy on weekends so get there early! If you like HOT, get Laurie's fav., the Kung Pao tofu. FRESH tempura! Open Daily.


Nepal http://www.geocities.com/nepalrestaurant/
356 Main St. Grand Junction, 970-242-2233
Two families own this place, one from India, one from Nepal, they offer food from both countries. This is a terrific spot, especially for our vegetarian guests. The food is delicious and the service very friendly. Open M-Sa

Palisade Cafe
113 W 3rd St., Palisade, (970) 464-0657
http://www.palisadecafe.com/
T This cafe uses fresh baked breads from the Slice o'Life Bakery next door. You can't beat it, it's a small town diner, with yummy fresh comfort food! They have a to die for flourless chocolate cake! Open every day...call first just in case.

No Coast Sushi
http://www.nocoastsushi.com/menu.php
1119 North 1st Street, Unit A, Grand Junction, 970.255.1097
This is the newest Asian restaurant in town, always busy! They have an incredible assortment of fresh sushi and also the usual fare, such as teriyaki, sashimi, hibachi, tempura, etc.
Dinner only M-Sa

Pablo's Pizza
Grand Junction 319 Main Street 970-255-8879
Fruita 456 Kokopelli Drive #C 970-858-8300
http://www.pablospizza.com/lunchdinner.cfm
Hip fun little pizza parlor, two locations, one on Main St, GJ and one in Fruita near the Colorado Welcome Center. They offer gourmet pizza and friendly service, casual and very popular spot!
Open Daily.

If you are coming to town on a Sunday, many places are closed, here are our top choices for Sunday dining:

Zen Garden (See above)

Pablos (See above)

Rockslide Brewery
405 Main StreetGrand Junction, CO 81501United States(970) 241-9311
A little bit of everything, from Buffalo Burgers to tacos, and of course, Colorado beer! Can't go wrong, especially if you have a big group and many tastes to satisfy! You can still stroll along Main St., take the Art on the Corner Walking tour and get some great American food and micro-brewed beers here.

Ale House
2531 N 12th StGrand Junction, CO 81501(970) 242-7253
http://www.breckbrew.com/menus/alehouse.pdf
American fare, great sandwiches, microbrews.
Don't miss Grand Junction local, Jeffrey Pine performing live music at the Ale House, he's great!
http://www.jeffreypine.com/

The Winery
642 Main St, Grand Junction, 970/242-4100
A Grand Junction staple, fine dining steak house right off Main St. Prime Rib, Salmon and Apple Crisp are the favorite fare here.

Of course, Grand Junction has it's chain restaurants, Red Robin, Noodles and Co, Coco's, Denny's, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc. over by the Mall and on Horizon Drive, near the airport too, not to mention plenty of fast-food.... Whatever your tastes and budget, you should be able to find something to eat!

For a comprehensive list of Grand Junction restaurants, please visit http://www.visitgrandjunction.com/

Bon Appetit!

Next Up: Dessert, Coffee and Winery tours!

What is There to Do When I Visit?

Willow Pond is centrally located to just about everything. There are so many things to do, many of them for very little or no money, or you can just relax and hang out at the inn.

Read our $40 a day version

7 day sample itinerary :

Day 1 Check in, wander the grounds or sit by the pond, relax with some hot or iced tea... Dine at any of downtown Grand Junction's many fine restaurants, see our dining guide for our favorite places. After dinner walk it off on Main Street and take the Art on the Corner walking tour of over 100 sculptures. Cost $0- excluding dinner.

Day 2 Pick up a picnic lunch at Main Street Bagels on Main Street and then tour by car ($7/ car) or if you are an experienced cyclist, bike the Colorado National Monument ($4/bike), which is only 4 miles up the road. Biking Guide Stop at the Dinosaur Museum in Fruita ($4-7 per person).

Day 3 Golf Redland's Mesa ($63+) or take a yoga class ($14 drop-in) at the Academy of Yoga in the morning and in the afternoon tour the Palisade wineries by limo ($80+ per hour).... Winery Tour Guide If you are here June-Sept, make a stop at some of the orchards for fresh peaches and other fruit delicacies! Or hit up the Thursday Farmer's Market in the afternoon (free). In winter, drive up to Powderhorn for a day of skiing ($46+)

Day 4 Mountain biking in Fruita (free), swimming at one of the local lakes (Park entrance fees), river rafting and horseback riding along the Colorado River ($150+), view the Wild Mustangs at the Little Bookcliff Mountains (free).

Day 5 Daytrip to Moab and Arches National Park ($5-10). Eat at Miguel's in Moab. Or stay closer to home and take a picnic lunch and hike to the Mica Mine at Bang's Canyon (free).

Day 6 Dinosaur digs, get out there and dig up the real thing ($125+)! One-three day excursions available. Or do the scenic byway drive of the Colorado Grand Mesa (best in fall for the color change) (free).

Day 7 Tour one or more of these Museums: Western Colorado Botanical Gardens ($0-5), The Art Center ($3), Museum of the West ($3-5), Cross Orchards Historical Farm ($2.50-$4), Math and Science Museum ($3)...or race on the Grand Junction Motorspeedway ($40+).
Botanical Gardens is free the first Sunday of the month! Art Center is free on Tuesdays!

Don't forget to check our schedule of events for local concerts, festivals, etc...

Willow Pond Dining Guide
Willow Pond Winery Tour Info
Willow Pond Biking Guide

Wine tasting at the Grand Valley Vineyards
Colorado Grand Mesa
Driving or Hiking and mountain biking on the Colorado National Monument
Bookcliff Mountains and Wild Horse Range
Fine dining and shopping in historic downtown Grand Junction, Fruita & Palisade.
Golf on world class Redland's Mesa Golfcourse
River rafting on the Colorado River
Live Theater, live opera, dinner theater & 14 screen stadium seating movie theater
Museum of the West, Dinosaur Museum, Western Colorado Math & Science Center
Art galleries and an "Art on the Corner" walking tour with over 100 sculptures by Colorado artists
Botanical Gardens and Cross Orchards Historic Farm
Summer Farmer's Market
Snow skiing at Powderhorn Ski Resort
Ice skating
Grand Junction Motor Speedway
Many seasonal festivals, including Winefest, Peachfest, Fruita Fall Fest, Mike the Headless Chicken Days and more!

Colorado Wine Country

Many of our guests enjoy the wine tours here in the Grand Valley. There are about two dozen wineries starting in the Fruita area, Grand Junction, Palisade and on down to Whitewater. Each offers something unique. This is a self-guided tour, most of the wineries are located in the town of Palisade. There are limo tours available by the hour, through "A Touch With Class Limo" http://www.colorado-limo.com/

Most of the wineries are open 10-5 Daily, call for specific hours, many have Winter hours/days.

During the Summer, if you come on a Thursday you can begin around noon, take your tour and end the day at the Grand Junction Farmer's Market on downtown Main Street.

The town of Palisade offers a Saturday morning Farmer's Market, you can stock your picnic basket in the A.M. and begin your tour there...The rest of the week, you'll want to stop at the Slice o' Life Bakery to get your bread and dessert and stop by one of the many Palisade fruit stands to pick up a few fresh fillings for your picnic basket...if you're here in August, you've gotta get a fresh peach pie!

Dave and I like dessert wines, so our favorites are swayed by our preference for sweet. Most of the fruit wines made in the Grand Valley are just that, wines made from fruit, not grape wines with fruit essences, they are flavorful and delicious.

Here our our picks:

My personal favorite is Carlson Vineyards http://www.carlsonvineyards.com/
461 35 Road · Palisade, CO 81526 · (888) 464-5554 · (970) 464-5554

This quaint tasting room is out in the middle of the orchards in Palisade, off the beaten path. There is a nice shaded grass area to sit and enjoy. The highlight of your trip to Carlson will be the wineglass dipped in chocolate and filled with cherry wine. My two other favorites from this winery are the Fat Cat Muscat (heavenly) and the Reisling. Carlson also has great peach, pear, apricot and traditional wines. They often have some great deals on cases.


The Meadery of the Rockies is a unique stop. http://www.meaderyoftherockies.com/
3701 G Road, Palisade, Colorado 81526 (970) 464-7899

Here you will find Honey wines ranging from dry to very sweet, as in their "Shere" and port style meads. My favorite is the Camelot and the Shere. They also have a delicious hard apple cider, sold in a six pack.


Next up is St Kathryns/Confre Cellars http://www.st-kathryn-cellars.com/
785 Elberta Avenue, Palisade, Colorado 81526 Phone: (970) 464-9288

Features a large selection of fruit wines; pomegranate, mango, concord grape (this one tastes just like Welch's grape juice, be careful!) blackberry, apple, pear, strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry, cranberry. They also stock Merlot and Chardonnay.


Canyon Wind Cellars http://www.canyonwindcellars.com/
3907 North River Road Palisade, CO 81526 Phone (970) 464-0888

This family owned vineyard makes all of their own wine from start to finish. When you drive up to the shop, you drive through the vineyards, it has a real old world feel about it. At the foot of Mt. Garfield, it's a beautiful spot to stop. This winery offers daily tours of the winemaking process, including bottling, sealing and storing in their underground cellar. Call for tour hours. They have a tasting room/giftshop and offer many food gifts including wine themed jams and sauces. You can even join their wine club and have their wines shipped to your home.


Guest favorites:

Garfield Estates http://www.garfieldestates.com/

3572 G Road, Palisade, Colorado 970.464.0941

Garfield Estates is the #1 favorite of our guests. Currently, Garfield Estates makes seven wines — Vin Rosé, Fumé Blanc, Viognier, S2 - a blend of Semillon and Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Vin de Glace.

Graystone Winery http://www.graystonewine.com/

3352 F RoadClifton, CO 81520 970-434-8610

Known for their Ports.

Colorado Cellars http://coloradocellars.com/

3553 E. RoadPalisade, Colorado 81526 Phone (970) 464-7921

Offers self serve wine tasting on tap! (So we've been told...)
You'll find a little bit of everything here, from fruit wines, meads to Merlots, Zins....


Plum Creek http://www.plumcreekwinery.com/
3708 G RoadPalisade, CO 81526Tel: 970 464-7586

Another popular one with our guests and conveniently located across the street from the Meadery! The Chardonnay and Palisade Rose are my favorites here.

Salud!

Art at the Pond

Art at Willow Pond:
Willow Pond features local artist work at the inn. One of the terrific things about being an innkeeper is all the wonderful and creative people you get to meet.

Peg Oswald, pastels and ceramics

Vera Mulder, Batik
http://www.artyme.org/

Piera Kllanxjha, crystal glaze ceramics, printmaker and photographer
www.artistsregister.com/artists/CO199

http://www.newartcollectors.com/

Dave Lester, photography
http://www.willowpondphoto.com/

Betsy McLoughlin, watercolors

Dawn Sudmeier- Fused glass jewelry

Pat Feinberg- Ceramics

Caroline McDaniel- Mixed Media

Grand Junction Art Community:

The art community is so busy here, sometimes it's hard to schedule an art even because there's so much competition!

Grand Junction recently won a National Arts Council Award for it's support of the arts.

There is a walking tour downtown called "Art on the Corner" that features over one hundred sculptures by Colorado artists.

Grand Junction is also home to The Art Center http://www.gjartcenter.org/

1803 N. 7th Street Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-243-7337

The Art Center features local artists, exhibits, permanent collections, gift shop, summer art camp, year round classes, art fairs and a "collection of nearly 300 historic and contemporary works representing a thorough visual documentary of the art and artists of Western Colorado. Historic Native American artifacts comprise a significant portion of the collection, including numerous exceptional Navajo weavings..."

Planet Earth and the 4 Directions Gallery

524 Colorado Avenue Grand Junction, CO, 81501 970.256.9630

This is a funky vintage clothing, antique store and Art Gallery. Local art, traveling exhibits and seasonal community events are hosted by this very cool gallery.

The Blue Pig Gallery in Palisade http://www.thebluepiggallery.com/

This is a working gallery/coop featuring over 30 local artists. A number of the Willow Pond Artists are featured at the Blue Pig.

There are also a number of galleries downtown on Main St. and many artists are feature at the Thursday Night Farmer's Market on Main St in Downtown Grand Junction:

Working Artists Gallery

520 Main St 970-256-9952

Local seasonal art shows include Palisade Peach Blossom Art Show in April, Art and Jazz Festival in May, Spring Open Studio Tours. See the events page of the Grand Junction Visitor's Center website for details: http://www.visitgrandjunction.com/ .

Support the arts and consider making a purchase during your visit!

Wine Fest

We know! You've called every hotel and B&B in town and no one has a room! At the time of this post, we still have rooms available for Winefest, so book now!

Well, Wine Fest weekend is THE biggest annual event in the Grand Valley and tends to book up 6 months to a year in advance. So if you don't get a room, call now for next year!

But you don't have to go to WineFest to enjoy the local flavors... the wineries are open year round and many offer tours. Also, many area restaurants feature local wines, so if you aren't able to get a room Wine Fest weekend, book another day in September and enjoy all that the Grand Valley has to offer! While you are at the inn, don't forget to buy a hand painted wineglass, featuring Colorado Wildflowers, by artist Peg Oswald!
And...the farmstands are open until the end of the month...

See our blog for Dining and Wine Tour ideas!
Willow Pond Restaurant Suggestions
Willow Pond Winery Tour Info

So what's the big deal? Here's the low-down on Wine Fest, information from the Winefest Website http://www.coloradowinefest.com/:

August Is Peachy

We are busy canning up peach Jam and Apricot Peach Jam, making peach scones and cobbler and peach syrup for your waffles!





Don't miss Peach Fest from the 16-19th of August, in Palisade!
There is an ice cream social, tours of the orchards, culinary events, pancake breakfast, recipe contest, 5 miler, car show, parade, peach eating contest, live entertainment, "feast in the fields", Historic walking tour, bike tour and river floats and local restaurants will be featuring peach cuisine.

Book your "August is Peachy" get-away today!
2 night stay, including full gourmet breakfast, starting at $115 per night, double occupancy. Enjoy our peachy breakfasts during August, featuring Palisade peaches, peach scones, peach jam, peach cobbler and more!! Good from August 1 through August 31, 2012 or while the peaches last! Call innkeeper or book online on our website!
We still have rooms for Peach Fest Weekend...book online now!
Palisade Peach Fest: August 16-19, 2012 Visit: http://www.palisadepeachfest.com/ for more info.

Willow Pond Specials

For all specials, please note, discount will not appear on automated confirmation. We will send you a receipt via e-mail, reflecting your discount, after we have run your charges.



Innkeeper's Same Day Special:
Save 15% when you book a room the same day of your stay!
Call between 10AM and 6PM the day of your stay.
Coral Rose: $97.75 Hazel Tree: $123.25 Bella Donna: $140.25
No advance bookings, offer only good the same day of your stay. Not valid with any other offer, must book by phone directly through Willow Pond, double occupancy only, other restrictions may apply. Offer expires February 28, 2010.

Willow Pond's Innkeeper's Online Special
Book online and save $10 off of your stay!
Offer only good for reservations made directly through the Willow Pond website.
Must mention special when booking - Type "Online Special" under "preferences & needs".
Not valid with any other offer, other restrictions may apply, taxes not included.
Offer good through December 31st, 2010

Mesa State College Special
$10 off your stay for all Mesa State College families. Must mention special when booking.
If booking online, type "Mesa State College" under "preferences and needs" .
Offer only good for immediate family members of registered students or faculty members of Mesa State College. Not valid with any other offer, other restrictions may apply, taxes not included. Offer good through Dec 31st, 2010

Willow Pond/Academy of Yoga Class

Outdoor yoga in the serene garden setting of Willow Pond! Schedule a class during your stay, through the Academy of Yoga. Only $80 per class for your entire party!
Call (970) 255-8029 to schedule your yoga class.

Certified Teachers, All Props Provided, Set-up, Breakdown included.

Enjoy: Team Building, Stress Reduction, Increased Production, Sharp Mind Focus
& Clarity, Flexibility, Stamina, FUN!

Classes based on the Iyengar system, focusing on the needs of each individual student. Offering two decades of experience, teacher training, and a variety of individualized classes.

Visit the Academy of Yoga website for more information about their instructors and offerings.

Ask about our weekly rates and discounted extended stays.

We also offer and/or coordinate:

Elopement Packages

Spa/Massage Package

Theater Packages

Limo-Winery Tours

Golf Packages

Bicycle rentals

Guided Tours:
Local Wineries
Colorado National Monument
Arches National Park
Rafting
Horseback riding