Spent 3-1/2 yrs in Grand Junction working oilfield. Four corners up thru Cortez, then Lizard Head Pass into Telluride.
Going north from there you could take a right at Montrose and go up to Gunnison, then on to Buena Vista and Pikes Peak/ Colorado Springs or stay on 285 and right into the Denver area.
Gotta warn you, the Front Range is where all the woke people are, nothing like the Western Slope.