Cedaredge is a small orchard town on the south-eastern flank of the Grand Mesa, a place of about two thousand people where apples, peaches, cherries and pears are grown in the warm lower slopes and the main street holds a few cafes and a museum of pioneer buildings. It sits at about six thousand feet, with the huge bulk of the mesa filling the sky to the north, and from here the byway starts to climb. The town is a quiet, friendly stop, and Delta, with larger stores, is down the valley.
The Grand Mesa is often described as the largest flat-topped mountain in the world. Its surface is a capping layer of hard volcanic basalt that protected the softer rock below from erosion, and the plateau stands more than five thousand feet above the valleys around it. On top, at over ten thousand feet, there are hundreds of small lakes, left by glaciers, set among spruce forest and meadows. Elk, deer and black bears roam there, and the fishing is popular.
The Grand Mesa Scenic Byway climbs in a series of switchbacks and long bends, from orchard country through scrub oak and aspen into dense spruce and fir. As it climbs, the temperature falls and the views get wider, with the Gunnison River valley and the West Elk range visible to the south, and, from a few lookouts on the north side, the Grand Valley with the Colorado River. The road is well maintained, with a good surface, easy gradients and pull-offs. Traffic is light, and the best times are late spring, when the lakes thaw, and early autumn, when the aspen turn gold.
Take fuel in Cedaredge, since there is little on the plateau. The services on top, a lodge or two and seasonal stores, are open mainly in summer. Afternoon thunderstorms are common, and hail can arrive without much notice, so start early and be down before the sky darkens. It can be cold, with snow possible in any month, so carry a warm layer, and watch for deer at dusk. Later in the season, the road can close for winter.