Regarding nights stayed or trip length, the majority of travelers (29%) for all eight byways combined were only visiting for the day (n=454). Of those who stayed overnight, 16.7% (n=261) stayed for 2 to 3 nights, and 16% (n=252) stayed only one night. Just over 12% (n=191) stayed for 6 nights or longer, and about 8% (n=123) stayed 4 to 5 nights. The total number of responses to this question for all eight byways combined was 1281.
The chart below shows the percent of respondents (and their travel companions),
for each byway and for all eight byways combined who were in the Study Area
or on the byway for a day trip only when visitors were surveyed. The Dinosaur
Diamond had the highest percentage of respondents who stayed for less than
a day (78.8%), followed closely by visitors to the Grand Mesa (72.9%). During
the survey period, the San Juan Skyway had no respondents who were day trippers
only.
The San Juan Skyway was the byway with the largest percentage of respondents
who stayed for one night only (37.1%), with the Santa Fe Trail (25.5%) and
Trail Ridge Road (24.1%) each having about a fourth of their respondents
staying only one night. Frontier Pathways had the smallest percentage of
their survey period travelers staying for only one night.
Of all eight byways, the San Juan Skyway had the highest percentage of survey respondents who stayed two to three nights (35.7%). The Top of the Rockies (28.2%), Trail Ridge Road (24.1%) and the Gold Belt Byway (23.2%) also had a high percentage of their visitors staying two to three nights in their Study Areas.
With 16.1% of its survey period visitors staying four to five nights,
Trail Ridge Road had the highest percentage for this category. Four byways
had close to 10% of their travelers staying four to five nights – the
Gold Belt Byway, Santa Fe Trail, San Juan Skyway and Top of the Rockies.
The Top of the Rockies had the highest percentage (27.1%) staying more
than six nights, for those visitors who were in the area during the survey
period. Trail Ridge Road also had a high percentage of these longer staying
visitors (19.6%), as did the San Juan Skyway and Gold Belt Byway, both with
17.1%.
Below is a striped bar chart showing the length of stay for visitors
to each byway and to all eight byways combined. Note that respondents could
choose only one option, so the number listed represents the percentage of
responses and respondents. The top stripe represents the percentage of respondents
who reported that they had stayed or would be staying more than six nights.
The bottom stripe shows those visitors who were day trippers.
