Adrenaline Driven Adventure Company, Grand Junction, CO

Join Polaris Adventures Content Manager Jared Christie on a trip to Grand Junction, CO and experience some of the most wide-open and diverse terrain in the entire country. 

Book your next adventure @ www.adventures.polaris.com 

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 © 2026 Polaris Industries Inc.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Polaris Adventures Podcast. I'm your host, Jared Christie. If you Google how many miles of off-road trails there are in Colorado, you won't get an exact number. Nope. The best answer is thousands and thousands. And our guest today is lucky enough to live right in the heart of all those trails. Please welcome to the show, Lewis Baker, owner of adrenaline-driven adventure company in Grand Junction, Colorado. Lewis, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:27

I'm doing great, man. Thank you so much for having me, Jared. We really appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

I'm glad you're here, Lewis, because right now you're in the middle of your riding season. How's your summer going?

SPEAKER_00 0:36

It's going great, man. You know, it's it's always amazing over here in Western Colorado. Um, we did have a little bit of fires, but guys, don't be scared of those. We we're not in the we're not uh terribly engulfed in in flames here. We are just a little bit of smoke, but I'm telling you what, Western Colorado is the place to be for off-road riding. You know, we we just truly have, like you said, thousands upon thousands of miles of riding. And if you guys need to get outside, we are the place to come. You guys are located in Grand Junction.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

I've never been to Grand Junction. Why don't you tell everyone where it's at and what the area is like?

SPEAKER_00 1:10

All right. So Grand Junction's in the heart of Western Colorado. We're the biggest city between Denver and Salt Lake. So we're about four hours from each location. Three and a half if you're, you know, you're on the highway. So we can get you in and out really quick. Ours terrain has five different terrains. So we have, you know, Adobe dirt, sand, deep, big, you know, big mountain climbing kind of terrain. You know, we get up into the mountains and it's got that big black dirt, you know, with aspens and pine trees and all that kind of stuff. And then we have red rock riding as well, like we call it mini Moab. So, you know, we have all these different terrains where it's all within 45 minutes of Grand Junction. And it really makes it easy to be able to get out and explore and be able to take your family out and just have a day in the dirt. You grew up in Grand Junction. Beyond the off-road riding, what's there to do? Grand Junction's amazing, guys. So we have the Colorado River that goes right through the heart of Grand Junction. So you can go down and play in the river, you can go rafting, you can you can simply tube the river. The the river through Grand Junction is not hectic. There's not a lot of rapids. So a lot of people just simply go tubing and they just float the river. So it's a really great way to get out of the sun and well, stay in the sun, I guess, at some points, but still be able to get out of the heat and be able to get into the water. And we also have amazing hiking and biking here in Grand Junction. So, you know, it's it's one of those things where we're a true outdoor recreation community and we're really embracing that. Tourism is starting to really kick off here in Grand Junction, and really people are starting to see the value of coming to the Western Slope. We call the Western Slope Western, we have a little saying called the West Slope, it's the best slope. So we everybody needs to come down and see the best side of Colorado.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Colorado is all about getting outside. You have so many options, as you mentioned, right from your location. Let's talk about some of the off-road stuff because honestly, you could spend weeks riding right from Grand Junction. Why don't we start with the Grand Valley OHV area? And did you tell me there's 5,000 miles of trails?

SPEAKER_00 3:08

That's crazy. That is right, man. That is right. So the Grand Valley OHV area is one of the last stepping stones of being able to just do whatever you want in the desert. It's a completely open playground. It's kind of like a desert dune area, but it's actually petrified sand. So it's actually adobe dirt mixed with benzenite clay. So it's like going to the sand dunes, but it's more trail-esque. You know what I'm saying? It's no marked trails, so you can be able to make your own trails and do whatever you want out there. It's the best part about playing in the Grand Valley OHB area. There's 550,000 acres to be able to go out and just be able to go out and explore and be able to be with one with nature out there. That's the Grand Valley OHB area, it has a lot to offer, man. Like between big crevasses, big steep hill climbs, swooping terrain, um, you know, desert washes. Like I said, man, it's it's truly we call it the the playground and the testing ground for Polaris.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

So I'm riding around Grand Valley. What are some of the places I should go? Can't miss locations.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Guys, we have the second largest conglomeration of arches in the world right in our backyard. It's on the top of the Colorado National Monument, and it's called Rattlesnake Arches. We're the only company in the nation right now taking people up there, and we'd love to be able to do more. So Rattlesnake Arches is has 36 arches up there. And guys, we are able to get you on top of those arches and be able to take some of the best pictures you'll ever be able to see in your entire life, and you get to be part of it. So Rattlesnake Arches is one of them. But then we have Bangs Canyon. Like I was saying earlier, it's called mini Moab here, and there's just big red rock stripes and ribbons out there where it's just unbelievably stunning, you know, uh breathtaking picture moments where you get to go out and and have some fun and do things that a lot of people aren't doing, right? Not not everybody's figured out Western Colorado yet, so we don't have the crowds that Moab has. So we and we enjoy that a lot here, right? Where we we would uh more than willingly take more crowds, that's for sure. And we want people to come see us. So, you know, there's so many different places that we can take you guys that it really is gonna wow you. There, and we have to to go on in those in those locations, guys. We actually have seven different light riding locations we can take you. We have the the Grand Valley OHV area, we have Rabbit Valley, we have Bangs Canyon, we have Rattlesnake Arches, we have the Grand Mesa, which is the world's largest plateau with over 300 lakes up there that you won't find fish in there, you will find fish anywhere else in the world, but in those lakes, fish indigenous to those lakes that you won't find anywhere else in the world. And then we have the Wild Horse Sanctuary coming from Dubek, then we have Peach Valley, we have Cactus Park, and we have the Uncopadre. So we have so many riding, riding opportunities and options over here where you know I call it the you'll you can point your finger, spin a circle, and ride wherever you point. So just go take it, take a day, have a great day on that point. The next day you can spin a, you know, point your finger, spin a circle, and land on that location and be able to go out there as well. And very few places in America or the world you can do that anymore. And Western Colorado is one of them.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

For as many miles of trails that are there in Grand Junction, Lewis could also talk just as long as the miles are. Well, I want to cover some of those because first off, anything with the word rattlesnake in it, I'm in. Do you have a favorite arch in that location?

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Absolutely. It's called Centennial Arch, and it's the rattlesnake arch. These arches actually look like rattlesnakes. That's why they call them rattlesnake arches. They have a bunch of heads that kind of point up, kind of like this. So I don't know if you can see my arm, but the the they come out of the ground facing like this, so it looks like a snake head. And one of them is called the Centennial Arch, and it is amazing. If you guys get on our website, you guys can do it. You can see those things at adacgj.com, and you can get on Visit Grand Junction, and we're featured in Visit Grand Junction and there as well, where you can see those arches and be able to come out and have some fun with us.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

I'm not sure if you were doing a rattlesnake head or you're just like pointing to the gun show sort of thing.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

It's just that's how they look, man. That's literally how they look. It's like this big pointing arch. I mean, spires we call those, but then the arches have have those snake heads at the end of them as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

I want to talk also about the Grand Mesa with all those lakes that you mentioned, 300 of them. I mean, it almost seems fake. Like you wouldn't have something like that with that many lakes in one location.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Right. And uh it's pretty amazing. Uh the lakes up there, guys, like it's simply it's the things that you see in movies, right? It's the things that you see in magazines or the lakes up on the Gran Mesa. They're simply amazing. Uh some of those lakes you can't even fish with with bait. You can't even like you have to use lure only. It's it's called gold water fishing, and it's it's some of the best riding in America, guys. I was gonna ask you, what's the elevation of most of those lakes? And can you actually get to a lot of them? Yeah, so you we can do a uh quite a few of them. Um there's cottonwoods, there's through one through five cottonwood lakes on the lake on the drive from Bottom to Jumbo. I believe there's I have to count them, but there's there's more than 10 lakes on that route alone, you know what I'm saying? But the mountain is just massive, guys. We're we're talking over 500 square miles of of mountain up there, where you're just it's a it's an all old volcanic feasure that the mountain has just built up and built up and built up. So it gets up to 12,000 feet, and you're we're riding from 9,000 to like 1185. So the it's it's a high mountain alpine experience up there.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

You also mentioned Bangs Canyon, Rapid Valley. It just seems to go on and on and on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

You know, Bangs Canyon, uh, you get to 9,000 feet up at Bangs, and Rabbit Valley kind of tapers down the the valley. So I think you only get to about 6,000 at at at Rabbit Valley. Of all the places we've talked about, which is your favorite? Oh man, well, we haven't quite got to my favorite yet. So the Uncopadre is my favorite place to go. The Uncopadre is the it's it's more out, I call it off the beaten path, and it's where you're gonna see basically no one, right? And that's that's what I'm that's what exploring to me is about, right? Is to be able to get out with nature and and be able to just be one with nature, right? Me and my friends, the the machine, and be able to just be able to explore, truly explore where I, you know, places up there, I still haven't been, man. I was born and raised here, and there's still roads up there I have not been able to do yet, just because they're so far out there, you know what I mean? So, you know, you got to take gas, you gotta take all these things to be able to do those things. And, you know, it's it's it's out there, man. So my favorite place personally is the Uncle Padre. I was up there riding dirt bikes with my kids yesterday. We split off at you know 5 a.m. and we got back at 11, and we went and did 45 miles on the Uncle Padre, and it was amazing, you know what I mean? It doesn't have quite as many lakes and things like that. It does have a couple lakes, big crick lakes up there, little crick, but it's just more off the beaten path. That's that's why I like the Uncle Padre more. And it's just, I I don't know how to quite explain it. Once you, once you see what I'm talking about, you'll be like, that's what he's talking about. You know what I mean? It's it's just canyon after canyon of just beautiful red rocks with covered in covered in the in the aspens, and it's it simply is something that everyone, everyone watching, you need to come see it because it's simply beautiful, especially in the in the spring when the flowers are going in. I'm talking just meadows of flowers for as far as the eye can see. And then in the in the uh fall time, all the all the trees turning cut the colors, being able to see those, those, you know, miles and miles of purples and yellows and all mixed in with the greens, is it's just simply amazing. It's that true Colorado that you're looking for.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

One final note on the off-roading there in Grand Junction. I I think unlike a lot of Colorado locations, aren't you guys open year-round?

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Is does everyone know that? Yes, sir. We are open year-round. Um, guys, we are in the high desert, so we don't get a ton of snow on the western slope of Colorado. So we stay open year-round. And like this last year, I believe we got maybe a foot at one point and it melted within three days. So we we go run all the time. So it doesn't matter what time of year you guys would like to come explore Western Colorado, we can definitely get you out there having some fun. Just dress like you're going snowmobiling, but we're just gonna stay in the desert instead. Bundle up.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Well, if you ever get tired of all that dirt, you can hit the road and take a slingshot. Where are the cool places to ride and visit around you?

SPEAKER_00 11:49

I'm glad you mentioned that, Jared. You know, uh, we have the Colorado National Monument, which is an amazing, it's we call it a mini Grand Canyon, right? So you can get up on the edges of those and be able to look over the spires and the independence monument and things like that to be able to get that, again, that red rock feeling. It's kind of like Moab, but we think it's better, right? It's Colorado Red Rocks instead of Utah. So we call it Canyon Lands of Colorado. So, you know, the and going over the Grand Mesa in a slingshot as well. Get you up out of the heat during the during the during those summer months and get you up into the you know, 12,000, 11,000 feet so you can actually get up and out out of that this heat. It's an amazing drive over that mountain to be able to go see all those lakes and things like that as well. What keeps Grand Junction such a cool secret? You know, I I think it the cool secret is that just not a ton of people know about us yet. And you know, that's that's kind of the coolness right now, right? Is is it's it's that undiscovered cool spot to go check out, and and there's not going to be a bazillion people here yet. Because there it is coming, baby. Because once everybody figures out about my desert, I truly believe we'll be the next Galamis.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

You guys have been with Adventurers for a really long time. How did you get into renting vehicles and what's the partnership been like?

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Uh, that's a really cool story, actually. So my kids were one and three, I want to say one and four, maybe. And my one of my buddies gave my wife a voucher to take me over to Moab and do an ATV tour or a UTV tour. So I went over, we camped the night, we did a UTV tour over there, and during the tour, I looked over at my wife and I was like, why isn't anybody doing this in Grand Junction? We have way cooler terrain to do this. And you know, it's it's been a work in progress ever since. You know, I was like, man, I've been riding moto my whole life. My wife was like a jeep, a big jeeper. So uh, you know, a razor is kind of the the the perfect mix of a motorcycle and a and a jeep. You know what I mean? You can do more, you can go faster, be able to explore more in the razor, you know what I mean? Um so from that that day forward, man, I used to be a general contractor, and from that day forward, I I just went and bought three razors, went to the BLM, you know, got the permits to be able to do tours. And as soon as all that happened, I figured out about Polaris Adventures through Buna Vista. Thanks, Buna Vista. Shout out to you, brother. But uh Buna told me about Polaris Adventures, and they said you need to contact these guys, and I I did. And Polaris Adventures said, you know, we need to come out and see your location, see what you guys got going on. And they came out and saw my location, and they were like, This is we have to do this. This is an amazing spot to be able to do this. And you know, it's it's been it's been really good ever since, man. You know, yeah, you know, every business has its up and downs, but it's uh it's solid, and it's it's just a really fun place to come out and have some fun, man. And being able to do things like this with you and and be able to do, you know, destination Polaris, which we were featured on as well, it really brings people to our area to be able to say, hey man, this is the spot to come. And we actually have people out right now that came two years ago and brought their own rigs, and they they were like, why would we bring our own when we could just rent from them and just drive them right out, anyways? So it it the really cool thing about our spot in Grand Junction is, guys, is I can physically have you guys fly into our airport. I can drive up, get pick you up in a razor, bring you back to our establishment, check your archer razor. You can go to the hotels, the restaurants, the the grocery store, the gas station, everything right here, and be able to go right on out and have a great day out in the dirt.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Well, Lewis, thanks so much for being on the show today and enjoy the rest of your off-road season.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Hey, man, thank you so much for having me, man. And if they if I can ever do it again with you, we'd love to, we'd be able to love to do it again. Jared, we we truly appreciate you for having us, and uh we have we can't wait to have you back out, okay? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Be sure to like and follow the Polaris Adventures podcast wherever you listen to your podcast, and we will talk to you again soon. Remember, you belong out here.