That would be Boulder, Utah. The little town sits on the shoulder of scenic Boulder Mountain and is the northern terminus of The Burr Trail.
Heading south from Boulder, the trail is paved for 30 miles or so, running through spectacular* Long Canyon. The rest is dirt, usually decently maintained. It’s fairly well traveled, but definitely WAY out in the boonies. You may have driven roads like this in your travels. If so, you know: get road conditions from a local before you go. Otherwise I would NOT recommend this route. This NPS link has some more information and describes the Waterpocket Fold area of Capitol Reef.
If the area sounds intriguing, but you want to stay on mostly on pavement,you could take UT95/24/12.
*A much-used term when describing Utah’s geography, I know…what other word could I use?
These states are honkin’ big. Just driving from RMNP to Grand Teton is a two-day round trip out of your week, and much of that round trip looks like the moon. If I only had a week I wouldn’t drive beyond RMNP, much as I like (the picturesque parts of) Wyoming.
I second that, it’s a magical spot. Down the road aways is the Colorado Alligator Farm (funky, but worth a stop), and The Alien Watchtower (maybe not worth a stop…if it’s even open anymore).
West of Alamosa, you can head up into the Rockies on CO149. I spent a couple of days in Lake City. It’s a nice little tourist town near a lake. It has lodging options from campgrounds to B&B’s, antique shops, local artists’ galleries, and some restaurants with pretty good food . That whole area has lots of interesting places and good photo ops.
