Cottonwoods shade the campsites along the Colorado River at Fruita, and above town the red cliffs of Colorado National Monument catch the last light. The days go up onto that rim, to the monoliths and the canyon overlooks, and the nights come back down to the water. Fruita's shops and restaurants are close enough to walk to from the riverside campground, so nobody has to unhook for dinner.
Those sites belong to James M. Robb Colorado River State Park, and its Fruita section is the one to build a motorhome week around. The full-hookup sites there carry 50-amp service, which keeps the air running through a hot July afternoon while everyone waits out the sun under the trees. If Fruita is full for the first night, the park's Island Acres section upriver, east of Grand Junction, holds the larger share of its full-hookup sites and makes an easy place to start.
Colorado National Monument by day, along Rim Rock Drive
A day in the Monument follows Rim Rock Drive for 23 miles along the canyon edge, with red sandstone walls dropping away below the road and a pull-off at nearly every overlook. Independence Monument is the stop nobody skips, a lone sandstone tower rising off the canyon floor, and lunch in the rig at an overlook beats driving back down to town for it. In summer, go up early, while the rim is cooler and the low light rakes across the canyons.
The road passes through three tunnels, so know the rig's height before heading up and check it against what the Park Service posts for each one.
Saddlehorn Campground is the night inside the Monument, and it's a poor fit for a week in a motorhome. Loops A and B cap RVs and trailers at 40 feet including the tow vehicle, with no hookups and no dump, and generators go quiet overnight, so the rig sleeps back at the river. Two people in something smaller can take that night, and the Grand Junction campervan page covers it along with Grand Mesa's lakes and the Palisade orchards east of town.
Highline Lake State Park, the weekend at Loma
Highline Lake fills a basin of pale desert benches at Loma, west of Fruita, and it's the valley's weekend lake when a full week isn't on the calendar. The rig sits near the water, the day goes to the reservoir, and the benches turn gold around it at sunset. Camping stays open year-round, which makes it a good spring or fall weekend when the high country is still cold.
Past Loma, I-70 carries on into Utah, where Arches and the river road out of Moab make a long day from the Fruita base or a week of their own on the Moab RV page. South of Grand Junction, the dark walls of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the long blue reach of Blue Mesa Reservoir are the trip the Montrose RV page covers.