If your basing out of Gunnison, head up to Taylor Park. Paved road there is great fun, and there's miles of trails once you get up there. It's not TECHNICALLY a dead end, but Cottonwood pass is closed for road work, so unless you're willing to go over Cumberland pass (20 miles of forest road, rocky and dusty, but nothing you couldn't go over in a passenger car... slowly) and come back to Gunnison through Pitkin, Ohio City (say hi to my folks!), and Parlin, you'll have to come back out the way you came in.
Coming from Ouray... pop over through Montrose towards Gunny, then take a left at the Blue Mesa Dam and ride Hwy 93 to Hotchkiss. It's the North Rim of the Black Canyon, and a wonderful road. if you make Hotchkiss near lunch, Zacks BBQ. you can thank me later. Order your pie at the same time you order food, there's no guarantee it'll still be there. From there, you could buzz east to Paonia, then up over Kebler Pass (dirt/hardpack road) into Crested Butte. From CB, you can either take the Jacks Cabin cutoff off Hwy 135 to Taylor Park (as above) and return through Gunnison to Hwy 50, from there depending on timing, you could go Gunny back to Montrose then to Ouray via Hwy 50. There'a couple other ways out, but it would be a SUPER long day if you made this route already...
Leanintree (Raised in Gunny, and headed there for my 30year reunion next weekend)