2021 Fall trip MI to Rushmore then AZ

JAC1982 wrote:

dalenoel wrote:
Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I plan on going south and not over the mountain. Was wondering about 18 down through Lusk after Rushmore then down 85 to 25 around Cheyenne. We will never have a day over 400 miles, don't stop for restaurants, but do walk the dog. The two non-interstates are my only concern but will look at them before the trip.

After AZ we go to FL for the winter until April.

We live NE of Denver and did a trip to the Black Hills in June and we stayed in Custer, so we did the route heading south of Custer on 385 and eventually ending up on Highway 18 then 85. It was an easy drive overall... a little windy but that's going to happen anywhere up there. Roads themselves are good with no low overpasses or trees or anything like that (our rig is 13'5" tall). There's a truck stop (Western Travel Terminal) on the east end of Torrington with lots of parking and easy access gas pumps.

I-25 through Denver and all the way down to Colorado Springs stinks pretty much all the time, even in a car, just like any interstate through a heavily populated area. You can take E470 to get through the Denver part, which is a toll, to avoid most of it, but it will cost you around $25 to go all the way around. Right now there is lots of construction with narrow lanes on I-25 around Monument, but I don't know what the ETA is for completion. To avoid that, you can take Highway 83, then hop back on I-25 in the Springs. It's a 2 lane highway, but easy driving.

There's a chance of a snow storm in October, just like this year there was snow right after Labor Day... but some years there's nothing so you'll just have to watch the forecast when the time comes and be ready to wait it out a day or two. If you do have to go through, chains are only required on I-70. I don't even own a set.

That does pretty much mirror our weather. We usually get a pretty good winter storm in October, but this year it was September. Just watch the weather, and you will be fine. Maybe be prepared to sit a day or two just in case.