Colorado Driving

WrightOn wrote:
I appreciate the encouragement. My wife mentioned that "you're going to get destroyed for even mentioning a van/hotel" idea.

The helpful hints of bypasses will help as well.

Brian

Hey, we've done the motel/tent thing several times in the last few years when we wanted to cover big distances or when we flew or took the train to our starting point.

It's tough to avoid grades when travelling in the mountains of CO. Lots of RV's and pickups far older than yours are on those roads every summer.

One of the easier routes across CO is to take US 50 west out of Pueblo to Poncha Springs. Then south over the easy Poncha Pass on US 285 to Saguache. Then west on CO 114 to hook back up with US 50 (this route avoids Monarch Pass and is over 1100' lower in elevation). The US 50 west to your destination.

Another one of the easier routes is CO 14 up the Poudre Canyon, dropping into North Park and hooking up with US 40 not far from Rabbit Ears and Muddy Passes. From there, you drop into Steamboat Springs and continue west on US 40. You can then drop down to I-70 via CO 13 or CO 131, either of which mean you'll avoid both Vail Pass and the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70. But neither of those roads can come close to competing with the scenery on I-70.

Heading south from Montrose down to US 160, you might consider CO 62 and CO 145 instead of US 550 if you aren't comfortable with mountain driving. Plenty of RV's take US 550, but it's not a "learners" road.

If you return from Durango heading east on US 160, you'll be going uphill on the steep part of Wolf Creek Pass. Downhill on the east side is the easier direction IMHO.

Check out this table for info on Colorado Passes.

I don't know how long you've got, but a loop across northern CO through Montrose down to Durango and back east to CO Springs or Pueblo will take some time. The speed limits aren't fast and there's so much to see and do. So do you have a couple of weeks? A couple of months? Or more ideally a couple of years? ;)