Denver to Ridgway Colorado
We are traveling from Denver to Ridgway State Park towing our 39 ft fifth wheel. Would like advice on the best route.
Forum Discussion
Several good routes as mentioned above. We lived in Ouray, just south of Ridgway for about 10 year prior to moving here to the swamp country. I had to make numerous business trips to Denver, year around. In the winter, from Denver I would often drop south to Colorado Springs, go west on Hwy 24 to 285, just north of Poncha Springs, south to Hwy 50 and west to Montrose and south on Hwy 550 to Ridgway. Most of the time Hwy 285 is a fine way out of Denver headed west.
Monarch is one of the friendlier of the high, over 10,000 ft passes in Colorado, IMHO. Good shoulders on most of the highway going over. It is not one of the shelf highways like you can find in other passes. I especially like Monarch when the road is snow and ice covered in the winter, much better places to slide off the road that aren't 500 ft down from the road. LOL
Fun gift shop and chair lift at the top of Monarch Pass, called Monarch Crest. Good RV parking is available as well they make fudge there that is worth the stop as well. Use good mountain driving skills on the downhill side of any of the high passes. Before we moved from Ouray, we had a Class A Winnie, that we would usually take the toad off at the top and my wife would drive it to the bottom. The brakes on that rig had a real tendency to over heat. With your 5th wheel, just take it slow and easy geared down. People get in trouble getting in too much of a hurry.
Monarch is one of the friendlier of the high, over 10,000 ft passes in Colorado, IMHO. Good shoulders on most of the highway going over. It is not one of the shelf highways like you can find in other passes. I especially like Monarch when the road is snow and ice covered in the winter, much better places to slide off the road that aren't 500 ft down from the road. LOL
Fun gift shop and chair lift at the top of Monarch Pass, called Monarch Crest. Good RV parking is available as well they make fudge there that is worth the stop as well. Use good mountain driving skills on the downhill side of any of the high passes. Before we moved from Ouray, we had a Class A Winnie, that we would usually take the toad off at the top and my wife would drive it to the bottom. The brakes on that rig had a real tendency to over heat. With your 5th wheel, just take it slow and easy geared down. People get in trouble getting in too much of a hurry.
