Driving Rt. 40 then Rt. 34 to Grand Lake CO (Class C)

Berthoud Pass is extraordinary because of the weather that can occur there.

18 wheelers go up and over so not a problem. Going down you may need to pull over and let the faster traffic pass. Gear down and let the engine slow you down.

Make sure you are going at or below the speed limit when you reach the town of Empire. They write lots of tickets there.

I built a log house at Grand Lake a long time ago for a log home construction company. Be aware that it is the largest natural lake in the State and has a short season. I went there once for Memorial Day and it was still frozen.

I took that route with a Toyota based RV with 120 hp engine. No problems going up or down. Just use your engine wisely, watch the tach, save your brakes. This should be the way we drive either an RV or while pulling a TT all the time..
The route is beautiful and relaxing.

mleekamp wrote:
Planning stages of driving our Class C on Rt 40 then 34, north to Grand Lake CO to the Elk Creek RV park.

Looks like some hairpin turns on 40 at the beginning, some steeper elevations, but looks doable.

Any considerations or experiences with that route?

Thanks.

One of My Favorite drives - it is a high Mountain Pass so that means you need to be good at Going DOWN. It has some beautiful looks from the top, long sweeping turns as you head down. Is a Great Drive in Colorado - a little Dicey in the Snow:)

You should have no problem, just be Patient.

Enjoy Colorado,

Let me warn of one thing, get diesel if you use it before heading out on Hwy 40. I figured I'll just get some after I got off the interstate....ah no. I finally found some in Winter Park. So make sure you are over a half tank. We didn't have any problems with the grades but then with the F350/6.7 we never have.

I would do it without much hesitation, based on Google maps. You can see a fair few RVs of various descriptions in the satellite and street views of that section of the route, and the hairpins are pretty sharp curves but not impossibly so. It looks like a very pretty drive.

If you are talking about getting on HWY 40 at I-70 then you will be going up and over Berthoud Pass. From I-70 for the first 10 miles or so you will going up hill though it is relatively straight and the hill is not steep. Once you get to the turnoff for Jones Pass at the first hairpin the steepness gets greater and the turns more frequent but it is definitely doable. Typical mountain pass nothing extraordinary about Berthoud Pass. Slow going up and slow going down. Good road, on the way up mostly 3 lane the uphill each way having 2 lanes. Once down you will hit Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash, Granby and the road across Middle Park is fairly flat with no twisty curveys. Once you hit HWY 34 and start heading to Grand lake the road gets a bit narrower but still plenty fine you will be going up hill at that point and the turns while not bad at all are more frequent