Houston to Yellowstone

I appreciate all the info...helps big time.

Thom02099- we just traded our '06 25RSS for a 5'er. We sure did enjoy that trailer.

KCPart4 wrote:
We will be leaving in late June for a Yellowstone Adventure and traveling by way through Amarillo and heading north. My question is that I heard the I-25 thru Denver traffic was a beast,so am contemplating taking 287 out of Amarillo and hitting I-70 to the east of Denver or jumping over to 385 and hitting I-80 east of Cheyenne. Anyone have any insight on that leg of travel? It seems that 385 is a longer path, trying to cut some time. Spending night in Laramie.

Any of the 3 routes you've noted will work fine. Driving through the Denver Metro area, whether coming up from the south, or coming in from the east, will involve traffic. That's a given for a major city. The usual bottlenecks are typically on the north side, from "the Mousetrap" as noted from a previous post, up through the interchange with 84th Ave (always backed up regardless of the time of day) and on up to 104th Ave. Traffic starts to break out a bit north of 120th Ave. It's 3 lanes each direction until just north of Longmont, where it narrows down to 2 lanes. Traffic from that point north to Fort Collins can be busy and backed up in places. And if there's an accident, it will definitely back up for miles.

You can bypass the Denver traffic by taking E-470 around the east side of the metro area. You pick it up on the south end in the area of the Denver Tech Center and it ends at the north end just south of the Lafayette/Brighton interchange. You can also pick it up east of Denver from I-70, if you take US 287 north to Limon and then west. Easy drive, BUT....it's a toll road and the tolls aren't cheap. It's ~$25 for the entire trip just in a car, and would be more for a motor home or pulling a trailer. Even getting on E-470 in Aurora by DIA and taking it north, is $10 for a car. There's no toll booths to stop at; they use license plate readers and mail you the toll charge, which can be paid on line.

Taking US 385 as you proposed is certainly a viable alternative. It can be a pretty boring drive, but it's also got a stark beauty to it. Plan your fuel stops along the way; the towns out there in the Colorado Outback along that route are spread out approximately 30-40 miles apart, with the longest stretch being between Burlington and Wray, which is close to 60 miles. Springfield to Lamar is 50 miles.

Either way you choose, hope you have a good safe trip ! !

Last year we timed our departure from Estes Park to hit mid Denver at 11:00 am and except for construction zones we did not have to slow down. When we go to a Rockies game, in the toad, we creep to the exit. Like most urban travel timing and a little luck is the key.

We take 287 out of Amarillo to 470 around Denver, overnight in Fort Collins. On to 287 to Laramie, 80 to Rawlins back on 287 to Moran then 89 to Yellowstone. Real nice ride.

we use 385 north to I 80 every year and it suits us just fine. We love stopping at Cabelas at Sidney NE.
Between Cheyenne and Laramie at exit 323 is a great rest stop that's a memorial to the Lincoln Highway.

1-80 west of Cheyenne can get windy. Also 287 out of Rawlins can get windy at times. Normally ok in summer but always good to check on conditions. No need for unpleasant surprises.

http://www.wyoroad.info

Like any major city Denver has its busy areas & busy times. Been in & around Denver with trailer & without a number of times. One of the most notorious intersections is known as The Mousetrap & it involves I25, I70 & hwy 36. Hit it outside of rush hour time & it is a breeze, sort of.

Being from Tomball/Houston, you know how varied freeway traffic can be.

Last year we traveled (towing 34' fifth-wheel) from Colorado Springs on the way to Glacier National Park. We drove through Colorado Springs (we were camped on the Southern edge), Denver, and Cheyenne without a problem, just normal city driving, no significant delays. This was in the morning, rush hour in Colorado Springs, just after in Denver. Maybe we were just lucky, but that was our experience. I would not hesitate to take I-25 again. Not telling anyone else what to do.

BTW, my wife is a native of Magnolia.

Let me know if I can be of any help on the route to Colorado. We make it a couple of times a year. Will be leaving at the end of next week for Gunnison/Crested Butte.

We usually take US 287 out of Rawlins, WY to go up to Tetons and Yellowstone.