how bad is it

thanks for the input folks, puts my mind at ease.


Thanks Dar & Barb

I've done Monarch several times but did Fremont Pass on 91 from Copper Mountain to Leadville last year and thought it seemed a lot steeper than Monarch. None of them are a problem unless you feel the need to go over them at 60 MPH for some reason. When going over Fremont I was down in first gear for a little while. Mostly 2nd and 3rd gear to the top. Just kept the engine turning around 3500 RPM and went whatever speed that came out to be.

Bionic Man wrote:
Monarch Pass will probably be the steepest. But it is two lanes going uphill.

There is also a decent climb as you go west from Gunnison after Blue Mesa Reservoir. Again, nothing to worry about.

Yeah Monarch Pass at 11300" will be the biggest pull. Our 1st time over Monarch was many years ago in a '84 2500 chevy 4x4 5.7 pulling a 7200 gvwr '84 26' Aljo 5th wheel trailer. No probs.

It will be a piece of cake with your rig! Just use your exhaust brake on the downhill side and enjoy the scenery.

Monarch Pass will probably be the steepest. But it is two lanes going uphill.

There is also a decent climb as you go west from Gunnison after Blue Mesa Reservoir. Again, nothing to worry about.

I've towed all over the west thru many of the passes folks seem to fear. I think it's much ado about nothing. If your rig tows without problems then the passes shouldn't be a problem either. You might have to downshift and go slow but you should make it up and down just fine.

Now if you're towing a 35' TT with a VW that might be a problem but it would likely be a problem in FL too. Anything reasonable shouldn't have an issue.

No matter the grade, you probably don't have to worry about a 25' TT behind a 1T.

I've never towed south of Ouray, so I don't know the answer to your question first-hand -- but if you search the archive for "550" you will find a lot of stuff.

You may be interested in this blog post -- lots of photos of the area you are going to:

Near Ridgway