Panama City, FL to Golden, CO

Thanks, that has given me some great ways to go.

We drove from Denver to Sopchoppy (just east of PC)last month. In reverse our route would be from Sopchoppy to US 231, north thru Dothan to Montgomery, then I-65 to B'ham. West from B'ham on the new interstate (I-22 and old US 78) to Memphis. From Memphis west on I-40 to Fort Smith. Then take I-49 to Kansas City to catch I-70 to Denver. I don't have a map in front of me so some of these numbers might be incorrect. In any event it was an easy trip. We took five days but we are slow. I have driven from Tallahassee to Denver in three. lizzie

Whichever route you take to get here, some suggestions on the back end, in the Denver Metro area...

If you come in on I-70 WB from Kansas, just stay on I-70 straight through the city. It's simply not that difficult to get through Denver on I-70. If you time it to arrive in the area between 10am and 3pm, so much the better. Get off I-70 for CO 58 at Exit 265, or continue on a bit further west to West Colfax/Exit 262.

If you decide on the US 287 route through Texas and then cutting across NE New Mexico to Raton and I-25 up through Colorado Springs, when you get to the southern part of the Denver Metro, you want to take CO 470 west (and NOT E-470, which is the toll road). CO 470 is the western beltway around Denver and will take you to Golden. Some resources and old timers refer to it as C-470, but signage is CO 470. Anyway, take that all the way around to where it meets up with I-70, but just stay straight/forward to US 6 and take that in to Golden. Depending on where you're going in Golden, US 6 will be the main drag through town.

azjeffh wrote:
Once again, not saying this is the best, but Garmin would route us around Dallas this way.....

Stay away from Dallas

agesilaus is half right...there is a much easier route to get to US 287 but however you choose to get to US 287 catch it well south of Dallas, I believe on I 45 it's exit 246 or 247 and go north west to Fort Worth and take 287 all the way to Limon Co. and I 70 then west to Denver/Golden. DO NOT take Hwy 87 out of Dumas TX to I 25. There is a long steady pull, although not steep, before you get to Raton. It taxes your vehicle unnecessarily. And after that you have to go over Raton Pass on I 25. The route I'm suggesting has no grade work at all...I'ts the route the truckers use.

Well we always take I-10 to I-49 that north to Shreveport and take the bypass around that city to US 71 N to US 82. Follow 82 until it hits US 287. Take 287 into thru Amarillo and a bit north to US 87 W. Follow that to I-25. That avoids Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston and Oklahoma City all of which are a PITA to drive thru.

This is a good route, in my opinion. An alternative is to continue on I-20 from Shreveport to US 69 (near Tyler) up to US 82 and then as above. Both routes avoid DFW altogether and are far better now than taking US 180 west from Greenville (from I-30) with all the traffic signals and congestions north of Dallas.

So the essential is US 82 to US 287 and US 87 to I-25. We just made this route less than a week ago.

Once again, not saying this is the best, but Garmin would route us around Dallas this way.....

Well we always take I-10 to I-49 that north to Shreveport and take the bypass around that city to US 71 N to US 82. Follow 82 until it hits US 287. Take 287 into thru Amarillo and a bit north to US 87 W. Follow that to I-25. That avoids Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston and Oklahoma City all of which are a PITA to drive thru.

We have been just driving thru DFW on I-20 and getting on 287 on the west side but there is someone here who has been giving a route to avoid DFW. I'm not sure if the above was what he recommended. Maybe he'll post here.

Don't know the "best" route, however using Garmin's Basecamp in RV mode, this is what it suggests. Just over 26 hours.