Santa fe nm to Gunnison co

Ditto on the 114 route.
We will be in Colorado from July 21 through July 27 so that is when it will rain for sure!

I used to live in Gunnison and made the drive many times to visit my parents in NM. Best route is the one you get on maps.google.com when you type in "Santa Fe, NM to Gunnison, CO". 114 is an easier grade than 50 over Monarch. Do it in the daytime though. It's infested with deer after dark.

We just did it a couple of weeks ago (40ft DP). US285 to Alamosa, CO17 then back on US285. Then US50 over Monarch Pass. Monarch Pass a fairly long curvy climb to over 11,000 ft. But it is a nice drive, nothing too steep and the speed limit is usually slow enough not to hold up traffic.

Previously, in or previous 35ft motorhome, we had taken CO114. That way is definitely easier and shorter, not much of a pass. Although the road is a bit skinnier. I just had not been over Monarch Pass and wanted to see how the motorhome would do (it could use a bigger engine).

The fires should be over by then, since hopefully we will get a couple of months of good monsoon season. Even in the driest years we will get at least 1 month of some rain.

David

The west side of Gunnison NP has a small but very nice campground right near the canyon edge. Beautiful views of the canyon and it was mostly empty in late Sept for us. In Santa Fe, Santa Fe Skies is our favorite RV park there. First week of Oct is usually booked up because of Balloon Week in ABQ. It has roomy and level sites and quick access to I25 and the bypass road and the Roadrunner Train.

We generally just head up to Alamosa (several routes; take your pick), then up to Saguache at the north end of the valley. There, we turn onto Colorodo 114, which leads up and over to just outside of Gunnison. You have to cross North Pass on 114, but the pass is very mild, nothing to get excited about in terms of grade and length.
:)
Lynn

We did the reverse last September. US-285N and NM-68 to Taos. US-64W to Chama. US-84 from West of Chama to Pagosa Springs. US-160W to Cortez. NM-145N to NM-62E to US-550N to Montrose then US-50E to Gunnison. Certainly not the shortest route, but let us make several interesting stops along the way. You can take US-285N from Santa Fe to Poncha Springs to US-50W to Gunnison. The parts of US-285 we have driven have been good road. Poncha Pass is just South of Poncha Springs and has some lower speed turns decending into Poncha Springs. Monarch Pass is between Poncha Springs and Gunnison on US-50. We drove it Westbound and I don't remember it being particularly bad, but it has long 6% grades and some 30MPH turns.

If you do not have one, I suggest you get a copy of the Mountain Directory West.