Routes from Moab to Ridgway to CO Springs?

Ridgway to CS is easiest going via highway 50 over Monarch Pass then through Canon City to CO 115 (in my opinion). There is a short section of one lane road construction east of Gunnison as well as a warm up pull of 4 miles east of Gunnison before you get to the 7 mile pull up Monarch Pass. Hwy 115 is an easy drive.
Use your transmission on the downhill sections of 50, not your brakes so much and you will be fine. Take your time, there is no need to race up or down the mountain. Hwy 50 is not nearly as rough as I found Interstate 70. The two passes on 70 coupled with Interstate levels of traffic are not much fun with a truck and camper.

I don't know all of your Moab route, but as long as you stay away from Hwy 550 between Ridgway and Durango you should be fine. The roads I have driven from Durango to Moab are basically flat from Cortez. Even the route from Cortez to Ridgway is not at all bad. Your route looks like it is mostly flat from Moab (flat is a relative thing in Colorado).

The turbo chargers on modern diesel trucks really take the effort out of the mountain passes. You simply do not have power limitations from altitude. What is limited is the engine and transmission cooling capacities. I have never had issues pulling uphill as long as the cooling fan kicks into high speed. Transmission gets a little warmer than usual when pulling uphill in lower gears or going downhill in lower gears (I really like tow/haul mode on my Chevy Duramax/Allison combo).

brirene wrote:
For Ridgway to CS i think you'll want 24 instead of 9. That route isn't particularly challenging, except for Monarch Pass, which is a bit tough, imo. Does your truck tow your tt alright on long, steep grades?

Thanks for the advise on using the 24 instead of the 9!

She is OK so long as I manage to keep the revs up... but at 100K miles we want to take it easy on the old girl. She's in great condition, well serviced etc, and we're not overloaded and we do have a WDH.

Going down.. she has new break pads 10K ago so should be OK, but will need to keep an eye on that breaking & keep in a low gear... that old high revs vs breaks thing! :-)

In the longer term we'll be moving to a diesel truck so this will probably be the last LONG heavy duty trip she takes before we put her out to pasture :-)

Thanks!

The biggest surprise I see in your proposed route: Hiway 9 does NOT go anywhere near Colorado Springs!

For Ridgway to CS i think you'll want 24 instead of 9. That route isn't particularly challenging, except for Monarch Pass, which is a bit tough, imo. Does your truck tow your tt alright on long, steep grades?

Refer to Mountain Directory West

Your to Ridgway is the route I would use. No surprises in the summer. From Ridgway, take 550 north to Montrose, 50 east to Poncha Springs, north on 285 to just south of Buena Vista, then take 24 on to the Springs.

Monarch is my preferred pass to use to get over the mountains. A fer times we have stayed on 50 to the Penrose crossing, just past Canyon City, and cut up north east on 115. Some traffic on 115 where it gets close to the military base.

The only road you mentioned that I don't believe you want is 9 as it tends to run north south and you will cross it.