knich wrote:
I am going to be traveling in June. I plan to come through Grand Junction, CO heading south to Cortez, CO area. I have a 34' toyhauler pulled by a Toyota Tundra. I was hoping to take Hwy 50/550 south from Grand Junction but have been told that is a very narrow and tight cornered road. Has anyone traveled this section while towing? If so, what is your advice? Would I be better off going into Utah and down south until I can cut back over to Cortez?
Unless you've got a lot of Colorado mountain driving experience and nerves of steel, you might want to forego taking US 550 any further south than Ouray. But you don't have to go over the Utah to bypass 3 Colorado mountain passes on US 550.
You can take US 550 south to Ridgway and then take CO 62 west from Ridgway, going over the Dallas Divide (barely noticeable at less than 9000 ft) and pick up CO 145 at Placerville, which will take you south toward Telluride (you won't actually go into Telluride unless you want to). You'll have a scenic drive south over Lizard Head Pass at 10,200 feet and then it's a nice drive through Rico and Dolores and on in to Cortez. This is an alternative route that's been recommended here before and is scenic in it's own right. And a lot less stressful.
