Best route from Grand Junction, CO to Cortez, CO?

[knich]

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?

[knich]

Thank you so much everyone for the information! I think maybe 141 would be a better choice. Again, thanks for the info.

[Train_Riders]

Being a Ozzy visitor from down under & having driven 550 in both directions about 6 times IMHO this is quite a good mountain road not only for driving but also awesome scenery & history .Well worth the drive & excitement when seeing something new , there are pull off's in quite a few places in both directions which cater for vista's or letting your vehicle have a bit of a rest . I have driven worst main roads in mountain areas in Oz & Europe .

Cheers Tom in Oz

[Thom02099]

4runnerguy wrote:

joe b. wrote:
Colorado DOT has announced the closure of Hwy 555 south of Ouray for the month of June with a daily opening of one hour, for a major road/rock slide abatement project.

The road will be open for more than an hour a day. From the CDOT website:

CDOT wrote:
VEHICLE TRAVEL IMPACTS: The project will have impacts to travel on US 550, including single-lane, alternating traffic and some full traffic stops in both directions for 20 minutes, Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., during blasting. Delays may exceed 20 minutes as traffic queues are cleared. Please note – the blasting frequency is expected to decrease during the summer, and fewer full traffic stops will be necessary.

Looks like middle of the day work and no work on the weekends.

Seems like they're always doing some sort of work up there. But then again, their "construction season" is very short, not unlike up on Trail Ridge. They do the work when they can, as quick as they can without sacrificing safety. Last time I was through that area, they had single lane traffic, with portable stop lights and a pilot car to guide traffic through.

[4runnerguy]

joe b. wrote:
Colorado DOT has announced the closure of Hwy 555 south of Ouray for the month of June with a daily opening of one hour, for a major road/rock slide abatement project.

The road will be open for more than an hour a day. From the CDOT website:

CDOT wrote:
VEHICLE TRAVEL IMPACTS: The project will have impacts to travel on US 550, including single-lane, alternating traffic and some full traffic stops in both directions for 20 minutes, Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., during blasting. Delays may exceed 20 minutes as traffic queues are cleared. Please note – the blasting frequency is expected to decrease during the summer, and fewer full traffic stops will be necessary.

Looks like middle of the day work and no work on the weekends.

[joe_b_]

Colorado DOT has announced the closure of Hwy 555 south of Ouray for the month of June with a daily opening of one hour, for a major road/rock slide abatement project. Both Ouray and Silverton have sent protest to the DOT, about their time selection for the project. So check on the DOT web site for any changes in the month of June being the chosen closure time.

[Lauren]

Thom02099 nails it perfectly.

[DesertHawk]

Thom02099 wrote:
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.

2X

[Allworth]

Follow the old Rio Grande Southern Railroad route.

Montrose-Rico-Delores-Cortez.

[lbrjet]

We did the 141 route a couple of years ago as there were thunderstorms on the 145 route. Was a nice drive.

[2gypsies1]

Another route from Grand Junction to Cortez is 141 to 491 to Cortez.

We've done all 3 mentioned - 141, 145 and 550 to Hwy 160. The degree of difficulty is in that order.

[debraindi]

Thom02099 wrote:

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.

Thank you I will leave the 550 route for the Harley when I get to Silverton,then up gunderson for a visit.

[debraindi]

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?

I be leave if you stay on 160 you will be fine.
I am planing on the Honda rally in the white MT 6 27 . What can you can you tell me about the Coronado trail 180 to Glenwood NM pulling a 35 ft 5tw?

[Thom02099]

debraindi wrote:
I plane on a Colorado trip in July I'm not worry with my 36 ft fw toy hauler pulling the Colorado mt with the lml duramax . AS I remember riding 550 route years ago on my Harley its a wide good road with lots of climbing and curves. Someone correct me if I am wrong.It cant be any worse then going through El Paso tx during rush hour because of accident closing trans mt by pass 2 days ago. If I remember right the rout your taking seemed to be a lower elevation very nice 2 lane road.

You may be thinking of a different route or a different portion of US 550. Climbing out of Ouray toward Silverton, it's certainly not a "wide good road". It's narrow with shelf road in many spots and avalanche chutes til you get to the top at Red Mountain Pass at just over 11000 feet. Then you've got 2 additional passes with Molas (10900 feet) and Coal Bank (10600 feet). Once you get down into the Animas Valley, it's not difficult down to Durango, then taking US 160 over to Cortez.

[Thom02099]

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.