Interstate 70 through Denver

Good advice from Thom...I would add one thing, if your pulling a load, once you clear the exit for Lakeside start thinking about getting out of the slow lanes and start building speed for the upcoming long pull ahead. There'll be combination vehicles going slower than you are using the slower lanes.

X2 on Rt50. At one point or another we must have done all of it from Ocean City, MD to Sacramento, CA. All the variety you could ever want.

I70 and Rt50 in Colorado for me is a destination in its self, Being from NJ and we try to come out west every 3rd year for our RV vacation..We try to visit Co 1st and then branch off from there for vacations main objective. You see when traveling I try to make the ride part of the excitment of the vacation, streams always need to stop and mountain top pull overs our cameras gets a good workout.Both highways take you from the Plains to the Mountains and then to the Desert and what a ride I feel it is and what a workout the truck gets too.

X2 on going up the Golden Canyon. 6 tunnels but no problem even for a tall trailer. Very scenic & generally a steady grade. Done it many times on our way to & from Boulder.

I-70 west of Denver can be even more of a pain than through Denver. Summer or winter, from C-470 to the Eisenhower Tunnel (westbound) can be backed up for miles on Friday night and Saturday morning. One Fourth of July, we actually saw people out of their cars on the interstate, just walking around. Might as well, traffic was stopped for 15 miles straight.

Similarly, one doesn't want to travel eastbound from the tunnel down to Denver on a Sunday night. They even meter traffic out of Dillon/Silverthorne, so one can get stuck in Summit County, unable to get on the interstate for several hours.

Veebyes wrote:


One area to look out for in Denver is called The Mouse Trap. Make a mistake there & a new destination will be in your travel plans.

This is the traditional name for the intersection of I-25 and I-70 back in the day when it was a horrible cloverleaf and a general mess. It was so bad at one time that there was a traffic monitor tower, but because of the horrible design, it really served no purpose and was torn down when they did the reconstruction of the interchange. While an improvement, heed the advice and pay attention to signage.

If one is going straight through, the previous advice given is good. Stay in the #2 lane from the right where possible. At the point where I-76 merges with I-70 in Arvada, you'll have more lanes added 6-7 lanes westbound. Lots of I-70 traffic try to get all the way over to get off at Wadsworth Blvd, so be aware of this traffic situation...folks going from lane 6 or 7 all the way over to lane 1 to get off. Not fun for anyone. And further west there's a branch off to Golden where the lanes are reduced, as well as a narrowing down from 4 lanes to 3 lanes, all in the same general area. It's 3 lanes until you start toward CO 470 and the climb out of the Denver West area, where more lanes are added...and then taken away. Sooo....stay in the #2 lane whenever possible!

Likes to tow wrote:
Any recommendations on Interstate 70 through Denver? Anything to be aware of? Best time of day to do it?

If you are headed West slide off at exit 265 - Rt 58 towards Golden and Take Rt 6 into the Mountains - give you a little taste before you really get there.

We always take it and the 6 tunnels that come out at Idaho Springs and I-70.

Just Beautiful.

Best of Luck

Just a taste,

From last week.

Moved to Roads and Routes forum from 5th Wheels.

Early Sunday mornings (7-8AM) I70 is almost deserted!

We apply the same rule to Denver, Washington, any major city that we are passing through. If it is 4 lanes get into lane 2 or 3 & stay there. Leave the furthest left to the crazys who want to drive at near mach 1. Leave lane 1 for the people who are on & off in only an exit or 2. Hate being in a lane that suddenly turns into an exit lane & nobody wants to let you over.

One area to look out for in Denver is called The Mouse Trap. Make a mistake there & a new destination will be in your travel plans.