thru Denver?

[bob213]

Planning trip from Central California that will take me as far east as Tennessee. Want to go thru Moab. Am I better to go thru Denver going east(70) or on the return going west on 70? Anything else I should know about on 70 in either direction?

[lewisr]

x10 on Busskippers recommendation on RT 128. An awesome drive. Drove it last year thanks to Busskipper!!

[Thom02099]

A place to consider for a stay in the foothills above Denver...Chief Hosa Campground located in the Genesee area of I-70 at exit 253. Owned and operated by the City of Denver Parks and Recreation, it is the oldest motor campground in the country.

H E R E - Chief Hosa is the link to their website. They open May 1st each year. There's limited space for RVs and it can be tight, but I've seen big motor homes in there was well as a variety of trailers and other RVs. About 1/2 of the CG is for tents. It can be noisy, since it's close to I-70. Convenient to Genesee Mountain Park, the Evergreen area, the Buffalo Overlook, with the historic Chief Hosa Lodge right across the street. Staff at the CG has always been helpful. The RV Descripton section gives you all of the RV sites, the site dimensions, and whether pull thru or back in. There's only 2 FHU sites, the rest are W/E, and there's a dump on site.

[JAC1982]

4runnerguy wrote:

JAC1982 wrote:
For the first week of May you'll also want to keep an eye on the weather. I remember 2 years ago we went camping the first weekend in May. It was 80 degrees on Saturday. We left Sunday morning and 2 hours after we got home, it started rain/snowing with a lot of wind.

Another thing about early May is that most of the NFS CG"s in CO aren't open yet. So private CG's are your best bet, but they get a little more crowded with fewer camping options. James Robb SP out in the Grand Junction area is open at that time and does take reservations. Fruita and Island Acres sections are both convenient to I-70. Island Acres is probably a little more noisy. Rifle Gap and Rifle Falls SP's north of Rifle are also open but a few miles off the highway. Rifle Falls would be my pick there. But there are a limited number of sites that will take longer rigs.

We've stayed at Island Acres, it is noisy in some spots. We stayed on a spot by the river that had our trailer between us and the south side (where the road is) and the water noise helped drown out the road noise, but you still didn't really feel like you were in the middle of nowhere camping. It's fine for a quick overnight stop though, and easy in/out.

There is also an RV park across the street from the state park in Fruita, I think it's called Monument RV Park, we've stayed there too for an overnight. It's the typical RV park.... everyone sandwiched together, but has full hookups and is well maintained. It's perfect for an overnight stay while passing through if the state park is not available. The Mexican restaurant near there is very good.

[4runnerguy]

JAC1982 wrote:
For the first week of May you'll also want to keep an eye on the weather. I remember 2 years ago we went camping the first weekend in May. It was 80 degrees on Saturday. We left Sunday morning and 2 hours after we got home, it started rain/snowing with a lot of wind.

Another thing about early May is that most of the NFS CG"s in CO aren't open yet. So private CG's are your best bet, but they get a little more crowded with fewer camping options. James Robb SP out in the Grand Junction area is open at that time and does take reservations. Fruita and Island Acres sections are both convenient to I-70. Island Acres is probably a little more noisy. Rifle Gap and Rifle Falls SP's north of Rifle are also open but a few miles off the highway. Rifle Falls would be my pick there. But there are a limited number of sites that will take longer rigs.

[JAC1982]

For the first week of May you'll also want to keep an eye on the weather. I remember 2 years ago we went camping the first weekend in May. It was 80 degrees on Saturday. We left Sunday morning and 2 hours after we got home, it started rain/snowing with a lot of wind.

I think I-70 is probably the easiest interstate to use to get through the city, better than I-25 going N/S. I'd just stay in one of the middle lanes (don't use the far right since there's so many people getting on/off), and just take it easy. And agreed, don't go during rush hour or try to go up the mountain on a Saturday morning, or come back on a Sunday afternoon/evening. You can also try using I-76 if you're coming from Nebraska area, but you'll end up in I-70 anyway eventually.

Visalia native here 🙂

[4runnerguy]

The west sides of the Eisenhower Tunnel approach and Vail Pass are both 7% grades (for around 7 miles each) while the east sides are 6%, So going westbound you'll test your brakes while eastbound you'll be climbing the steeper sides at high elevation.

[ken56]

What is your destination in East TN? I-40 is pretty beat up after this winter and all the rainfall we have had. Crews have been out in full force patching the pot holes. Lane closures have been going on at night to accommodate the work. Should be much better though by the end of May.

[kandkbrand]

also try to get a good idea of current construction. Look at https://www.cotrip.org/map.htm ahead of time. We ran into construction going up Vail Pass in the summer, and came very close to over heating due to start and stop traffic. We saw a number of trailers pulled over because of overheating.

[Busskipper]

bob213 wrote:
Plan on leaving first week of May. Thanks for suggestions so far. Any input is appreciated as we have never traveled that part of the country.

Not knowing your level of comfort on the Roads in Colorado Rockies - I'd Suggest looking at gettin off I-70 on RT 24 to Minturn/Red Cliff/Leadville as another beautiful drive off the Interstate. It will take you behind Vail and bring you back to I-70 using RT 91. Beautiful drive that will show you some more of the Sheer Beauty of Colorado. There is a short uphill section between Minturn and Red Cliff that I love and then the Green Bridge in/at Red Cliff.

If you are trying to get into the Mountains - this is a Great Drive.

Best of Luck,

Map - Minturn - Red Cliff - Leadville - Silverthorne.

If you hit leadville at dinner time might look at Quincy's for a great steak dinner - Quincy's for Dinner

[bob213]

Plan on leaving first week of May. Thanks for suggestions so far. Any input is appreciated as we have never traveled that part of the country.

[Veebyes]

X2 on using Clear Creek. Can't count how many times we have been up & down that one.

Once back on 70, get on lane #2, #3 even, & stay there keeping an eye out for signs to Limon, or whatever east. Very simple really.

Like everywhere across the country, signage is not very good. It is what it is. If you have not been in the area before how would you know where Limon is or that it is on I70?

A pet peeve. If for example the English system was used the first destination sign you would see going east on I70 would be Baltimore, MD., the major city termination point of I70. That sign would also have Kansas City on it, the next major city on I70.

[Busskipper]

bob213 wrote:

Planning trip from Central California that will take me as far east as Tennessee.

Want to go thru Moab.

I always suggest Rt 128 along the Colorado River - Just a Beautiful Drive.

Am I better to go thru Denver going east(70) or on the return going west on 70?

We drive through all the time, if you are from Cali think of the Mountains like they are the Beach - People go on the weekends to get out of the City so you have a lot of Traffic going to on Friday evening /Saturday morning and coming home on Sunday evening. Fact is if you need to get through the City it is really pretty easy - just work around the traffic times 🙂

Anything else I should know about on 70 in either direction?

Another little side trip I always recommend is the drive along Clear Creek on RT 6 - Left hand exit off I-70 (Exit number 244) - avoids the steep decline into Denver and allows you to drive in, what I consider a Beautiful - Easy Drive along Clear Creek in the Mountains - Beautiful Drive.

One side note is if the timing works out - Clear Creek CG in Golden is Great

https://rec.cityofgolden.net/wbwsc/webtrac.wsc/splash.html?interfaceparameter=3

Nap Moab to Nashville


Best of Luck

[Bionic_Man]

I would say it matters what day you are going, and you need to look at the stretch from I70 from/to the tunnel.

In summer, avoid eastbound on a Sunday and westbound on a Friday. Especially true on holiday weekends.

[Son_of_Norway]

When is the trip? Not much difference between east and west. Just avoid rush hours when going through Denver.