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Is a road trip from Orange County CA to Denver, CO a good idea at the end of March? what will the road conditions be like? will we need snow chains? what are some suggested routes and pit stops we should take/make? Our alloted time is 7 days (round trip, staying in Denver for about 2 or 3 days).
thanks.
Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !
The fact is no one is going to be able to forecast what the weather will be like this far in advance, you will only find that out near to the time of travel. Interstates are a priority to keep clear and open in the event of a storm and if conditions were bad enough to need chains, you should not be on the road, you should simply seek shelter and let the storm pass and the road crews work to clear it.
People everywhere need to go about their daily lives all year round and March certainly wouldn't be the worst time to travel !
With just 7 days and 2 or 3 of them spent in Denver you won't have time for much else as it's a 2 day drive each way. A round trip gives you the opportunity to take different routes out and back to see new things. I70 and I40 would be the two primary routes although there are many options between the two. On the way out you could take I15/70 passing places like Zion and Arches NP's, and on the way back you could take US50 to Montrose and then the spectacular 'Million Dollar Highway' [US550] down to Durango and through Monument valley to the Grand canyon and back to I40. There are so many options in this area you will need to study a good map and see what appeals, but you won't have much free time.
If you took 2.5 days each way you would have time for a little sight seeing, or you could take 2 days one way and 3 the other depending on what interests you the most.
March is our snowiest or second snowiest month in Colorado. The good news is that it's not as cold as, say, February.
March is also a bit early for most attractions and definitely too early for things like campgrounds because the snow is still accumulating in the mountains rather than melting.
But on a sunny day it's very pretty.