SPEED TRIP from Fort Collins, CO to Los Angeles, CA

Hi, newbie here, love the site by the way...very informative, great information! So, some buddies and I are planning a quick road trip from Fort Collins, to L.A., and we are planning of taking the following route there and back, just wondering if anyone has any tips for things to watch out for, things to try and avoid, long stretches of road without gas stations, stuff like that. This is the route that mapquest gave us, so if anyone has any advice for an alternative route, we're open to suggestions. We are heading out Monday evening, driving straight through to L.A., there are 4 of us and we will be taking turns driving. We will do some shopping at local stores in L.A. and possibly get a quick glimpse of the ocean (none of us has ever been), stay in a hotel Tuesday evening, then head back to Colorado Wednesday afternoon. We realize we aren't going to have time for site seeing and stuff due to the time restrictions, but this is our first road trip and we're mainly just hoping to get traveling advice from people who have made the same trip. Thanks in advance, and wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving :)

Fort Collins, CO
Depart CO-14 / E Mulberry St toward Remington St

3.8 mi
Take ramp right for I-25 South toward Denver
Comfort INN on the corner

52.7 mi
At exit 216, take ramp right for I-76 West toward Grand Jct

6.0 mi
Keep straight onto I-70 W
Entering Utah

501.7 mi
Take ramp left for I-15 South toward Las Vegas

464.5 mi
At exit 115A, take ramp right for CA-210 toward Pasadena

20.2 mi
Keep straight onto I-210 W

0.5 mi
At exit 43, take ramp right and follow signs for Sunflower Ave

6.6 mi
Take ramp right for I-605 S

5.7 mi
Take ramp right for I-10 West toward Los Angeles
12.1 mi
Keep straight onto San Bernardino Fwy
1.6 mi
Keep straight onto US-101 N
1.0 mi
At exit 2C, take ramp right and follow signs for Spring St
0.5 mi
Turn right onto W 1st St
327 ft
Arrive at Los Angeles, CA
The last intersection is S Spring St
If you reach N Broadway, you've gone too far
B
Los Angeles, CA

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

While it is conceivably possible for you to make this trip, the truth is that it will take you close to 24 hours to get to Los Angeles. I know that MapQuest is telling you something like 15 to 16 hours but ALL computer derived driving estimates are based on several fantasies. They assume that you can drive at or above the speed limit for every minute of every hour of every day, that you will never see any traffic or get behind a slow truck or RV, that you will never need to stop for gas or food or even to go to the bathroom or change drivers, that you will never see any construction or bad weather or a stop sign or a red light - none of which is terribly realistic. So you can plan on pulling into L.A. late Tuesday afternoon or early Tuesday evening, exhausted and driving into the teeth of one of the worst rush hours in the United States. Assuming you're reasonable, the first thing you'll want to do is to get a good night's sleep. Then when you wake up on Wednesday morning you're going to need another 24 hours to get back to Fort Collins. I'm guessing from your own optimistic plan of leaving Wednesday afternoon that you'll really need to leave Wednesday morning to get home when you are planning on. I just don't see where all that effort and expense gets you anything but slimmer wallets and sore butts.

AZBuck

If you want to see the ocean, on this type of time schedule, make airline reservations rather than road trip plans. Or, find more time. |

AZBuck speaks from much experience. So do I. My husband and I have traveled from San Diego through Denver, and can tell you that it is at LEAST a 22 hour drive from LA to Fort Collins. We typically leave San Diego (2 hours further than LA, from you) and get to Richfield Utah about 12 hours later (so call that 10, from LA). Then Richfield to a place 2 hours beyond Denver is another 12 hours -- so call that 12 to Fort Collins.

Now for the real cruncher: driving a lot of this at night means you are going to miss some of the most beautiful interstate scenery in the USA. Most of the times, interstates were built for speed, and often not in the most beautiful places, either. From Denver to Grand Junction, you'd be going through the mountains, then the Glenwood Canyon area -- all of which you'd not be able to see in the dark. From Grand Junction to Salina, UT, there is the rugged San Rafael Swell. Also, there are no services (NONE - no gas, no motels, no food) between Green River and Salina - 108 miles - and very little cell service, either.

If you can get another 4 days, this trip might be worthwhile - 2 days driving in each direction, and 2 days in LA. Maybe.


Donna

Weather forecast is snow for Wed night and Thursday here.
When you hit the weather your average speed will drop A LOT.
1000 miles to drive. In winter into a known weather front.

This will be an "Experience." Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else.

Thank you all for the valuable info, you've all been very helpful. I'm glad I decided to take the time to post in this forum :)

Truth be told we're making the road trip just to buy Copenhagen Mint, they don't sell it here in Colorado, so we each want to buy a couple logs. We aren't really trying to do any site seeing...just an excuse for us to get out of Colorado and hang with the guys. I'm pretty sure they sell it in Vegas as well, but since we've never been to Cali we thought what the heck :) Thanks again for all the tips though...much appreciated.

For what it would cost you to drive there and back, plus hotels - you could chip in together and buy 1 person a round trip plane ticket to LA or Vegas, have them buy you all the tobacco you want, and fly home the same day.

You'd save money, likely save your friendships, and most importantly you wouldn't be endangering your lives, and the lives of everyone else on the road by driving while severely fatigued (which is inevitable with the kind of plan you laid out.)

Wed night into Thursday morning we saw freezing drizzle freeze on the roads and now it's snowing. This would be a bad time to be out on the roads....... I hope our heroes decided not to go.