Delaware to Colorado and Back

I've tightened up my itinerary since the last time I posted here. Here it is and is it doable?
Depart DE on Sept 3
Arrive Estes Park Sept 6
Sept 7 visit Red Rocks and Boulder
Sept 8 leave Estes Park and drive to I-70 via Trail Ridge Road thru RMNP
Take I-70 to Crawford and Black Canyon of the Gunnison State Park
Use San Juan Parkway to get to Mesa Verde Natl Park
Durango and Silverton to 4 wheel drive road to Lake City
Lake City to Canon City and Royal Gorge
Canon City to Colorado Springs and Pike's Peak
Depart CO thru Amarillo, OK City, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Charlottesville to DE on Sept 18.
Whew! Can we get to all these things in CO in our time frame?
Thanks for any and all input!

The short answer is that, yes, this is doable if you're planning on spending a day doing each line of your itinerary. Four days from the First State to Estes Park is a comfortable amount of time for the drive, but not much else. The same applies to your return trip, which will be a bit harder, but can still be done in 4 days unless you want to spend some time seeing people or places along the way.

We spent last fall taking day trips out of Black Hawk and could comfortably get to, see and enjoy everything from Breckenridge to Denver to RMNP. So, as long as you're willing to pack up and move to a new location most days, you should be able to hit all your desired sites (a true 'best of Colorado', BTW) without feeling like all you're doing is driving.

Go Hens!

AZBuck

Yeah!! Go Hens!! Did you attend UD? My son is there and I was there in the early '70's.
Thanks for your help - it was a BIG help.

Dear AZ - what would be so difficult about my road home thru OK City, etc.?
Would rt. 81 be better?

I'm not AZBuck, but I'll offer the following thoughts anyway!

Your route as stated is about 2237 miles and roughly 36 hours of driving time.

The direct route (I-70) is 1763 miles and roughly 26 hours of driving time.

Neither of these take into account stops of any kind, which of course will add significant time to your journey and are unavoidable.

That's the difference. I don't know what Rte 81 you are referring to, so I can't offer any help with that.

If you want to go through the cities you named because that's what you WANT to do, then the extra time and distance may not concern you.

"AZBob" :)

Thanks, Bob. Right - what makes the return trip more difficult is just that it's longer. One thing though, I made it 2083 miles and 34 hours of driving for the return since I assumed you'd depart from Colorado Springs after poking around southwest Colorado. So 4 520 mile days, which is certainly doable, especially with 2 drivers (your earlier post mentioned your husband), if you're not planning on stopping anywhere along the way.

I am a big fan of taking different routes out and back on such a trip. Why not cover some new ground? There's not that much difference in the terrain you'd cover by using I-80 instead of I-70, whereas you will see some new things on your proposed return route.

Yeah, I grew up in Wilmington and was at UD from 66-69 but was having way too much fun to graduate. I did go back to school later in life.

AZBuck

I figured from Colorado Springs to Dover -- since I didn't know what town the start point is. The difference between the estimates (which is always what they are anyway) is probably partially that plus differences in mapping software or routing. Bob

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

Thanks, Bob. Right - what makes the return trip more difficult is just that it's longer. One thing though, I made it 2083 miles and 34 hours of driving for the return since I assumed you'd depart from Colorado Springs after poking around southwest Colorado. So 4 520 mile days, which is certainly doable, especially with 2 drivers (your earlier post mentioned your husband), if you're not planning on stopping anywhere along the way.

I am a big fan of taking different routes out and back on such a trip. Why not cover some new ground? There's not that much difference in the terrain you'd cover by using I-80 instead of I-70, whereas you will see some new things on your proposed return route.

Yeah, I grew up in Wilmington and was at UD from 66-69 but was having way too much fun to graduate. I did go back to school later in life.

AZBuck

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Thanks AZ and Bob- thanks a lot. I may tweak my itinerary to give a little slower pace, after all, what kind of vacation would it be if we're totally exhausted by the time we get back.
You're right about departing from Colorado Springs - I was looking at the whole trip like a Grand Loop. My better half wants to experience what I did many years ago. Poor thing, he was never out of Delaware till we married 25 years ago. I just really want to show him something - and CO is SOMETHING! Thanks again. I hope you won't mind if I email you occassionally to bounce things off of you. Denise

We've got 17 days to drive to Colorado and back. We're doing this for our 25th wedding anniversary. I've been to CO but hubby hasn't been farther west than Johnstown, PA.
We're leaving on 9/3, plan to arrive Estes Park on 9/6. Spend one night then drive Rocky Mtn. Natl. Park around through Grand Lake and pick up I-70 west.
We want to stay open and make hotel reservations just a day or two in advance. We're not that interested in tourist attractions. Here's what we'd like to do once we hit the I-70 W:
Maybe take Rt. 24 S to Rt. 50 W to Crested Butte and then HWY 12 (already know it's maintained gravel/ CO Dept of Transp) to Rt. 133 S to Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
Then to Ouray (we'll use as a base to see Telluride) for 2 days before driving on to Mesa Verde for one night (stopping to take in Silverton and Druango on the way, for a night here or there depending ) and then take Rt. 60 E to Rt.149 N (possibly overnighting in Lake City) to Rt. 50 E to get to Canon City ( we want to see Royal Gorge Bridge, even if it means driving arcoss it and stopping at an overlook) and then from there to Lamar to drive Rt. 40 E back to the east coast. We're more interested in taking in beauty and know that lots of that will be done while we're driving. Want to see nice geography not so much trains, etc.
I need some definite time frames for this trip once we hit I-70 W,probably on 9/8. Some people tell me from Rt 24 on can be done in my time frame but others tell me it will take too long. We need to leave Colorado on the 9/15 to get home by the 19th. Any suggestions/comments/help will be greatly appreciated.
Dee

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Originally Posted by Dee August

Here's what we'd like to do once we hit the I-70 W:

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Welcome back, Dee
What route are you planning to use to get to I-70? I would suggest turing west at Granby and follow US-40 just past Kremmling to SR-134 and make your way down to I-70 on SR-131 and then a slight backtrack to US-24 at Vail and then south on US-50 (very nice roads).

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Maybe take Rt. 24 S to Rt. 50 W to Crested Butte

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What?
You can't get to Crested Butte on US-50. OK, the loop you are talking about would be interesting, but there is a large river in the way and you can not get across Black Canyon without a long backtrack detour back to US-50 at Sapinero and then you still have to go back west to Montrose to pick up US-550 to go to Ouray. If you really did all of this in one day (it would be a 20 hour driving day).

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Then to Ouray (we'll use as a base to see Telluride) for 2 days

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I would gladly make Ouray my base for exploring the area, but a base to see Telluride? Those are serious mountains, how much 4-wd experience do you have? You can get to Telluride by paved road of course, but it still seems like an odd choice if Telluride is your goal.

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...and then take Rt. 60 E to Rt.149 N (possibly overnighting in Lake City) to Rt. 50 E to get to Canon City ( we want to see Royal Gorge Bridge, even if it means driving arcoss it and stopping at an overlook)

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I think you must mean US-160 and US-50? -- But, yes, by all means seeing the world's highest suspension bridge (1,053 over the gorge) is a must-see!

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and then from there to Lamar to drive Rt. 40 E back to the east coast.

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I-40 maybe? It seems to me that you are pushing the schedule a little hard, but I suppose you could see all of that country in your time frame.

Mark

Thanks Mark - exactly what I wanted to know. Sorry about the "Rts. vs. the Interstates", but you understood ;0.
I was going to head to I-70 through Granby to Empire and on to I-70, really want to drive through Berthoud Pass. I saw the route you're talking about to Vail but wasn't sure if it ended up being really time consuming, but if it's good we'll do that and skip something else.
I know that 50 doesn't go to Crested Butte, I was just giving an overview route. And I figured that about backtracking to Sapinero - I just didnt' know how much distance it really was. Agree, it's too much.
Do you think it's more doable taking Hwy. 12 to 133 and then south to Delta to get to Ouray?
What we really want to do is see spectacular scenery, get off the beaten track a little (that's why Hwy 12 looks so appealing) and make a sort of adventure out of it. We've decided to be flexible, that if we get to a certain point and realize it's too far or we're sick of being in the car that we'll stop for a night or two, knowing we'll have to skip some things. I'm just thinking if we can fit it ALL in and never rest, then we'll know the things we can breeze through or skip in order to enjoy the things we really want to do.
My original plan was to do RMNP and then hit I-70 so we can "hurry" to get to the San Juan/ West Elk region. As I said I've been to CO before and I know that the closer we get to Canon City and the plains the more sad we'll be for leaving the mountains. We'll know it's over and will just want to head back east.
Thanks for any other thoughts. It's a BIG help.
Denise

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Originally Posted by Dee August

I was going to head to I-70 through Granby to Empire and on to I-70, really want to drive through Berthoud Pass.

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That is a very nice route. For something off the beaten path, you might also consider a night at the Indian Hot Springs resort, but I digress. I-70 is really, really gorgeous in that section between Silverthorne and Glenwood Springs.

Since your hope is to get off the beaten path --- there is a book you have to get -- I road-tested it myself a few weeks ago and I think you will find it useful and fun. Written by Nancy and David Muenker, it describes several front range scenic byways.

One of the routes they recommend is really close to Canon City and would be a six hour back-country excursion -- some parts of it require 4-WD (will you be driving one)?

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Do you think it's more doable taking Hwy. 12 to 133 and then south to Delta to get to Ouray?

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I guess I am lost. The only Hwy 12 I know is SR-12 near Trinidad -- which is a beautiful scenic byway, but nowhere near SR-133. I think you are referring to the West Elk Loop? One of the official backroad scenic routes.

When you are in Ouray, I certainly think you should consider doing all or most of the Alpine Loop.