US-50 through Colorado, Kansas

[AT]

Hi everyone, I was looking through this forum for information on the US-50 drive through Colorado and Kansas and couldn't find anything, so I thought I'd give it a post.

I'm currently planning a road trip from California to Ohio, and the backbone of the trip will be I-15 to I-70. Once in Utah, I plan on hitting up all the parks and such, and then cross over into Colorado via UT-46 and CO-90 to US-50.

Question: I'm trying to use MapQuest to estimate my driving times, and it is giving me some estimates that seem incredibly overestimated for US-50 through Colorado and Kansas. Maybe I wasn't so surprised for the US-50 drive through western Colorado, but I would have expected US-50 to straighten out past Canon City and definitely through Kansas. Any advice would be appreciated. I will definitely take the time to enjoy the scenery while driving US-50 through western Colorado, but once I hit Canon City I'd like to just zip through Kansas.

[Mark Sedenquist]

It is very hard to maintain highway speed thru Kansas on US-50 because of the number of small towns. Just about the time you reach cruising speed you will be slowing down (and you had better, Kansas troopers love out-of-state cars...)

If you want to "zip" gotta head for the Interstate -- I-70, there is very little zipping on any other east/west highway.

[Steven]

I run hwy 50 from dodge city going to kansas city 5 days a week in a truck. the speed limit is 65, but you can run 70-75 without a problem. it is 17 miles farther than running the toll road. but that saves me $27.00 each way. if there is anything I can help with on your trip through the wide open plains of kansas feel free to ask

[Mark Sedenquist]

Obviously your experience is more recent than mine, but on my last trip, it certainly seemed like I was slowing down often for the smaller towns.

Of more importance -- what are your favorite places along your daily run? Scenic views? Unusual?

[adastra23]

If you are able to stray off I-70 at all, I highly recommend the Garden of Eden in Lucas. A concrete garden of folk art that is really quite impressive. There are some great Mushroom rock formations near Salina at Mushroom Rock State Park.

Eric

Editor's Note: Normally, we do not allow referral links to site's owned by RTA members without permission -- but in this case, Eric's site is quite entertaining and one that we were not familiar with.