Road trip from Moab Utah to Northeast Ohio

[Odyknuck]

We are traveling back home from Moab however we want to avoid the Colorado mountains, best route please?

[glc]

Welcome to RTA!

Well. the 2 obvious choices would be go north to I-80 or south to I-40. Either choice would add at least another day to your drive and don't completely avoid mountains. They would also involve a lot of 2 lane highways. Unless the weather is bad I'd just take I-70 and be done with it by the time you reach Denver.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I have to agree with GLC, I-70 through Colorado is pretty clearly your best bet. The reality is that once you're in Moab, there's no way to get to Ohio without going over mountains.

Going up to I-80 or down to I-40 are really the only other realistic east-west options, but not only do those options add another full day to the drive, you'd still have to go over mountains, but on 2 lane roads, just to get north or south out of Moab. Not to mention, even if you get up to I-80 or I-40, those highways still see plenty winter storms and challenging weather conditions.

You really would be better off sticking to I-70, and rather than trying to find an alternate route, keep a closer eye on the forecasts, and alter your travel dates based on the weather when you'll actually be on the road. The majority of days in the winter, even I-70 across Colorado, are perfectly clear.

[Mark Sedenquist]

As one who has driven in just about every gnarly weather condition one can find in Colorado, I would agree. Your best and safest bet is to go north to I-70 and follow it to Denver and points beyond.

What is the date of your trip? If it is now -- weather is great -- sit back and enjoy the view. Colorado has some of the best highway workers in the USA and if there IS any snow -- it will get removed from I-70 long before it can be removed or modified on the alternative highways.

And like Michael mentioned, I-80 is subject to ground blizzards where the roads get closed and US-191 could have tough driving conditions all the way to I-40.

Is there some specific reason that you want to miss the Colorado Mountains?

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

Just to say that if your concerns are based on thoughts of scary drop offs and hairpin bends, worry no more. All Interstates are built to standards that make them easy to navigate in the biggest of rigs with safety in mind.

[Odyknuck]

We came west via I 80, I 76 then I 70 last week and heading back to Ohio next week. We burnt the front brakes up on our truck (21,000# with 5th wheel) thru the mountains due to the constant stop and go on 7% grade construction zones. Coat us 2700 bucks at a Ford dealer. The work also included the replacement of the DEF injector. I would like to avoid that again.

[glc]

Were you using tow/haul mode and the exhaust brake?

[Odyknuck]

I always use Tow/haul and manually using the trailer brakes along with manually selecting gear when needed. There is a possibility the rubber brake lines where collapsing and not allowing the calipers to relieve pressure on the pads when I released the brakes. I had Ford replace them also.

[glc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7NRxxvpwh8

[Odyknuck]

My 2013 Ford has tow/haul mode and automatic exhaust brake when tow/haul is turned on.