Mesa Verde to Estes Park
 

I have three different routes (from different map sites) , but the one that appeals most is US-285N to CO-470W (toward I70) to CO-93N to US-36W. Any opinions/suggestions would be appreciated.

What is your route to get from Mesa Verde to Hwy 285 and where are you connecting to it? Do you intend to get there in one day? If so, that's a long day of hard driving, almost any way you decide to go, although extremely scenic. There are many choices to get to Estes Park from southwest of Denver, so let us know what your itinerary is first.

We probably won't decide until we are at Mesa Verde. We are planning on going down (from Denver) via Ouray and Million Dollar Hwy. If we don't have enough time to see Black Canyon of Gunnison I'm thinking we can either go back the way we came or take the Telleride route (the other part of the San Juan skyway route), then continue on to 285 (via 50 I think) from there. Other option is Great Sand Dunes NP then up 285 from there. We are planning on two days to get up there. One route had us going by Grand Junction and another by Colorado Springs. Those seemed out of the way and longer since we aren't planning on those two places as destinations -- probably rather get to RMNP sooner. I'm just looking at maps right now -- don't know what the roads are like.

The advantage to going through Grand Junction is that that route will put you on I-70-which will be much faster than any other route. I-70 has some fabulous scenery. There are several routes to get to Estes Park from I-70.

We vacationed in that general area (with the exception of RMNP and Estes Park) last summer. The roads are in good shape and the scenery is specatcular, but it is still mountain driving, of course so the going is slow.

We visited Great Sand Dunes NP as kind of an afterthought and it was one of the highlights of the trip--very cool.

musicfan

It is kind of an afterthought for us also. I've looked at the web site, but what did you do while you were there -- and about how much time did you spend there?

Outside of the interstates and certain other divided highways along the urban corridor between Pueblo and Cheyenne, 95% of the U.S., state, and county highways you’ll be driving in Colorado will be well-maintained two-lane blacktop. Some county roads may be hard packed two-lane dirt that are generally very passable in a regular passenger car.

Speed along I-70 through the mountains is pretty much a steady 55-70 miles per hour with the vast majority of it being in the higher end of that range. Exceptions are the slower speed you will encounter through the Eisenhower Tunnel (50 mph), Glenwood Canyon (45-50 mph), and may encounter climbing to and descending from the Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass depending upon the power of the vehicle you are driving and your comfort with the curves.

Along the 2-lane state and U.S. highways in the mountains expect to be doing speeds in the 35 - 60 mph range depending upon the straightness of the highway and the speed of the driver in front of you. Most uphill approaches to mountain passes have a designated passing lane that allows for moving past slower vehicles. The downhill stretches do not; so if you get stuck behind a slow driver on those downhill stretches, plan on being there for a while. Plan on your speed over mountain passes to be in the 25 – 45 mph range.

The speeds along the county highways can range anywhere from 25 – 50 mph, and vary greatly depending upon the surface condition and the corridor they are taking you through.

I have found Mapquest’s estimated driving times along routes through the mountains to be pretty darn accurate.

My advice is to see Black Canyon on your way TO Ouray. From info on your other post I think you’ll have plenty of time to get to the park, drive through it with some stops at selected lookouts, and get to Ouray before dark. Don’t backtrack the same route on your way back to RMNP. There’s too much else to see along other routes.

Having said that, I realize your predicament. Which route to take?

As I am so often fond of saying….”THAT way is a very nice way” and “It’s pleasant down that way too”, and “Of course, people do go both ways!”

Whichever route you do take, you’ll end up seeing some fantastic scenery.

I’m not so sure I’d head up to Telluride just for the sake of seeing Telluride. The route is slow and IMHO if you’re going to visit Telluride you need to spend some time there.

My inclination is to send you east on Hwy 160, back through Durango, to Pagosa Springs, and over Wolf Creek Pass to Del Norte. In Del Norte, get onto state hwy 112 and head east to Hooper. You are now driving the farming-rich San Luis Valley. Along the way to Hooper you should easily be seeing the golden mounds of the Great Sand Dunes piled up against the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east. Ellingwood Peak and Blanca Peak are two 14,000+ mountain peaks just to the south of the dunes.

If you want to visit the park, turn south on Hwy 17 in Hooper and go about 6 miles to county road 6N. Turn east on 6N and follow the signs to the park.

After that, get back onto Hwy 17 and head north. After 35 miles Hwy 17 will end and you’ll junction with Hwy 285. Take 285 north over Poncha Pass. All the way from Hooper to Poncha Pass you’ll be paralleling the pretty Sangre de Cristo Mountains. If time is running out, you can stay in Salida, just north of Poncha Pass. If you’re up for another hour of driving, continue up 285 to Johnson Village, get onto Hwy 24 and head north to Leadville. Have a $12 prime rib and do some karaoke at Quincy’s, and stay overnight in Leadville.

Next morning, take Hwy 24 north out of Leadville for a couple miles to state hwy 91 and take 91 north over Fremont Pass to I-70. Take I-70 east for about 10 miles to Silverthorne. Take Hwy 9 north out of Siverthorne to Hwy 40 in Kremmling. Turn east onto Hwy 40 and follow the Colorado River through Parshall and Hot Sulphur Springs to U.S. Hwy 34. Turn left onto Hwy 34 and follow it into RMNP.

That’s what I’d suggest.

Of course, “it’s pleasant down that [other] way too”.

Wow -- I have outlined your route on a map. Prime rib sounds great also! That will probably be the route we take. Only reason we were going by Telluride was to finish the loop if we wanted to go back to Black Canyon, but we can't do everything on this trip. We haven't been to New Mexico yet and want to return to the Moab/Four Corners area some day so we can hop over to the Colorado part of it again then if we want. Also we are interested in pictures of the Great Sand Dunes against the mountains (won't be hiking on the Dunes) so if we can see them from the road we probably won't need to go into the park.

Hwy 34 takes us to the west side of RMNP which will be great. But, if it is getting late and we would rather go to Estes (where we are staying) instead of travelling over the Trail Ridge Road that day, what route would you suggest. Probably should have put Estes in the title, but if we have enough daylight we'd rather travel though the park so going to leave both options open.

Sorry I missed your question after my response! Hopefully you will see this...

We spent about an hour there, as I recall. For one thing, you can see it for literally MILES before you get there--it's very striking visually, so unique.

We did not hike up any dunes, but plenty of people did. What we enjoyed the most was the small stream that runs along the east side; the flow depends on the time of year since it is from snowmelt. We were there in early July and it was barely more than a trickle, you could hardly see it, but it was fun to take off our shoes, feel the water flow over them, then build little dams and diversions to change the course of the water, make lakes and then breach the dams to watch the water flow out. I know it maybe doesn't sound like fun, but it really was cool, and we were there with a 20-year old girl and a 16-year old boy! It was like the best parts of the beach with no chance of anyone drowning or getting hurt! (except maybe a sunburn) Hope this helps!

Definitely helps. Thanks for checking back.

maj,

If you can still read this, I'd like to add one small side trip to the route suggested by the scarecrow:

When you get off I-70 in Silverthorne set your trip odometer to "0" before starting to head north on Hwy 9. After about 12.3 miles on Hwy 9 you'll come to a road on the right called Ute Pass Road (there will also be a sign indicating that this is the way to the Henderson Mill). Turn onto Ute Pass road and take it's easy curves for about 5 miles to the summit. At the summit, turn your car around for an awesome vista of the rugged mountains of the Gore Range that can't be seen from Hwy 9.

We followed your directions from Denver airport and found them to be excellent and easy to follow. It rained off and on all the way down. We left in our rental car about 10:40 am (we circled the airport for a while because of the rain before landing) and made it to Black Canyon of Gunnison around 4:10pm. It started to rain there around the time we got to the visitor center, so we watched the movie and waited it out for a while. It sprinkled off and on but we were able to see all the viewpoints but one on the south rim (that was what we had planned to do). Stopped in Montrose at Wendy's for dinner (we got stuff to snack on while driving down) and got to Ouray around 9PM. We weren't able to get good views at the places you pointed out on the way down because of the rain, but consider the first day a big success -- just have to deal with the weather.

I've copied your ideas above. I'm pretty sure we will go with that route on the way back up. Thanks again. I should have internet access tomorrow, but will probably lose it Friday through Sunday.

furlleader

You are right, that is an awesome view. Well worth the short side trip. And there was a fox up there with us, which was an added treat! Thanks.

scarecrow

We followed your route and found it to be a great way to go. You go through such different scenery (mountain passes, farm land, etc.) it makes the trip go fast. We left Mesa Verde around 8am and made it to Grand Lake (where we stayed that night) by 6PM. We didn't stop at the sand dunes but saw them from the highway against the mountains. We did spend some time in Kremmling watching an eagle nest we had heard about on another forum. Thanks.

Glad you enjoyed the little side trip up Ute Pass Road. It one of those places that most people don't know is even there, unless someone tells them about it.

WOW!!!

All the way to Grand Lake in one day with a short side trip, and a stop in the Kremmling area.

I'm impressed.

I'm also happy you found the route rewarding.