Will weather be a problem driving I-70 thru Glenwood Canyon in April next year?

[QB93Z]

Hello, I am planning a vacation road trip to the Southwest (Maryland to San Diego & return) for April, 2014 and I would like to make the return leg on I-70 thru Glenwood Canyon.  For the third week in April, can I expect good weather, or will I have to worry about getting rerouted due to snow?

Thanks,  Jim

[SSOWorld]

Don't bet on it being good for sure.  You have a good chance of snow there.  I drove through the rockies on May 27 of this year and there was snow at the divide.

[thenetwork]

Glenwood Canyon in April and May can be feast or famine when it comes to snowy roads.  The good news is by April, if there is any snow on the roads through the canyon area, it is usually short-lived and well treated/plowed by midday.  The speed through most of Glenwood Canyon is 45 - 50 MPH and going eastbound is a bit better than westbound as the latter is up on the bridges most of it's length.

Further east, going over Vail Pass and through the Eisenhower Tunnels, there is a better chance of snow into Mid-late May, but if there are closures, they are usually short-lived by then (a few hours or less).  CDOT is pretty good at keeping the roads passable.

One word of advice -- if your trip through the Colorado Mountains is on a Sunday in April, make sure you get past Vail before 11 AM!  Otherwise, you will have the normal Denver-bound ski traffic going home with an extra helping of Spring Break Ski-bums, creating a lot of jams all the way to Idaho Springs.

[Billy F 1988]

Map out a couple bypass routes in case you need to dip south or head north of I-70 to be rid of the skiers traveling between Vail and Idaho Springs. It would be best to map out actually five or six routes just in case if you're on 70, and something happens where you need to detour from course, you have at least a few options to choose from so you're not scrambling to get out of 70 to bypass trouble only to get yourself in further trouble.

[QB93Z]

Thank you for the replies.  I will certainly make contingency plans.

Jim