Travel advice

[jpi]

Hi Everyone,
Some of you may know this already, in about 2 and a half weeks I will be traveling through Colorado and New Mexico for what will be my 3rd trip to Albuquerque, NM in the past 4 years. My planned route through CO will be I-25 south from Cheyenne, WY to I-70 west to Grand Junction then south/ east on US 50 to US550 south to Farmington, NM where I will be stopping for the night. This leg of my trip will be Wednesday. I was wondering about how long it will take and what to expect, especailly with wild fires. I don't think there is any closers except on US 160 but thats east of my route. Any advise and tips would be great.

[Milepost61]

To be honest that sounds like a bit much for one day, unless you don't mind leaving early and/or arriving late. Just the Montrose-Durango segment can be a 3-4 hour affair if you make a point a stopping at mountain passes and visitors centers. Stopping in Grand Junction or Montrose is more realistic. Leaves plenty of daylight for your 550 drive.

[jpi]

I plan on driveing almost non stop on the interstates and I figured it would be 3 to 4 hours from Montrose to Durango then Farmington looks like only 45 more minutes, I plan to be on the road between 8 and 9am, I don't plan so much on stopping at visitor centers but if there is pull-off along the way, I may stop for a minute or 2 get pics of the scenery. Thanks for the advise! :-)

[kphoger]

I plan on driveing almost non stop on the interstates and I figured it would be 3 to 4 hours from Montrose to Durango then Farmington looks like only 45 more minutes, I plan to be on the road between 8 and 9am, I don't plan so much on stopping at visitor centers but if there is pull-off along the way, I may stop for a minute or 2 get pics of the scenery. Thanks for the advise! :-)

Montrose to Durango:

It should take no more than three hours if you drive straight through, probably less.  But I do think you're wise in anticipating up to four hours, simply because you really should stop along the way and enjoy the scenery.  Ouray is one of my favorite towns anywhere, for example.  If you have the time–which I realize you may not–you might take a dip in the spring-fed pools, which range from piping hot to summertime cool.  They're just on the north end of town, on the west side of 550.  If that's too much time, then it's also very pleasant to just pick up a bite to eat and find a step or a bench somewhere to eat it on.

[jpi]

Thanks everyone for the advise, I have decided to stop for the night in Grand Junction and head south toward Albuquerque, NM the next day this way my wife and I can see more of this region at daylight and do a few things around Denver, mainly to see Red Rocks. I have ran US 550 from Farmington south 2 years ago so thats not a big deal, looking forward to the Grand JCT to Durango stretch. :-)

[thenetwork]

Thanks everyone for the advise, I have decided to stop for the night in Grand Junction and head south toward Albuquerque, NM the next day this way my wife and I can see more of this region at daylight and do a few things around Denver, mainly to see Red Rocks. I have ran US 550 from Farmington south 2 years ago so thats not a big deal, looking forward to the Grand JCT to Durango stretch. :-)

If you want some better scenery between Grand Junction and Delta, In lieu of taking US 50 through the "desert", I would strongly recommend taking I-70 East/CO-65 South/CO-92 West over the Grand Mesa (the largest flat-topped mountain in the world) and into Delta. Adds on average an extra 90 minutes between GJ and Delta, but it's a thousand times more scenic and 20 degrees cooler in temperature (unless you are into wide-open high, barren desert-scape) than the 4-lane divided section of US-50 out of Grand Junction.   (BTW, save your big gas fill-up or top-off for Grand Junction -- about 30-50 cents cheaper than on most of I-70 west of Denver -- GJ currently averaging under 3.59/gallon).

And if you are into burgers, Maggie's Kitchen in Ouray is definitely worth a stop for lunch...And bring some sort of marker to write on the walls!

As of the latest on the Colorado Wildfires, there is one about 30 minutes Northeast of Ridgeway and East of Durango on US-160, but nothing directly affecting US-550.

[kphoger]

I also enjoyed the route through Paonia (82-133-92) the one time I went that way.