Road Trip to Clinch Colorado

[JayhawkCO]

My wife is going out of town this weekend for a bachelorette party, so I figured I might as well make some good use of my time and go for a road trip to finish my clinch of Colorado.  I figured I'd post my itinerary and if anyone had anything they wanted me to check out on my way, I could do so.  I'll get some pics of specific things too if anyone is interested.

My route:
CO83 North from near my house to Denver city limits
I-225 South to its end
I-25 North to near downtown
US6 West to Golden
I-70 West to near Palisade
CO65 South to Mesa (CO65 First Driven)
CO330 East to Collbran (CO330 First Driven and Clinched)
Turn around on CO330 West back to Mesa
CO65 South to Delta (CO65 Clinched)
CO92 East to Hotchkiss (CO92 Clinched)
Turn around on CO92 West back to Delta
US50 East to downtown Delta
CO348 South to Olathe (CO348 First Driven and Clinched)
US50 East to Montrose
US550 South to Downtown Montrose
CO90 West to its end of state maintenance (CO90 First Driven and This Segment Clinched)
Turn around on CO90 East back to Montrose
Local roads to get back to US550
US550 South to Ridgway
CO62 West to Placerville (CO62 Clinched)
CO145 West to near Naturita (CO145 Clinched)
CO141 North to Naturita
CO97 North to Nucla (CO97 First Driven and Clinched)
Turn around on CO97 South to Naturita
CO141 North to West Vancorum
CO90 West to Utah Border (CO90 Second Segment Clinched)
UT46 West to its end (UT46 First Driven and Clinched)
US191 South to Monticello (New Mileage)
US491 South to Lewis, CO (New Mileage)
CO184 East to Dolores (CO184 Clinched)
CO145 South to Cortez (CO145 Clinched)
US160 West to Downtown Cortez
US491Spur through Downtown Cortez (US491Spur First Driven and Clinched, All Colorado U.S. Auxiliary Routes Clinched)
US491 North to Lewis (US491 in Colorado Clinched)
Turn around on US491 South to Cortez
US160 East to Hesperus
CO140 South to New Mexico Border (CO140 First Driven and Clinched)
NM170 South to Farmington (NM170 First Driven and Clinched)
Stay in Farmington for the night

NM516 East from Farmington to Aztec (NM516 First Driven and Clinched)
US550 North to near Durango, CO (New Mileage in New Mexico and US550 in Colorado Clinched)
US160 West to Durango
CO3 West to Downtown Durango (CO3 First Driven and Clinched)
US160 East to nearish Durango
CO172 South to New Mexico Border (CO172 First Driven and Clinched)
Turn around on CO172 North to Ignacio
CO151 East to Chimney Rock (CO151 First Driven and Clinched)
US160 East to Pagosa Springs
US84 East to New Mexico Border (US84 First Driven in Colorado, Clinched, and All U.S. Highways in Colorado Clinched)
Turn around on US84 West to Pagosa Springs
US160 East to Del Norte
CO112 East to Center
US285 North to Saguache
CO114 West to Near Gunnison (CO114 First Driven and Clinched)
US50 West to Gunnison
CO135 North to Crested Butte (CO135 Clinched, CO State Highways Clinched, and Colorado Clinched)
Turn around on CO135 South to near Flat Top
Gunnison CR813 East
Gunnison CR742 East to Taylor Park Reservoir
Gunnison CR209 East to Cottonwood Pass
Chaffee CR306 East to Buena Vista
US285 North to Denver
I-25 South to near Centennial
I-225 North to Aurora
CO83 to near my house

Should be a pretty epic trip.

Chris

[jmacswimmer]

Great minds think alike...several weekends ago my fiancée was also away on a bachelorette (not hers), so I did an impromptu drive thru much of PA which involved checking out the new US 322 near State College, clinching I-376, and hitting as many tunnels as possible (6 to be exact...Fort Pitt & Squirrel Hill on 376, then the 4 PA Turnpike tunnels).

As to your trip, I'm kicking myself for passing up a golden (no pun intended) opportunity to check out US 6 thru Clear Creek Canyon in February.  We were driving east on I-70 returning from Breckenridge to Denver (and then had a few hours to kill around Denver prior to our flight departure from DEN), but I just stuck with I-70 all the way out of the Rockies instead of diverting thru Clear Creek Canyon on US 6.

I understand Southwest recently launched operations out of Montrose, so that'd be pretty cool (IMHO) if you happened to see a blue 737 approaching/departing while driving by on US 50!

Will definitely be a scenic trip...on both of my trips to CO I absolutely loved the scenery.  Maybe I'm partial as a civil engineer & roadgeek, but Glenwood Canyon definitely takes the cake for me.

[JayhawkCO]

Great minds think alike...several weekends ago my fiancée was also away on a bachelorette (not hers), so I did an impromptu drive thru much of PA which involved checking out the new US 322 near State College, clinching I-376, and hitting as many tunnels as possible (6 to be exact...Fort Pitt & Squirrel Hill on 376, then the 4 PA Turnpike tunnels).

My last big road trip I ended up driving I-376 (but not clinching it, instead clinching I-279) and enjoying the tunnels around Pittsburgh as well.

As to your trip, I'm kicking myself for passing up a golden (no pun intended) opportunity to check out US 6 thru Clear Creek Canyon in February.  We were driving east on I-70 returning from Breckenridge to Denver (and then had a few hours to kill around Denver prior to our flight departure from DEN), but I just stuck with I-70 all the way out of the Rockies instead of diverting thru Clear Creek Canyon on US 6.

It's a great drive for sure, especially if you're not doing it on a weekend where it gets clogged up pretty well with daytrippers.

I understand Southwest recently launched operations out of Montrose, so that'd be pretty cool (IMHO) if you happened to see a blue 737 approaching/departing while driving by on US 50!

Will definitely be a scenic trip...on both of my trips to CO I absolutely loved the scenery.  Maybe I'm partial as a civil engineer & roadgeek, but Glenwood Canyon definitely takes the cake for me.

Glenwood Canyon and the Eisenhower Tunnel(s) are still remarkable every time I drive through them.  I hope the scenery out here never really becomes old hat for me, because other than Eastern Colorado, the whole state has been fun to try to clinch just because there is so much unique terrain out here.  I'm not sure if I'm quite as excited to try to knock out Wyoming (which would be my next logical state to try).

Chris