Question about I-70 in western Colorado

[texaskdog]

Thanks to all of you for your input. I will definitely have to take a look at the links mentioned above.

Someone had suggested that we spend the night in Denver rather than drive all the way to Grand Junction. In theory, that would be best. But time is very limited and the only available time we have for the trip is June 30 through July 9. We're doing the drive in three days going out, but we are taking four days coming back. That second day driving out is the day from Topeka to Grand Junction. The third day we are going all the way to just outside Palm Springs, California. Trying to do that drive from Denver would have been really tough.

I'm going to push for us to leave Topeka no later than 6:30 a.m. Central Time so that we can hopefully be in Grand Junction by 8:30 p.m. Mountain.

Thanks again for all your input!

We started leaving on trips after work so we can get to Lubbock in the first night (6 hours NW of Austin).  Sucks to pay for an extra night but it really can maximize your time.

I agree that seeing 70 is worth the time.  We're traveling from Moab to Rocky Mountain National Park in a day but the whole day will be the scenery on I-70. Time permitting I'd go up Mount Evans, highest driveable road in North America, but time is not on your side.

[A.J. Bertin]

My friend and I made it home to Michigan last night safe and sound from our 10-day adventure. As I'd stated previously, we decided to avoid Colorado altogether and take I-80 instead of I-70 across. (I haven't seen any updates, though, on the news regarding the Colorado wildfires. Does anyone know if they are under control now?)

For me, it's always exciting to drive on highways for the first time. I got to clinch all of I-80 from Joliet IL to Salt Lake City. I also got to drive on I-15 for the first time (going from Salt Lake to the Riverside CA area). Coming back home we took I-10 east from the Palm Springs area to Phoenix, up I-17 to Flagstaff, I-40 to Oklahoma City, I-44 to St. Louis, I-70 to Indianapolis, U.S. 31 up to South Bend, and then the Indiana Toll Road (I-80/90 east) a little ways to our exit which brought us back to Michigan.

The trip was so much fun. It was disappointing that we couldn't take our original route of I-70 from Kansas City to Fort Cove, but there was plenty along I-80 that we enjoyed seeing. Driving across Iowa was certainly nothing special, but gosh ... that state's DOT puts a lot of money into their rest areas. Driving across Nebraska was interesting because, on the east side of the state, we saw a lot more green (presumably still the corn fields). But by the time we reached western Nebraska, the hills were more rolling and we were looking at wheat fields rather than corn. Western Nebraska certainly felt more remote - especially toward the panhandle. Wyoming was really nice, especially the western half of the state. Driving through the desert-ish areas in the eastern part of the state were interesting enough, but western Wyoming was great. And then the drive from the WY/UT state line heading into Salt Lake City was breathtaking - especially the downhill twists and turns in the mountains when you descend into the valley. Wow. Gorgeous.

Pretty much all of Utah was amazing heading south along I-15. We stayed in Salt Lake our second night of the trip, and that morning when we were about to head out, we saw something on the news about how the wildfires had spread into southern Utah. I was pretty concerned and was fearing that perhaps a part of I-15 might be closed or something. Fortunately, that was not the case. However, there was a fire we could see in the mountains somewhere along I-15 north of I-70. (I can't remember exactly where that was.) It was kinda scary because the smoke was billowing and you could see that for miles and miles. Then when we got closer to the actual mountain, we could see the flames from the highway. Utah has these public/private rest area partnerships with truck/travel centers, and the one we stopped at for a restroom break was pretty close to the mountain that was on fire. We got some good pictures of that.

I didn't mind driving across Iowa or Nebraska at all, because it was new clinching territory for me. It's probably no different than driving across Kansas would have been. I just have to think, though, that if the wildfires weren't taking place, my friend and I would have missed out on driving across Wyoming and seeing the gorgeous scenery in the Salt Lake area. (Plus, we ended up going to Antelope Island State Park in Utah to get a closer look at the Great Salt Lake. That was pretty cool.) 

[thenetwork]

As far as the wildfires in Colorado go, the major ones that have been seen on the news in recent weeks (Colorado Springs/Waldo Canyon) and Ft. Collins are contained and all major routes are open. The fire in Western Colorado near DeBeque & I-70 is also contained and the majority of the crews have been sent elsewhere. 

I know that there are a few wildfires in Utah & Wyoming, but I haven't heard of any significant road closures.

[texaskdog]

As far as the wildfires in Colorado go, the major ones that have been seen on the news in recent weeks (Colorado Springs/Waldo Canyon) and Ft. Collins are contained and all major routes are open. The fire in Western Colorado near DeBeque & I-70 is also contained and the majority of the crews have been sent elsewhere. 

I know that there are a few wildfires in Utah & Wyoming, but I haven't heard of any significant road closures.

Thanks...were wondering if we should change our August Colorado trip plans. 

[vdeane]

Why would the news report on the fires being controlled?  Controlled fires don't grab ratings.  Raging fires do.

It's not like the purpose of the news is to inform people or anything like that...

[AZDoug]

You'll love the stretch through Glenwood Canyon east of Glenwood Springs, CO. Overall, a great drive.