any colorado residents how is interstate 70

[bambii]

kind of scared about taken it in feb. crossing the rockies.. is there a lot of traffic we are planning are route to calif. we are from south dakota...

 

[eduk8r26]

There might be snow. I'm from Southern California and have driven it in the summer. The traffic wasn't bad. It's really pretty scenery till you get past Grand Junction, then kind of boring heading south.

 

[bambii]

is why im scared..

 

[briangl]

I've driven it many times in the winter to skiing in Summit County. I-70 passes though some of the most rugged mountains in the lower 48 states. The scenery is great. Yes you can get snow and it was sometimes tricky around the Eisenhower tunnel but coming from South Dakota I would guess you are used to driving in snow. I would just check the forecast and if they are predicting snow in Colorado just take I-80 though Wyoming.

 

[HollyannHeck]

I've honestly had more issues driving through Wyoming or New Mexico than on I-70. We always go to CA in either Nov-Dec or Feb-Mar and it's never been an issue with snow. Yes, sometimes there is some, but it's an interstate, they keep it plowed/sanded/de-iced, and if they can't they will close it. I usually check the accuweather.com travel map thing (you can tell it which way you are going and it will tell you the weather along the way) and have a backup plan in mind for if I-70 is closed, but if it's not closed it's probably not an issue driving it, they are pretty good about keeping it clear.

 

[HydroGuy]

Who is to say? It is a major interstate and they try very hard to keep it open and clear. But weather does happen. It is Colorado.

The riskiest part is the highest elevation which is Vail Pass some 80 miles west of Denver. Try to time it so you reach Vail Pass in the morning and you get all the way across in day light. Both directions.

We have driven back and forth to California in winter numerous times. Just be smart.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

Just remember if your low on fuel to stop for fuel in greenriver utah because there is nothing for a 100 miles till you get to salina ut.

 

[bambii]

thing and google maps say anther we want to do rapid city to grand juction co. in one day who do i belive garmin say it is less.. we have res. in grand juction and in vegas buy the airbase.. it that possible to do help.. i dont want to go mountian driving at night.. we want to leave rapid city about 6:30 am..

 

[Quilter007]

Rapid City to Grand Junction in one day should be doable. If the roads are good, you can go south from Rapid City on the 2-lane highways highways along the SD/WY border to the I-25 south to Cheyenne/Denver instead of across through Gillette and down to the I-25. That will save you some time. I would only do that in PERFECT conditions though. (And with a GPS device.) We drove to Sioux Falls for Thanksgiving & Helga (our GPS) took us that way from Casper (smack dab on the I-25 in the middle of WY) and it saved us an hour. But the interestate gets plowed first, so I would ignore Helga if conditions were anything less than perfect and take the longer route.

 

[HydroGuy]

thing and google maps say anther we want to do rapid city to grand juction co. in one day who do i belive garmin say it is less.. we have res. in grand juction and in vegas buy the airbase.. it that possible to do help.. i dont want to go mountian driving at night.. we want to leave rapid city about 6:30 am..

I would not do the mountains at night in winter. If you can get to Denver by 1PM then you should be able to get to Grand Junction by 5 or 6PM. Do you have a 4WD? If so maybe you can do it later.

 

[PeterBanning]

The weather is what it is and can change in an instant, especially in Colorado this time of year. This is has not been a big snow year for most parts of Colorado especially along the I70 corridor. As of right now, 70 is clear from Denver to GJ. But they're also forecasting snow for the weekend. If it does snow, its likely to disappear as fast as it came.

As far as traffic, your biggest concern will be ski traffic between Denver and Eisenhower tunnel. This will be heavy going west on Friday afternoon/evening and east on Sunday afternoon. Seems like you should be missing that.

Mapquest shows RC to GJ at about 650 miles and 10 hours. I find it to be faily reliable. It should take you 4 hours +- once you leave Denver to get to Grand Junction. Bear in mind getting through Denver could take awhile. Make sure you follow 76 to get from 25 to 70.

Grand Junction to Vegas is typically a very easy drive unless there's snow between Green River and Richfield. There's a small pass there, I forget the name. We typically do GJ to DL in one day, albeit a long one. Its right at 12 hours total travel time, door to door.

Be sure to check out goI70.com. Its a new website from CDOT that has real time traffic and weather. Have a great trip and let me know if you need any help finding your way around GJ!

 

[kathy884]

I'm a former Colorado resident (lived in Denver for a few years). I think in general, they do a great job of keeping highway 70 plowed. It's their bread and butter (They need to keep the roads great so people can go to the ski resorts and spend money.) 70 is a very boring highway until you get to Denver. Then it gets scenic.

 

[Disn3y]

I noticed your from Rapid, I am from Spearfish..

Good luck on your travels!

 

[bambii]

i lived in belle and spearfish for a while and now my parent live there..

we have decided to go down to new mexico... maybe longer.. but hopefully better for are family and my nerves.. i hate snow.. so far today it has snowed 6 inches