I'm planning a road trip next spring and am interested in traveling up I-70 thru the Ike tunnel. I can plan my trip going either direction and want to get the best "elevation/grade" experience to run my EB against (not towing anything). Looking to get inputs from the CO brothers and sisters if one direction is more fun to drive than the other. If one side of the pass is a gradual slope, I'd like to save that for the downhill portion.

Thanks!

 

Looks like the CO forum is just as quiet as my state. I did some searching last night and it appears the climb is steeper traveling West. That actually works best for my schedule; I'll start early with a Pikes Peak run, then take back roads North to I-70 for the haul West. Google Maps is telling me 6.5hrs of travel time for that portion of my haul. Just about right when factoring in stops and sightseeing.

Any ideas/suggestions from CO?

 

The West side, heading East seems steeper, but neither approach is what I would call fun.

Are you comfortable with tuning your engine on the fly?

 

I'll claim ignorance on that one...what do you mean?

 

The higher you go, the thinner the air gets, the richer your A/F ratio gets. I would not retune the carb for a two day stay, but I would advance the timing a few degrees.

There is plenty here to see and do. How much time do you want to spend in the area?

 

Ahh, I don't think I need to worry about that with my Ecoboost. Actually, the engine is the main inspiration for the trip thru CO. Want to see how well the turbos handle the higher elevation. I'm just going to be passing thru the area between destinations. Prob starting with a run up Pike's Peak in the morning and then heading north to pick up 70 for a west-bound trip towards UT. Looks like I'll stop in one of the small towns West of the tunnel for the night.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

It just depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

If you just want high mountain passes, going on I-70 West will accomplish that. The grade on the back side of the tunnel is a LOOONG downhill run. There IS a runaway truck ramp, so if you are not comfortable running 70ish on the down side, stay to the right. If things get out of hand, you can use the ramp.

Other than that, either way is fun. I-70 East bound is several down hill runs added together to get you from over 10,000 ft to 5,000 ft (Denver is 5280). The East bound side also has a runaway truck ramp.

There will be a lot of spectacular scenery along the way. If you want to stop some place to either eat or stay then Breckenridge is on the west side of the Eisenhower. It's a nice quaint ski town. But once the snow flies, the prices for a room overnight go UP UP UP. If you want a unique hotel experience, go further west to Glenwood Springs. Stop there for the night if you can manage it, a stay at the hot springs hotel is a treat.

If you are coming back east, Idaho Springs has one or two restaurants

A side note, the mountains and Breckenridge all look completely different covered in snow. AND the drive changes as well. Stay safe. Enjoy the ride. Don't get in a hurry.

Oh just an FYI, the Pikes Peak run has over 100 turns, most of which you all but have to stop direction, change 180 degree direction and back up the hill to the next switchback. It's fun. It's exhausting. It CAN be a little bit 'motion sickness mixed with altitude sickness' type of possibilities.

HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE. Most people forget that besides the altitude, it's very dry. If you are not constantly drinking water, you will have issues during the day. You are not in Kansas any more.

 

Great advice, thanks. Especially about the hydration. That's one of those things that's easy to forget when you're not used to that elevation.

My goals are just to have a fun time, run the truck and enjoy a road trip. Beautiful scenery is a goal as well. The trip will be next spring in the April-May timeframe, so hopefully the roads are clear by then. Not sure about Pike's Peak, but I can save that for another time if the weather/roads are bad.

The local towns are less of an interest on this trip, as I'll just be stopping to sleep and refuel. But the more research I've done, the more I realize there are some really cool little towns throughout the state. Will probably need to plan another road trip in the future to explore the state more.

 

I suggest you consider making it a two or three trip type of thing over a year or two.

Stay on the NORTHERN side of the state - use I-70 as the dividing line.

You could start near Denver. Go west on I-70. Early on, you need to make a choice if you want to visit Winter Park. Because that is a highway that goes NORTH off of I-70. That could be a one day side trip, making it back to I-70 late afternoon.

From there, through the Eisenhower tunnel and down the western side. You will drive past exits for Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Vail, Beaver Creek, plus eventually you will see the road that goes north off of I-70 to Steamboat Springs. Keep going on I-70 west and you will enter Glenwood Canyon with the Colorado River running right next to I-70 all the way to Glenwood Springs. If you go south from Glenwood Springs, you will pass Carbondale and arrive at Aspen about 90 minutes from Glenwood Springs. If you keep going west on I-70, you will pass the exit for Rifle (really small town), Parachute, Fruita and eventually reach Grand Junction. You have all but reached the western end of Colorado.

And you DO NOT want to drive the highways at night. YOU WILL MISS ALL THE SCENERY if you do.

Then the following year, you could do the SOUTHERN part of the state. Again, starting in Denver, go down through Castle Rock, then on through Colorado Springs (Air Force Academy Chapel can be seen from I-25), then through Pueblo.

At this point, you will want to consider how much you want to see. If you want to see a lot, go west from Pueblo, through Salida, then Gunnison and we stopped for the night at Montrose (stayed at the Country Lodge - ask for the three room chalet - it's more money, but if you are with your family, it's a real kitchen, a real dining area that seats four plus four more at the kitchen counter, three bedrooms plus you can sleep two more in the living room with a pull out couch. Go eat at Ted's Steak house. We split a really good New York Strip (I think it was a NYS).

Montrose has about 18000 people. You can go south out of Montrose and then drive east and drive OVER Wolf Creek Pass (HYDRATE, HYDRATE) and then drop down into Durango. Have lunch in Durango. We ate at the Texas BBQ place on the highway. It was great.

On east for several hours until you reach I-25. At this point, you have a decision to make. You can go north, back through Denver. OR if you have one more day, go south on I-25 and stop in Trinidad. It's a really quaint little town of 8000 souls. A nice downtown of four or six blocks. Houses build in the late 1800's.

Pick a motel or hotel of your choice. Wander around. It's a really nice place.

Eventually you will wind up going back through Denver and back HOME. That would be, in my opinion two trips. One trip, spend your time in Northern Co. The second trip, spend your time in Southern Co.

Any way you slice it, it is a beautiful place to visit and live.

Always take at least a couple of pairs of shorts/shirts for summer. Don't forget at least one long pair of pants, one long sleeve shirt and at least one heavy jacket (or several layers of lighter ware). A good pair of walking shoes as well.

Have a good time, take lots of pictures. ENJOY YOUR FAMILY. LIFE IS SHORT, MAKE MEMORIES WITH YOUR LOVED ONES.

AND NONE OF THIS ACTUALLY ADDRESSES WHAT COLORADO IS KNOWN FOR.

SKIING and other winter activities - - snowmobiling, cross country skiing, horse carriage rides in Denver, year round, in Steamboat, they have a winter driving school (honest) to learn HOW to drive at speed in the snow...

LOTS of things during the summer time as well - horseback riding, hiking, mountain climbing... so much to do...

 

Man, that's some great input. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to need to put this all on a map and plan a few trips. We'll see what I can get to next spring!