Cheyenne WY to Glenwood Springs CO

[RKMathis]

We will be traveling from Cheyenne WY to Glenwood Springs CO in two weeks and with the closure and mess of I-70 we are looking forward the best alternate route.
We will be pulling a 32’ fifth-wheel with our Ford-F350
Diesel. Any help and recommendations are appreciated as we have never traveled through this area before and don’t know if there are
preferred routes, definite routes to avoid, etc.

[4runnerguy]

RKMathis wrote:
Hello 4Runnerguy, Just an update - we took your advice and did the I-70 route west from Denver. So beautiful and really not a lot of traffic. We traveled through on a Saturday. Thanks again for the advice

You're welcome. Thanks for letting me know how things went. It's nice to have follow up when one gives advice.

[RKMathis]

Hello 4Runnerguy, Just an update - we took your advice and did the I-70 route west from Denver. So beautiful and really not a lot of traffic. We traveled through on a Saturday. Thanks again for the advice

[4runnerguy]

RKMathis wrote:
Thank you 4runnerguy. Barring any more closures in the canyon, what route would you recommend from Cheyenne to Glenwood Springs. Thanks for all your updates and advice.

Kinda depends on which day and what time of day you will be travelling and whether you want to avoid passes. The shortest and quickest route is I-25 south to I-76 west to I-70. But, I-25 can be a bottleneck during rush hours and even pretty busy other times of the day. If you are travelling on a weekend, it isn't too bad. Of course I-70 takes you over two high passes: the Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass. Plenty of RV's do it every day, but you have to know your comfort level. Uphill isn't the issue, it's the downhill. Use your transmission and it's no problem. Just don't ride your brakes. Of all the routes that have been discussed, this is probably the most scenic IMHO.

If you want to avoid the Denver traffic, then the route through Steamboat Springs may be your best bet. With I-70 open again, traffic there should be back to normal.

[RKMathis]

Thank you 4runnerguy. Barring any more closures in the canyon, what route would you recommend from Cheyenne to Glenwood Springs. Thanks for all your updates and advice.

[4runnerguy]

RKMathis - The Canyon opened early this Saturday morning.

[4runnerguy]

If you've been following the other post on the canyon closure, you've read that they are hoping to open one lane each direction on Saturday. Of course so much of this is weather dependent. They are predicting a few wet days beginning this weekend and through mid week next week.

Of course it will probably be backed up at the place where the road was buried and will be down to one lane. There is a lot of freight sitting in Denver waiting for the road to reopen. Talked to a worker today at Lowe's who said they expect to get hammered when the canyon reopens.

[RKMathis]

Thanks for the details 4runnerguy. I guess we will look at traffic conditions and weather as our day of travel from Cheyenne approaches. I do prefer scenic but the bottlenecks and delays people talked about around Steamboat Springs had me concerned.

[4runnerguy]

RKMathis wrote:
Someone on another travel site said to avoid this route through Walden and especially the backup around Steamboat Springs. They suggested traveling further west on I-80 from Cheyenne and then heading south on 789 to Craig and on down to Rifle. Is anyone familiar with this route?

That route works also. It's about 50 miles longer. You also have fewer and less steep grades. But it's also a lot less scenic. And if there's wind, I-80 heading west can be daunting. We use the WY 789/CO13 route when we're heading north to places like Yellowstone or Glacier.

[RKMathis]

Someone on another travel site said to avoid this route through Walden and especially the backup around Steamboat Springs. They suggested traveling further west on I-80 from Cheyenne and then heading south on 789 to Craig and on down to Rifle. Is anyone familiar with this route?

[Thom02099]

4runnerguy wrote:
I-80 to Laramie, then WY 230 to CO 127 etc. to Walden. CO 14 to US 40. You'll join US 40 near the top of the passes there. It's a fair drop down into Steamboat Springs but just use your gearing. Lots of RV's do it every day. Then west on US 40 to Craig and south on CO 13 to I-70 etc.

When you get to Rifle, take a left on Railroad Ave. at the three way intersection just past Wing Nutz. If you stay on CO 13 you may hit a back up because they are making people exit the highway at Rifle. When you get to the frontage road, stay on Railroad and cross the Colorado River and get on I-70 there. Things change day to day and they may make you detour on the frontage road. If so, head west on the frontage road to Silt and get on I-80 eastbound there.

Except for I-80 and US 40, these are all lesser travelled roads but scenic in their own right. Wave at us when you get to GWS!

And if you follow this excellent suggestion, make sure you fuel up in Laramie. There is no diesel available that I'm aware of between Laramie and Walden. It's 65 miles from Laramie to Walden and another 60 miles on to Steamboat Springs. There are 2 stations in Walden that both have diesel, neither of them are ideal for trying to get a truck/trailer combo in to fuel. They are right across from each other so if you need to fuel up there, you can choose the one that is less busy.

Also be aware there is a goodly climb from Woods Landing-Jelm up to Mountain Home and the WY/CO state line. Doable certainly, but just be aware of it. WY 230 turns into CO 127 at the state line and is mostly down hill until you get to the junction with CO 125 in North Park. Relatively flat across North Park to the climb up to Rabbit Ears Pass on CO 14, which you'll pick up in Walden.

[paulj]

With the I70 closure, traffic on alternative routes to Glenwood Springs may be heavier. News also reports some shortages, such as for gas.

[4runnerguy]

I-80 to Laramie, then WY 230 to CO 127 etc. to Walden. CO 14 to US 40. You'll join US 40 near the top of the passes there. It's a fair drop down into Steamboat Springs but just use your gearing. Lots of RV's do it every day. Then west on US 40 to Craig and south on CO 13 to I-70 etc.

When you get to Rifle, take a left on Railroad Ave. at the three way intersection just past Wing Nutz. If you stay on CO 13 you may hit a back up because they are making people exit the highway at Rifle. When you get to the frontage road, stay on Railroad and cross the Colorado River and get on I-70 there. Things change day to day and they may make you detour on the frontage road. If so, head west on the frontage road to Silt and get on I-80 eastbound there.

Except for I-80 and US 40, these are all lesser travelled roads but scenic in their own right. Wave at us when you get to GWS!