Destination ideas for Colorado mountain areas, summer 2018

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BTW, Silverton, CO on the million dollar hwy is a great place to visit.  Lots of interesting history.  Good boondocking places.  Many of the gravel roads are suitable for 2 wheel drive vehicles for many miles with great scenic views.  Just use caution when the road starts getting rough and requiring high clearance and turn around before damaging your vehicle. 
 
An alternate route from Ouray to Durango many RV'ers take is going through Telluride and Delores.  Not as steep and the drop offs are not as bad.  It is still a very scenic route.
 
AStravelers said:
An alternate route from Ouray to Durango many RV'ers take is going through Telluride and Delores.  Not as steep and the drop offs are not as bad.  It is still a very scenic route.

Thanks. When others originally pointed out the issues with the Million Dollar Highway I just took a quick glance at alternates and saw the route to the west that's a lot longer. Our next destination will be Taos so don't need to pass through Durango (although maybe we should?). If we skip Durango looks like Gunnison/Monte Vista would be the shortest route

That said....

AStravelers said:
The million dollar highway is a normal width highway.  The fastest most people drive a RV is about 45mph.  In the sections with the drop offs w/o guard rail we drove it at 30mph or slower.  There is no reason on a normal width highway driving at 30mph, or maybe 20mph, to drive off the edge of the normal width highway. 

You must be comfortable in down hill driving in the mountains. 

When I found the picture I attached (previous post), I'm now thinking the picture made the road look much narrower than it really is. When I did several Google streetview looks, in many of them there are 35-40' coaches with toads, along with full-sized semis. In every shot the road is substantially wider than California Highway 1 north of San Simeon, which I've driven - takes full concentration but as you say, no reason to drive off the edge. (I have to admit though, wouldn't be a good time to blow a front tire. Not that there is a good time.)

I would like to see both the views from the highway, and Silverton, so will have to give it more research and thought. Will step through the entire route with streetview to get a full sense of it.

Re steep downgrades, I've had the coach on as much as 18%. Down to first at the top and exhaust brake, with some braking. Slow but worked out fine.

I do appreciate everyone's comments on this highway, whatever route we end up taking.
 
Scott, I highly recommend getting a copy of the Mountain Directory West for Truckers, RV, and Motorhome Drivers .  There's also one for the east coast.  It's arranged by state and each state map shows the problem roads by number which is accompanied by narrative describing the road.  It mentions length of ascent/descent, types of curves, speed limit, etc.  It does not recommend the Million Dollar Highway for large vehicles like trucks and motorhomes.  When you're in Ouray you're likely to smell someone's brakes as they come down the steep descent into town.

ArdraF
 
ArdraFIf you travel from the south it isn't bad. You will be against the canyon wall. If you are heading south you will be along the edge.

Rnjump - HA!  You can do it if you want to, but not me.  We were just there in August for the Ouray rally and there's a section going north that I would not want to be on in a large vehicle.  Each to his/her own!  But not this kid....

ArdraF
 
ArdraF said:
I suggest you Google Million Dollar Highway Elevation/Photos/etc. and you'll see people's comments.  Terrifying is one word I've seen used.  But, other people drive it with no problem.  Best you judge for yourself.  Can't remember that part of CA 1.  The Million Dollar Highway doesn't have many guardrails so a mistake would be really bad for all concerned.

ArdraF

Search Google Maps "Red Mountain Pass" You can get a nice "Visual Tour" of the highway.
My stepson drives our 18-Wheeler. He prefers to drive it at night.

 
LarsMac said:
My stepson drives our 18-Wheeler. He prefers to drive it at night.

That reminds me of my flight instructors advice on night-time engine failure landings. He advised: "Turn on the landing lights about 50 feet above ground. If you like what you see - land. If you don't like what you see - turn them off". Fortunately I never had to try his advice.

Tom
 
Sun2Retire said:
Thanks. When others originally pointed out the issues with the Million Dollar Highway I just took a quick glance at alternates and saw the route to the west that's a lot longer. Our next destination will be Taos so don't need to pass through Durango (although maybe we should?). If we skip Durango looks like Gunnison/Monte Vista would be the shortest route

That said....

When I found the picture I attached (previous post), I'm now thinking the picture made the road look much narrower than it really is. When I did several Google streetview looks, in many of them there are 35-40' coaches with toads, along with full-sized semis. In every shot the road is substantially wider than California Highway 1 north of San Simeon, which I've driven - takes full concentration but as you say, no reason to drive off the edge. (I have to admit though, wouldn't be a good time to blow a front tire. Not that there is a good time.)

I would like to see both the views from the highway, and Silverton, so will have to give it more research and thought. Will step through the entire route with streetview to get a full sense of it.

Re steep downgrades, I've had the coach on as much as 18%. Down to first at the top and exhaust brake, with some braking. Slow but worked out fine.

I do appreciate everyone's comments on this highway, whatever route we end up taking.
Here is a link to our blog of the drive from Montrose to Silverton in our 40' DP with a few views of the hwy.  Note, the picture of the 10mph curve is misleading.  On this curve and a couple more, the width of each side of the pavement is 15'-20' so you can swing wide.
http://downtheroadaroundthebend.blogspot.com/2009/08/colorado-august-19-2009-travel-from.html

The 2 newer blog entries following the one above show a couple of the side trips we took in our toad in the Silverton area. 
 
The Royal Gorge Bridge near Canon City is worth a visit.  Walk across the bridge, take the tourist train through the bottom of the Gorge and visit the territorial prison museum in Canon (Canyon) City.

There are several RV parks west of Canon City near the Bridge park, they're around 7000 ft in elevation (about 1000 ft higher than Canon City) so they stay cool in the summer.

Although I missed it this time, there's also the Cog Railway and the scenic drive to the top of Pikes Peak in the Manitou Springs area.
 
halfwright said:
Google pictures from the park and see what you think. I have volunteered there twice for a total of 8 months. I love the place.

Jim, looks like the are two camping areas, Dutch Hill and Sunrise. Recommendations? The current plan is 5 nights, for longer stays I prefer back-in, or better yet pull-in with views out the windshield. Thoughts on that?

Since the only hookup is some with electric, and with an average high of about 80 and low of 45 doubt we'd need AC so could probably make it mostly on solar. So non-elec sites OK too.
 
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