Route, Tampa to western Colorado

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KODIAKHERSHEY

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Leaving the Tampa area in less than 3 weeks to spend the summer at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Is to worth going more north to 40 or even 70, as apposed to 10 or 20 across the country. We have no special stops planned. We are looking for a comfortable trip for us and our furry family members.
Thank you. Have a great summer.
 
If you are not in a hurry and have about 3 weeks or a month to travel to the National Park, I would just pick the route that has the most interesting sights to see along the way.  Just pick what ever interests you. 

As for the simplest and easiest route, I would go to I-10/I-12 to I-49, to I-20 to Dallas, I-635 to I-35 to US-380 in Denton, TX to US-287 to Amarillo, then US-87 to Raton, NM, I-25 to Walsenburg, CO, SR-69 to US-50 and then on to the NP.  This route bypasses all the major population centers except for Dallas.  Dallas traffic on this route is not bad during mid day.  If you want to bypass Dallas, pick up US-69 at Exit 556 on I-20 (this is a little N of Tyler, TX).  Follow US-69 to US-82 to US-287.  Should be all good road with wide paved shoulders, usually 10-12 foot wide shoulders. 

As far as mountains go, there is a pretty good climb on I-25 N of Raton and then a pretty steep climb and descent across Monarch Pass on US-50 west of Poncha Springs.  However it would be an extremely long, out of the way route to bypass all mountain passes to get to your destination.

If by chance you want to bypass all mountains, pick up I-40 in Amarillo to Gallup, NM, then US-481 to Cortez, CO and Monticello, UT, then US-191 to Moab, SR-128 to I-70 to Grand Junction and US-50 to Montrose, CO
 
Al's route looks pretty good. Of course you could take I-10 to Las Cruces, NM then I-25 to Walsenburg, but it would take you further south and be somewhat out of the way. If you wanted to sightsee in New Mexico, I-40 into Albuquerque (a couple of decent RV parks there) then I-25 N, but in addition to Raton Pass, the section between Albuquerque and Santa Fe has La Bajada Hill (pretty steep up) and between Santa Fe and Las Vegas (NM, not NV) is a lot of up and down, some moderately steep grades.

So there are a lot of nice choices, depending on how much time you have and your desire to see more country.
 
Thanks, for the input.
Will it make much cooler to go further north. Looking for some cooler temperatures.
 
there will definitely be a difference in temp between I10 and further north. Right now it is still snowing in Arkansas and temps in teens. Three weeks from now may be completely different. So I would check the weather forecast then and let that determine which route you take.

I grew up in Tampa and have made the drive between there and CO several times. It is a long haul!
Hope you enjoy Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
 
AStravelers said:
As for the simplest and easiest route, I would go to I-10/I-12 to I-49, to I-20 to Dallas, I-635 to I-35 to US-380 in Denton, TX to US-287 to Amarillo, then US-87 to Raton, NM, I-25 to Walsenburg, CO, SR-69 to US-50 and then on to the NP.  This route bypasses all the major population centers except for Dallas.  Dallas traffic on this route is not bad during mid day.  If you want to bypass Dallas, pick up US-69 at Exit 556 on I-20 (this is a little N of Tyler, TX).  Follow US-69 to US-82 to US-287.  Should be all good road with wide paved shoulders, usually 10-12 foot wide shoulders. 
Click to expand...

Having no familiarity with that part of the country I had to follow that route on Google Maps. Looks like a very interesting ride! I'll file this way were we to find ourselves in that part of the country in the future.

https://goo.gl/maps/uz99UwumaRH2
 
Thanks, all.
Going to look over all the options a little more, before making our plan. We may just wing it.......
Happy traveling..
 
KODIAKHERSHEY said:
Thanks, for the input.
Will it make much cooler to go further north. Looking for some cooler temperatures.
Click to expand...
By farther north, if you mean working your way north to I-40 and then west to Amarillo, rather than taking I-10 to I-49 and Dallas, it will be a little cooler, but usually not a huge difference in mid to late April. 

One thing though, be sure to leave yourself 3-5 days of extra travel time, if you must be at your destination on a certain date.  There is always the possibility of a spring storm dumping snow in the higher elevations and passes in Colorado in April.  If there is snow, you will want to stop in lower elevations for a few days to let the snow get cleared off of the highways. 

 
A little cooler would be better. Will suck it up. For a few more days......
Sick of hot weather, ran the A/C most of the winter..
Thanks
John and Shirl, packing.....
 
You can now take I-49 out of Alexandria, LA to Texarkana, and the take US-82 Westbound to Wichita Falls.
From there, US-287 can take you to US-50, and west, right to Black Canyon of the Gunnison area.
A lot of boring scenery from Amarillo to Lamar, CO, but it's an easy highway. Monarch Pass intimidates some folks, but it is not a difficult run if you are experienced with mountain driving.


 
My only concern about taking I-10 is the stretch through Louisiana that is so bad, you'll be lucky to do more than 20mph. I-40 isn't much better in some spots. Personally, I think taking I-75 to I-24 to I-57 to I-70 would be more scenic, but to each his own.
 
If you are there for the summer, this old town museum is 2 hours away but really good


http://www.southparkcity.org
 
John Stephens said:
My only concern about taking I-10 is the stretch through Louisiana that is so bad, you'll be lucky to do more than 20mph. I-40 isn't much better in some spots. Personally, I think taking I-75 to I-24 to I-57 to I-70 would be more scenic, but to each his own.
Click to expand...
However, that means you go through the heavy traffic of Atlanta, St Louis, Kansas City, and Denver.  You also go through Nashville, but I have not seen many people complain about Nashville. 
 
AStravelers said:
However, that means you go through the heavy traffic of Atlanta, St Louis, Kansas City, and Denver.  You also go through Nashville, but I have not seen many people complain about Nashville.
Click to expand...

Out of all the cities you listed, Atlanta is the only one where I see a problem. The traffic there can be rough any time of day, just like Houston and Dallas. The other cities aren't that bad to navigate and actually have sights a tourist might want to see. Any of the other routes mentioned are going to put you through large cities also, so it is simply a matter of personal preference.
 
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