Need recommendations for travel in CO regarding road grades

My family is travelling to CO with our 34ft 5th Toyhauler. I am towing with a 96 F350. It does not have engine brakes and I looked into getting it installed and it is currently out of the budget. Last year we went to Yellowstone and I went on Teton pass which is a 10% grade. According to the mechanic at the bottom of the hill and my mechanic I did all I could as correctly as possible but still burned my brakes on the last 3 miles of that pass so I am very nervous about grades above 7. I have checked flattest route and CO has 13% grades, ACK! Well obviously I will avoid those but its hard to find anything under 9 In the places I was hoping to go. We will be in Buena Vista first and can head anywhere after that but was planning to go  down to Great Sand Dunes and I wanted to go through Curecanti to get to Montrose and then down to Durango/Mesa Verde the long way around if that is even possible, its not looking good from my perspective.  I do plan to do some boondocking as well as some stays at RV parks, looks like all the NP and state stuff is full already.

Anyway, I am hoping some people in the know can give suggestions of great places to see where we can camp/boondock/rv park  within my limitations to  make day trips from and ways to get around the very steep grades but still manage to see several of the NP.  We have just under a month to explore. Thank you for any suggestions.

Due to the answers I have gotten so far I will state that I am not looking for advice on how to drive or to avoid steep grades. I am looking for suggestions on where to camp and what roads to go on that can get me where I am trying to go with lower grades even if I have to go around a long way to get there. Or if there is no way to go around to get to Mesa Verde from Buena Vista then  suggestions on where I can camp and drive that is still some NP and state park locations, beautiful camping /boondocking locations, close enough to day trip to those area from etc, thank you

Maybe you should consider vacationing in Florida where the highest mountain is 300 feet. We have buildings here taller than that.

  Akinda, Not trying to ?rain on your parade?, but until you get the brake.....I would avoid steep grades! It just ain?t worth the risk to your family and others. ? I?m struggling with the fact that I just said that....must be getting old or smarter! ?

  You?ve already had an experience...that next one may be a ?BAD? experience!  ?

Exhaust brakes are nice, but not critical. 

Going down a 7% grade, start off slow, 35-40mph for 7% grade and in 4th or even 3rd gear.  For 10% grade start off at 25mph in 2nd gear.  If you are going too slow you can shift up to 3rd. 

Once you are heading down, watch your speed, slow, slow is best.  Important, as your speed increases 10-15mph over what you started with, press hard on the brakes and drop you speed back down with 10-12 seconds of braking.  NOW if your speed is increasing back up 10-15mph in less than 30-45 seconds you are going too fast and in too high a gear.  Slow down, get in a lower gear until you can use engine braking so you only have to press on your brakes every 45-90 seconds.  Or better yet you go for several miles w/o pressing on the brakes. 

There are thousands of us who drive gas motorhomes towing 4000-4500 pound cars/trucks in the mountains and don't have exhaust brakes.  Yes I know you are towing a trailer, but the principle is the same

Even a diesel engine gives engine braking w/o exhaust brakes.  There isn't something magical that stops the piston compression cycle from happening just because you are not pressing on the accelerator.  The compression cycle is what is slowing you down.

What kills your brakes is riding them to keep your speed down.  Press hard for a few seconds and then get off the brakes.

∆∆∆. I agree totally. You should be able to slow that trailer down. Just need to start the decent at a slower speed. Grab a low gear and let it help you. Just a matter of figuring out what works and take your time.

SO all of you know who have already commented on my driving skills I am not looking for such advice, I was in 2nd gear and drove 25 or under, stopped at all pullouts until there wasnt one the last 3 steepest miles of that pass, didnt ride the brakes and still burned them to keep from hurtling down the mountain. and my 5th is not overweight.


To avoid a repeat I am asking for help with route suggestions to the places I would like to go and places where I can boondock with a 34ft 5th. Or if there is no way then suggestion of places I can get to from Buena Vista without going on those steep grades, or day trips where I can leave the 5th behind  and still seeing some NP and state park locations.

Sorry about that. It is going to be hard to get around or through Colorado without dealing with grades you have mentioned. I tried a couple years ago coming from Mess verda through Durango to Colorado springs. I have a mountain road Atlas and finally gave up on trying to find best route and just come through Wolf Creek pass. They make a east and west mountain pass Atlas. Very handy to give you road grades and curves.

Sorry.  I was not intending to criticize your driving skills.  None of us had any knowledge of how you came down that mountain and had really hot (or damaged) brakes at the bottom.  The intent was to provide my experience with driving RV's on Colorado (and other states) mountain highways.

Bottom line, the roads in the mountainous parts of Colorado are pretty steep any way you go from Buena Vista, except back toward Pueblo, or Alamosa is going to have 6-8% grades if not a little more.

Quite frankly, having driven a lot of the Colorado highways I have not found them to be that bad or steep.  I have experienced a few 10% to 13% grades on Colorado's US highways. However those really steep sections didn't seem to be that long, a quarter to half mile maybe.  The smaller state roads there may be more very long steep sections. Here is a good example from Ouray to Durango on US-550, that many people get so excited about and say do not ever, ever drive that route in an RV.  Using the website "Flattest Route": https://www.flattestroute.com/?from=Ouray%2C+CO%2C+USA&to=Durango%2C+CO%2C+USA&travelMode=Driving&measurementMode=miles  I can see there are a few, very short sections with up to 14% grades.  Most of the route is well under 10% and a lot is under 5%. 

There have been a few times I have been in 1st gear and 10-15mph.  That usually is with 10% or better grades combined with sharp curves, that I didn't want to drive at 20-25mph.  Or going down hill and I knew if I was in 2nd gear I would have to apply my brakes more than I wanted.

There have been many 5-6% grades, 4-7 miles long, I have come down at 25-30mph and not having to apply my brakes except to slow down for a curve.  Yes it was slow, but it sure is relaxing not to be worried about using my brakes.

One year our vehicles were a 3/4 ton 6.0 liter gas Chevy p/u with a small poptop slide on camper which weighed about 1300-1400 pounds towing a 33' travel trailer.  We were maxed out with our gross weight and combined weight.

The one time I did have a problem was with our 40' diesel pusher with exhaust brake.  We were coming down US-285 from southwest of Denver.  Here is "Flattest Route" display of the route: https://www.flattestroute.com/?from=Conifer%2C+CO%2C+USA&to=Morrison%2C+CO%2C+USA&travelMode=Driving&measurementMode=miles

The problem was I was not paying real close attention to the mild steepness of the hwy.  Most of it was 4 lane, 3%-6% grade and pretty straight.  So I was driving at 45-50mph and just letting the transmission do its thing and apply the brakes to slow my speed.  However I did not press really hard to drop my speed and then let it creep back up.  I just braked to keep my speed pretty steady.  At the bottom I hit a steep section of about 7-8% and 45-50mph and just barely got stopped for an intersection. My front brakes were really smoking. This had nothing to do with the weight of my rig.  It had everything to do with the fact I already had hot brakes and with a higher speed, than I should have had and steep slope. Then trying to stop, I was in deep trouble.

I learned my lesson.  Don't gently press your brakes to slow down.  Get into a lower gear, press hard on the brakes, let the speed slowly creep up and repeat.

Pick your poison.
Its Colorado. Your in the mountains.
Very rarely can you "go around" a pass.
Check the National Forests in these areas for boondocking locations.

Seilerbird--Stop trying to steer him to Florida!!!!!  You are WAY off on the mountain heights.  It's actually 345 feet.

Colorado is closing its forests due to high fire probability. Check before you go. We just had our 4-week plan to be in Colorado blow up. The San Juan National Forest is closed.

Thank you everyone for your comments, I am not seeing any way to get to Mesa Verde from Buena Vista unless I go all the way down to 1 40 so that may be off the table.

Anyone have great places to go along 285?

Like places to park the 5th and then do day trips into areas from there?

https://www.codot.gov/travel/maximum-grades-on-colorado-mountain-passes.html 

I just found this codot website and it is claiming monarch pass and wolf creek pass have max grades of less than 7 but according to flattest route they go all the way to 14% and I70 has a 35% grade on flattest route, but a 6 or 7 % max on that site depending on which way you are heading. So how do I decipher?

AStravelers said:

Even a diesel engine gives engine braking w/o exhaust brakes.  There isn't something magical that stops the piston compression cycle from happening just because you are not pressing on the accelerator.  The compression cycle is what is slowing you down.

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Actually, engine compression acts as a spring, the energy it absorbs during the upstroke of the piston is returned during the downstroke.

What gives a gas engine it's braking is the energy it expends trying to suck air past the closed throttle plate on the intake manifold.  A diesel's intake is wide open all the time so it doesn't develop the same kind of braking.  This is why diesels need an exhaust brake, which provides the same kind of restriction on the exhaust when it's operating.

Or you can have a Jake Brake, which opens a valve at the top of the compression cycle to release the pressure and let the piston create suction on the downstroke.

Without some kind of a brake, a diesel engine essentially freewheels.  The only braking you get is due to the engine's internal friction and the drag of the accessories, which isn't much.  BTW, turning on the air conditioner so the compressor can absorb another 10 HP or so makes a noticeable difference in the downhill braking.

I just went over Wolf Creek Pass, 9 miles of 7% downgrade in my F350 Powerstroke diesel towing a 29 ft. trailer without an exhaust brake.  The engine didn't provide much braking, at least not compared to a gasser.  I was in 2nd gear at about 45 MPH with the engine spinning at close to it's 3200 RPM redline (45 MPH is the speed limit for vehicles under 26000 lbs, above that weight the speed limit is 25 mph).  Even so, I had to stab brake every mile or so to keep my speed under control.

Akidna said:

https://www.codot.gov/travel/maximum-grades-on-colorado-mountain-passes.html 

I just found this codot website and it is claiming monarch pass and wolf creek pass have max grades of less than 7 but according to flattest route they go all the way to 14% and I70 has a 35% grade on flattest route, but a 6 or 7 % max on that site depending on which way you are heading. So how do I decipher?

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I have no idea where the author of flattest route gets their data, but there is no 35% grade on wolf creek pass! The CODOT is the dataset that is the most accurate. I have been on that route a dozen plus times. Take your time, keep it in low gear, use your engine braking ability, and you will be fine.

Wolf Creek Pass is on US 160 between Del Norte and Pagosa Springs, not I-70. And unlike the song it has 10+ miles of flat land before you get to Pagosa Springs.

If you're thinking of the grade to the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70, the problem there is elevation, not  steepness.  The approach is only a 6% grade, but at 11,000 ft. a gas engine loses considerable power.  Diesels also lose power, but not as much.

BTW, the design goal for the Internet highway system is a maximum 6% grade.

Al Gore invented the internet highway

I live in Cortez. This is Colorado and there are no flat roads. You could go north from Buena Vista to I-70, West to Hwy 191, south to Cortez. It?s the LONG way around. But Moab is worth a stop. As for Wolf Creek, we?ve done it everything from a VW to a 35? 5th wheel to a 31? Class A towing a VW and never had a problem, just did it slow and steady in a low gear. And as someone else said, the San Juan Forest is closed until further notice. Whatever you decide, enjoy Colorado. By the way, I guess I missed how you?re getting TO Buena Vista?

OBX said:

Al Gore invented the internet highway

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And Donald Trump negotiated the super deals with the contractors to build it. 

I think the post before mine may of had autocorrect change the word interstate to internet so I ran with it.  I'll be in Colorado in two weeks so I'm watching this thread closely.  Make the highways great again!