I-70 Utah to Kansas

[Dan Fisher]

I have question regarding driving my 35' class A while towing  Jeep Wrangler.....
I'd be taking Interstate 70 from Utah through Colorado into Kansas.
How difficult - inclines, grades and overall conditions would the route be?
Is there a better route or is I70 good?
This would be driven in early to mid September.
Thanks in advance.
Dan

 

[Rob&Deryl]

I have question regarding driving my 35' class A while towing  Jeep Wrangler.....
I'd be taking Interstate 70 from Utah through Colorado into Kansas.
How difficult - inclines, grades and overall conditions would the route be?
Is there a better route or is I70 good?
This would be driven in early to mid September.
Thanks in advance.
Dan

The grades up and over the Rockies are steep at about 6% so, don?t worry about being first to the top. Take it easy on the way up. As you get to the top, slow down, shift to a lower gear and don?t ride the brakes on the way down.

I70 through Denver isn?t all that pleasant. The best road is a toll road that goes around the city and connects to i70 east of the city.

 

[Lou Schneider]

I-70 in Colorado goes through the scenic Eagle River Canyon but after that you'll have to climb to the 11,000 ft. Eisenhower Tunnel and then descend 6000 ft. in 20 miles into Denver.  Gear down and let the engine compression do the braking and you'll be fine.

If that scares you, I-80 from Salt Lake City to Cheyenne is a lower, mostly flat route but it's not as scenic as I-70.

P.S. - Welcome to The RV Forum!  I moved your question into a new topic so it will get more responses.

 

[Isaac-1]

A follow up to that, I prefer the I80 route having driven both in the last 4-5 years, though cross winds may be more of an issue on I-80, so it all depends on timing.  When I was driving my coach on I-80 in August of 2017 just east of Laramie the cross wind flipped an 18 wheeler tanker truck just a couple of miles behind me, I heard about it while I was stopped at the rest area / tourist information center at the pass, the accident closed I-80 for several hours.

 

[Larry N.]

I-70 in Colorado goes through the scenic Eagle River Canyon but after that you'll have to climb to the 11,000 ft. Eisenhower Tunnel and then descend 6000 ft. in 20 miles into Denver.

True, but there are some other steep areas, too, west of "the tunnel." We've taken that route in a gas 34' Bounder, a diesel 45' Beaver and in our present diesel 38' Newmar Ventana, all do fine, but you are slow going up and have to work at keeping slow going downhill, whether eastbound or westbound, roughly between Vail and Denver, for the worst of it.

I agree that I-80 is a much easier route, and better for many folks, but I-70 is definitely doable.

 

[ArdraF]

I actually like I-80 and don't find it all that boring.  Maybe I just like the High Plains.  Although it's beautiful, going over the Rockies on I-70 can require concentration.  Going up you need to take it off cruise control and try to use manual shifting to maximize the gearing so it doesn't "lug" or "hunt".  Going down you need to watch your speed as others mentioned.  Again, use your Pac Brake, Jake Brake or whatever engine braking you have from the top to the bottom.  If it picks up speed use your service brakes firmly to bring it down to the desired speed and then get off them.  You really don't want to burn up those service brakes!  Actually the I-70 route is the only one in the interstate system that has grades over 6 percent which is the interstate standard so your engine will really be working when it gets up to 11,158 feet.  We use both routes but I-80 is easier driving in my opinion.

I just reread Larry's comment and it made me remember the last time we drove I-70 in our old gas 30' Lazy Daze.  It was a great motorhome but that climb really was crawling at low speed and about three-quarters of the way up Jerry announced "I want a diesel pusher".  Shortly thereafter we bought our Monaco Windsor and what a difference it was to drive that stretch over the Rockies!

ArdraF

 

[Larry N.]

It was a great motorhome but that climb really was crawling at low speed and about three-quarters of the way up Jerry announced "I want a diesel pusher".  Shortly thereafter we bought our Monaco Windsor and what a difference it was to drive that stretch over the Rockies!

That, and a few other things such as more comfort on long trips, triggered me to go diesel, also.

 

[LarsMac]

If the elevation changes themselves are not an intimidation, you may want to look at US 50 across Colorado. Come in at Grand Junction, then south and east to Montrose and Gunnison, then over Monarch Pass. The road is a bit of a climb to a little over 11k feet elevation, but it's far more scenic that I-70 IMHO. There is some fantastic scenery along I-70, but you're usually going too fast to really enjoy it. If you have the time, a stop in Glenwood Springs is worth the time.

Coming down from Monarch Pass can be intimidating, but not any more that coming down off Vail Pass, through Summit county and the Tunnel and down to Denver, then dealing with the City traffic. All of that traveling with several thousand of your closest friends, all in a much bigger hurry than you can muster.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth.

You can stay on US-50 through Kansas, if you like. Or cut north at Penrose, CO to Colorado Springs, and take US-24 to re-connect to I-70 at Limon.

If the elevation is a problem, I-80, while a bit far north, is definitely a much calmer trip.