driving from Oregon to Colorado Springs in winter (Denver, Craig: vacation, company)

[cmsokol]

Any advice for our collge aged son who is planning on making this drive next week in his own all wheel drive van? He is planning to drive alone.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Has he done the drive already? It takes us about 20 hours to drive from Denver to Portland in good weather. My advise is to not only check the weather forecasts but to also look at the web site for each individual state's department of transportation. Colorado DOT has web cams in strategic locations around the state and their highway conditions reports are updated every 1/2 hour by the snowplow drivers who are actually out on the roads.

[Amery523]

Definitely look at CDOT Traveler Information which has traffic cameras at various points along the major highways. If there's a snowstorm, Vail Pass will be hard to navigate without 4WD.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by cmsokol

Any advice for our collge aged son who is planning on making this drive next week in his own all wheel drive van? He is planning to drive alone.

Consider reserving rooms along the way at places where, if the highways were closed unexpectedly, he could lodge for the evening. An example would be just prior to a mountain pass. You'd have to think about it and sort of guess. If the roads became closed, many people would be looking for a room and he'd already have on reserved. If he doesn't need it then he can cancel up to a certain time without a penalty.

On Craigslist there is a ride sharing tool which he might want to use to split the cost.

[Katiana]

In addition to the above, which is all good: use the interstates as much as possible, don't be swayed by someone's great "shortcut". You never know about the weather here.

[MtnSurfer]

If I give you good travel advice will you give us good advice for our vacation to Oregon this summer?

Ok, have him take the 30 through Wyoming and avoid the 70. In the Winter the 30 is the prefered interstate trucking route because you avoid going thru the Rockies. While beautiful the I70 can be trecherous in the ice and snow, especially if one has never driven it before.

Plus if you google map Colorado Springs and get directions to Portland the 30 is the quicker route.

- Derek

[Katiana]

Do you mean I-80? I would agree that is the preferred route b/c it avoids the worst of the Rockies.

[NickMan7]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

Do you mean I-80? I would agree that is the preferred route b/c it avoids the worst of the Rockies.

I would agree with I-80. The main issues here will be wind and snow (whiteouts), but elevation changes are minimal. I-70 presents all sorts of problems including all of the above + avalanche danger, steep grades (up and down) and the possibility of traffic jams. I can almost guarantee he won't have a ton of company on I-80.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by NickMan7

I would agree with I-80. The main issues here will be wind and snow (whiteouts), but elevation changes are minimal. I-70 presents all sorts of problems including all of the above + avalanche danger, steep grades (up and down) and the possibility of traffic jams. I can almost guarantee he won't have a ton of company on I-80.

I hate to sound argumentative, but I-80 is a major truck route, period. Lots of trucks on it in Nebraska, where I have driven many times. I haven't driven much in Wyoming.

[MtnSurfer]

Yes, I meant the I80. On Google maps it calls it both the 30 and 80 for some reason. I agree with pittnurse about the trucks on I80. 'But' the traffic moves at a very good pace and there are enough lanes that it shouldn't be a real problem. Other arteries through Wyoming can be a different story.

Also check the weather for next week as there is some snow in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday. Try planning the bulk of the driving around the storm days to avoid some of the things that NickMan mentioned.