Best route to drive from San Jose to Denver in April (Lake City: hotels, live)

[OnTheGo10]

My wife and I will be driving from San Jose CA to Denver in early April, and I am looking for advice on the best route. I want to take a "southern" route so that I don't need to go through a lot of mountains where there might be snow, but want to know about a particular route.

I'm thinking of taking I5 south, then east through Bakersfield along HWY 58, then picking up I40 at Barstow, then up through I25 from Albuquerque. Is there any danger of snow or other type of bad weather in early April along that route? Any other things to be concerned about?

The alternative is to take I5 down to LA and then head east on I10 - and that definitely would not have bad weather but I would just as soon not go through LA.

Any advice on this is welcome.

[vegaspilgrim]

I take it you haven't been paying attention to the news lately. Always check the forecast before you leave of course, but you're highly unlikely to see any snow at all. This has been one of the driest and warmest winter/spring season on record and there's zero snow forecasted in the mountains in the next two weeks (and probably beyond). If that's still the case when you go on your road trip, then I'd recommend either I-80 all the way to Cheyenne if you want the fast way, or I-80 to Salt Lake City, then go down to Price and take I-70 into Denver if you want the scenic way. Absolutely no reason to go all the way down to I-40 or I-10 unless if you were wanting to see AZ & NM anyway.

[Idlewile]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

I take it you haven't been paying attention to the news lately. Always check the forecast before you leave of course, but you're highly unlikely to see any snow at all. This has been one of the driest and warmest winter/spring season on record and there's zero snow forecasted in the mountains in the next two weeks (and probably beyond). If that's still the case when you go on your road trip, then I'd recommend either I-80 all the way to Cheyenne if you want the fast way, or I-80 to Salt Lake City, then go down to Price and take I-70 into Denver if you want the scenic way. Absolutely no reason to go all the way down to I-40 or I-10 unless if you were wanting to see AZ & NM anyway.

This. I'm from San Jose and used to drive back and forth all the time when I lived in Denver. There's no reason, any time, to go that far south. 80 is the fastest and the branch off in SLC as mentioned for a scenic ride.

[ca-ut-??]

we make that drive all the time, well from san jose to UT, and we've done it in the dead of winter with lots of snow. We've never had any problem going on 80. And given that it's been SO dry you should have no problems at all, except boredom through Nevada.....

[jazzlover]

True, this winter has been abnormally warm and dry. That does NOT mean that it isn't possible to hit winter driving conditions on ANY route from San Jose to Denver. I've driven in vicious winter-type storms in spring on I-80, I-70, and I-25 (and all of the secondary state and US highways) on many, many occasions. The best advice I can give is to check the weather forecast for the ENTIRE route immediately before you set out. Pick the one with the most favorable weather forecast. By saying the entire route, I mean that you should pay particular attention to the high-elevation areas. For example, it's perfectly possible to have a clear 80° day in Denver and have a raging mountain blizzard on the passes on I-70 west of Denver. It should be noted that, in a NORMAL year, March and April are two of the snowiest months of the year in the central and southern Rockies.

[OnTheGo10]

Appreciate all the advice. Clearly I'm not as familiar with the route as the people who have been doing it. One more question - what is the best (most accurate) site for longer term forecasts along route I80 to help me plan?


I will have too decide now which way and will have to commit. My complication is that we are doing trip with our dog, and need to set up the hotels early so that we don't have to be hunting around for a pet friendly hotel as we roll into town late in the day.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by OnTheGo10

Appreciate all the advice. Clearly I'm not as familiar with the route as the people who have been doing it. One more question - what is the best (most accurate) site for longer term forecasts along route I80 to help me plan?


I will have too decide now which way and will have to commit. My complication is that we are doing trip with our dog, and need to set up the hotels early so that we don't have to be hunting around for a pet friendly hotel as we roll into town late in the day.

Colorado road conditions: Road Conditions, Speeds, Travel Times, Traffic Cameras, Live Streaming Traffic Cameras, Road Closures and Road Work Information provided by Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) a branch of Colorado Department of Transportation

Wyoming road conditions: WYDOT Travel Information Service (Laramie)

Dialing 511 once you are in either state will give you that state's road condition information.

As I posted earlier, either route can be just fine and dry, or can be a winter driving nightmare in places in spring. In the latter case, neither is a place for winter driving amateurs.

[davebarnes]

Drive to SJC.
Buy 2 tickets from an airline.
Drive from DEN to Denver.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

How long term do you want those forecasts to be? Weather Underground goes about ten days out. That's as far out as I think anyone can predict weather. Use a combination of the forecasts and the links that Jazz provided for real time weather to make your decisions as you go.

Travelling with dogs can make it harder, but you have to be prepared to spend an extra night or two along the way if the weather looks bad. If there are any storms they'll probably move through quickly and the roads will be fine the next day.

[OnTheGo10]

Greatly appreciate all the pointers - I believe that I have what I need for the trip. All of it was useful to me - except for Dave who I guess hates dogs (though I won't hold that against him).

I will soon be one of your neighbours.