Best route in December to Durango (Denver, Gunnison: home, ticket, schedule)

[azcater]

Planning a 4 day weekend trip to Durango (from Denver) and my FIL thinks we're crazy to try and drive it (he recommended flying) but at $150/piece to fly.. I'm starting to reconsider. Is driving the 2nd weekend of Dec doable? Google says it will take 6.5 hours. I'm worried about snow, ice etc.. is there a better route to take?

Also if we do drive... I'm thinking we might leave late Thurs and stay the night somewhere half way to help with trip (we'll have our 3 yr old with us)

Thanks in advance for the help!

[2bindenver]

Fly. I did the drive once. In late September; 16 hours round trip. Fly.

[yodi]

You won't know until that week comes. It may be fine but it may be awful. If you decide to drive evaluate your options before you leave. You can take 285 or I-25. 285 is faster but it may not be the best route depending on the weather. I-25 can have whiteout conditions and I've known people who've gotten stuck in the winter and had to seek shelter. They both can be really treacherous in the winter or they can be totally fine. You'd also need to check out the road conditions for Wolf Creek prior to leaving.

If you're schedule is flexible driving wouldn't be a bad option. If you need to be there for set days I'd consider flying as your plans may be delayed getting there or getting home due to weather.

[wanttomoveeast]

It took you 8 hrs. to get to my hometown? WTF? It's 7 at most. Which route did you take? 16 hrs. is wayyyy too many.

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

Fly. I did the drive once. In late September; 16 hours round trip. Fly.

[wanttomoveeast]

It's that cheap to fly to Dgo. now? About 10 yrs. ago it was three times that amount. I could never see paying $450 per ticket to get there, but I'd certainly consider the $150. I hate driving.

With that said,

I think you'll be fine, pending any last min. blizzards. Even when snow's on the ground, the roads are paved and it really isn't a big deal.

I'm from Dgo. I've made the trip a hundred times. We always take the 285 way and then 160, but many fellow natives claim I-25 is best and then come in to Dgo. from Gunnison. I disagree only because Gunnison is so far out of the way. It's a quick ride down I-25, but not so quick from Gunnison. And if there is bad weather, Gunnison will be awful.

285 is prettier anyway. You go thru Wolf Creek among others.

6.5 hrs. is acurate for me, I know the roads and hardly stop. I'd say 7 for a newbie. My mom makes it in 5.5 hrs. Insane.

Originally Posted by azcater

Planning a 4 day weekend trip to Durango (from Denver) and my FIL thinks we're crazy to try and drive it (he recommended flying) but at $150/piece to fly.. I'm starting to reconsider. Is driving the 2nd weekend of Dec doable? Google says it will take 6.5 hours. I'm worried about snow, ice etc.. is there a better route to take?

Also if we do drive... I'm thinking we might leave late Thurs and stay the night somewhere half way to help with trip (we'll have our 3 yr old with us)

Thanks in advance for the help!

[azcater]

Thanks everyone! i'm really leaning towards flying as with a 3yr old, a 7 hr trip can easily turn into 9 or 10 and we only have the 4 days. We just moved here from PHoenix and trip took 2.5 days (does that tell you anything!!) :-)

[wanttomoveeast]

oh sorry, skipped over the kid thing. Still not a bad ride, but I can totally understand -- you only have four days. My last advice to you is pay close attention to weather, and not in Denver but in Dgo. too. If it does get bad the airlines will accommodate.

[2bindenver]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

It took you 8 hrs. to get to my hometown? WTF? It's 7 at most. Which route did you take? 16 hrs. is wayyyy too many.

It was snowing. Not heavy. Still slows everything waaaaayyyyy down.

I love Durango. Beautiful place.

I flew in to tech tech to Realtors 14 years ago. They wouldn't let me take my laptop on the plane. They insisted it would be put down below. Someone forgot.

oops - first presentation the next morning was help up...until the next plane arrived.

[wanttomoveeast]

ahhh, yeah, snow can slow things down.