Cheyenne to Fort Collins Commute weather/roads (Gillette, Rock Springs: transport company, hotel)
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I just want to say I very much appreciate this thread.
I am considering a job opportunity in Casper, WY. My folks live in Denver and I am looking to move closer to them (I am in Pennsylvania) so I can visit them more often.
It sounds like this is a 270 mile drive that is best not done by me, as I don't like driving in severe winter weather and have only modest experience with driving in snow.
Therefore, I am confirming that I don't really want to go after this job opportunity. I'm not sure I could handle the bitter winters of Casper either (I'm a softee). I've done southern Maine and central PA which get pretty cold and snowy, but those wind chills you get in Casper just plain scare me. I appreciate this thread and other informative threads on these forums.
Just to confirm, on the drive from Capser to Denver, the tough part is most everything north of Fort Collins, correct ? So that is about 200 miles of uninterrupted unpredictable and hazardous driving, correct ?
How would you say the drive from Casper to Denver compares to the drive from Grand Junction to Denver in the winter in terms of unpredictability and life threatening road hazards ? They are about the same distance.
Wyoming really only has 2 stretches of road that are very unpredictable. I-25 from Wheatland to the Colorado State Line and I-80 from Rawlins to the Nebraska State line. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of roads in Wyoming that are hard to drive due to ice and snow, but not near as unpredictable as the two mentioned.
As far as going from Casper to Ft Collins Denver area or Denver to Grand Junction I will say this. I used to drive truck. I rarely had problems from Casper to Wheatland, sometimes had problems from Wheatland to Cheyenne. Had lots of problems from Rawlins to Cheyenne. But when I had problems traveling East and West, I would drop down to Denver and take I-70 West and seldom had problems.
Wyoming, lots of black ice, wind and snow. Colorado, mostly snow or packed snow with occasional wind. I'm talking I-80 vrs I-70. I've made hundreds of trips on I-25 with no problems at all between Casper and Denver. But the stretch around Chugwater and the stretch South of the State Line can be unpredictable.
Others will answer with more knowledge, but I'll toss in my limited experiences.
I live in NE Wyoming (Gillette). I had Denver Bronco season tickets for about 10 years (early 80s-early 90s) and drove to Denver and back two or three times each month from October through December (sometimes for reasons other than the game). We also drove to Denver for various reasons throughout the rest of the winter -- retail shows, skiing, shopping, etc.
Of all those trips (50?) I can only recall twice when the road was closed. One time we were turned back at Douglas due to low visibility from blowing snow on I-25. I don't recall where the second stretch was that was closed, but I think it was for the same reason. That time we decided to fly down in my plane. Skies were clear and runways were open. Oh, and I don't recall any times when the driving was really hazardous. Highways often have patches of snow and ice, wind certainly isn't unusual, and sometimes there are patches of fog, especially on the front range north of Denver, but I don't think there was ever a time when I thought I shouldn't be on the road.
I-70 between Denver and Grand Junction can be a bearcat on a regular basis throughout the winter, from September through April. If I was going to choose between Casper-Denver vs. Grand Junction-Denver, I'd pick the Casper route -- an easy choice IMHO.
WyoNewk, one thing I might remind you of is that 15-20 years ago the Wyoming Highway patrol didn't close roads unless they were impossible to travel on. Then something scared them (lawsuit somewhere) and today they'll shut down a road in a heartbeat.
I drove truck in the early 70's and there weren't very many Interstates. I-90 was non existant West of Sturgis South Dakota. You traveled on your own or at most there was a highway patrol set up during daylight hours telling you you had to chain up. One time I was coming across Minnisota and come up to a road block where they were making everybody chain up. I stopped and when the HP walked back and went to swing up on my step he saw Wyoming permits. I rolled down my window and he said, "Hell, your used to it, go ahead but be careful." I didn't chain and didn't think I needed to. But I also only run about 20 mph. You won't see that happen today.
I'm sure you're right, EH. Although I-90 did continue from Gillette to Sheridan. I remember many drives between Gillette and Rapid City on the old 14-16. There wasn't much interstate between Sheridan and Billings either. I think that was the last stretch of I-90 to be built.
I'm sure you're right, EH. Although I-90 did continue from Gillette to Sheridan. I remember many drives between Gillette and Rapid City on the old 14-16. There wasn't much interstate between Sheridan and Billings either. I think that was the last stretch of I-90 to be built.
I was on the crew that built I-90. We built the bridge over 59 in Gillette in the summer of 72. The ribbon wasn't in sight. We were miles ahead of the highway. Up in the Sheridan area I-90 was completed to Ranchester in 1974, but not to the state line. Then I went in the Navy, so I'm not sure when they completed that stretch. haha
But we're getting off track. I drove a cab over Pete into Fort Collins weigh station (back then they weren't called "Port of Entry" until you ENTERED a state) and got hit for being over weight. I was 1800 pounds over weight on a 72000 lb truck. At Cheyenne I was well under. I had picked up that much snow and ice in that short distance. Visibility was nil. Travel was 15 to 20 mph and sometimes I wondered if that was way too fast. Pulled over to the side of the station and started busting ice and snow. An hour later I pulled it across the scales and was a slim and trim 71800. I was a happy camper.
(snip)
Just to confirm, on the drive from Capser to Denver, the tough part is most everything north of Fort Collins, correct ? So that is about 200 miles of uninterrupted unpredictable and hazardous driving, correct ?
The "toughest" part of the Cheyenne to Denver drive for unpredictable and frequently occuring intense ground blizzards with black ice is the Cheyenne ridge area on I-25 roughly from Wellington North to just South of Cheyenne. White-out conditions are frequent, and as we've been pointing out ... don't necessarily require an active storm front in the area, but simply the normal strong winds and gusts to blow snow across the road. Of course, if there is an active storm cell, it can be just that much worse for driving conditions in the area.
However, one should also be aware that portions of I-25 a few miles North of the Denver Metro area have rolling hills with North facing sloping grades, which are prone to black ice formation on many winter days. If they are covered with snowpack and sanded, they're fairly manageable. But on the days/nights when the conditions have just formed, it's not uncommon for folk cresting a hill at nominal road speeds to find a number of vehicles already scattered in multiple crashes across the road in front of them. Typically, they cannot stop before they run off the road or into other vehicles ... and multiple car crashes on I-25 in the area by the Erie exit through to Loveland are almost "par for the course" for an average winter.
There's a lot of violent wind gusts typical in the Chugwater area of I-25, too, and even during the dry months of the year, this can be a road hazard. Couple these condition with poor traction and a lot of vehicles go off the road in this area every winter.
How would you say the drive from Casper to Denver compares to the drive from Grand Junction to Denver in the winter in terms of unpredictability and life threatening road hazards ? They are about the same distance.
In my experience, the I-70 corridor ... even though it has it's winter driving conditions of snowpack and heavy traffic at times ... is a much easier drive overall than the conditions of the Casper to Denver drive.
Both can have difficult driving days ... and I've been on the I-70 corridor from as close to Denver as Gennesse in white outs and fog that made 15 mph speed difficult to see the road which was obscured with snow ... but that wasn't as difficult/challenging as the Cheyenne ridge in it's white-outs, obscured road and visible markers for where the road should be, and the black ice.
I've also made the Denver to Vail trip hundreds of times in winter months, as well as the drive to Aspen, or on I-70 to Grand Junction (and points west). If you watch the road/weather reports, you can generally find good times to plan a trip along this route either ahead of a storm or after the roads have had a chance to be cleared. It's a much more difficult judgement call on the I-25 corridor into Wyoming ... because it doesn't need an active storm to become a hazardous trip, and so the weather/road forecast is much more "iffy" to predict.
If I was the one making the choice you've presented, I'd take the I-70 corridor as the more manageable travel route. Do keep in mind, however, that if you don't like the challenge of the winter driving conditions, you'll find either one less than a pleasure ... and perhaps not a justifiable risk.
You read my mind! My husband is looking into a job oppurtunity that would be directed from an office in ft collins but would have him travelling daily to cheyene. We were looking at the possibility of living in cheyene to curb the amount of driving. Our other concerns are of course the school systems, cost of living and crime. (we currently live in tucson. 3 miles from where the recent shooting occured.) Other posts on those subjects have been helpful in our decision making process. But I really appreciate the post on the drive, being that we don't have much of any experience driving in snow. Winds and monsoon weather we are used to, but ice and snow are foriegn to us.
thanks for the insight!
gatorneely
Wow, I'm glad I left early that day. I was Cheyenne for a couple of days and had hoped to spend some more time sightseeing before heading back to Denver on Saturday. When I read the weather report I decided to head back earlier than planned. By 10:00 am it was already snowing and getting windy. On a sunny day that trip between Fort Collins and Cheyenne is not a bad drive, but I would hate to make that journey when it is snowing or raining hard.
Speaking of raining hard, I've traveled that stretch of road in the summer when a storm came through, and though there was no ice involved, it became very dark and wet, and visibility dropped to almost zero, and this all happened in a matter of minutes. The rain came down so heavily that even at their highest setting, the wipers appeared to be moving, but not working at all. At the time, I was headed north on I-25 just a few miles south of the state line. By the time I reached Cheyenne (about 12-13 miles away), the cell had passed and visibility improved immensely. This is just a reminder that it's not just in winter that conditions can become treacherous.
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