Interstate 76 in Colorado and Utah

krc1995

krc1995

Donor
Is this a real winding, no shoulder interstate? I really don't like to drive when there is cliffs and such, but I really want to take my kids from Nebraska to Vegas in July. Anyone has anyone driven this stretch or is an alternative?

 
krc1995 said:
Is this a real winding, no shoulder interstate? I really don't like to drive when there is cliffs and such, but I really want to take my kids from Nebraska to Vegas in July. Anyone has anyone driven this stretch or is an alternative?
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oh and I meant 1-70.

 
76 in Colorado is like I-80 in Nebraska. There's no I-76 in Utah. I guess you mean I-70. I've driven it as far as Vail in Colorado. There are some curves and hills and tunnels, but there is always a shoulder (unless there is construction), a guardrail about everywhere there are any cliffs. There are a few places where the speed might drop to 55 because of curves, but there are no hairpin turns or anything like that. I guess falling rocks are a possibility, but they have fences or barriers where that is common. To me it only gets hairy in a blizzard. I-80 in eastern Nebraska is worse to me because of all of the trucks. I guess trucks in the mountains can be worse because of the speed variance; the interstate is most dangerous where there are big differences in speed of the vehicles around you.

If you're really nervous you could take I-35 down to OKC and then I-40 west. That's probably a lot longer. I wouldn't take I-25 south as an alternate, I found that to be a busy and windy road in the foothills, so it's no better than just going I-70.

I really don't think I-70 will give you any problems. Even in the middle of Colorado you will be surprised at how many relatively flat stretches there are.

 
krc1995 said:
Is this a real winding, no shoulder interstate? I really don't like to drive when there is cliffs and such, but I really want to take my kids from Nebraska to Vegas in July. Anyone has anyone driven this stretch or is an alternative?
Click to expand...
I-70 from Denver to Cove Fort, UT....it's one of the most scenic stretches in the US. As far as the interstate is concerned, it is as modern as any other in the US. Just remember to fill the tank in Grand Junction, CO before heading across Utah, because the services are next to nothing until you get to Richfield, UT about 230 miles. From there it should be about 290 miles to Las Vegas on I-70 & I-15. If that is too far the next stop would be a Mesquite, NV about 200 miles.

 
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VA Husker Fan said:
I guess falling rocks are a possibility, but they have fences or barriers where that is common.
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although they had that rock slide a few months back that shut down the interstate.

I-70 ain't bad. It's a major road (stretching almost across the entire country) so you shouldn't have any major problems. Very pretty drive. Just be careful on the declines, don't burn out your brakes by overusing them.

 
whenever i drive to phoenix, i don't know how far off that is from vegas, but i always go south to amarillo and then west, just to avoid the mountains. and it is a rather scenic drive, i think at least, but i love all road trips.

 
Use your transmission, not your brakes, nuff said. Beautiful drive if ya like grand mountains and 3000 foot drops into eternity. :)

GBR

 
Thanks all- especially Rawhide-lol

I remember driving to phoenix when I was very young and going through Salt River Canyon- and it scared the crap out of me. I don't have an issue with heights or anything, I just do not really like the thought of blowing a tire and rolling off the side of mountain. If it were just me-ok, but with the kids I am a little anxious. But I'll get new tires and give it a try.

 
Dang!

Now I have the itch to rent a Harley or a convertable and see if I can still find Moab, UTah.

It's probably changed since the 30 or so years ago that I first found it driving out here to Phoenix with my parents. I don't know if there was a vortex there or what, but something about waking up there was surreal..and I didn't even know what that word meant at the time. (Surreal OR Vortex).

I LOVE driving the hairpin curves..One of the reasons my ex said she left me...And that was after I was tamed by having kids.

Do watch out for the side rails in Colorado..I lost my Big Brother and a year later, a girl that lived down the block from me was classmates with my old girlfriend at I think the same one in Weld County..I went back to the site last June but couldn't find it.

Looks like they re-designed most of them, but every once in awhile, the rails just jut out rather than gradually merge with the road like everywhere else.

http://www.travelblog.org/pix/shim.gif

shim.gif


http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/10254/152584/f/1094043-The-Colorado-River-near-Moab-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/1094043&usg=__2iRztz8y4dYAVs_0VBlj13fpnyc=&h=450&w=600&sz=37&hl=en&start=10&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=jtXTwDXoY3oKhM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmoab%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26rls%3DGWYA,GWYA:2010-24,GWYA:en%26gl%3Dus%26tbs%3Disch:1

 
Last edited by a moderator:
HUSKER 37 said:
Dang!

Now I have the itch to rent a Harley or a convertable and see if I can still find Moab, UTah.

It's probably changed since the 30 or so years ago that I first found it driving out here to Phoenix with my parents. I don't know if there was a vortex there or what, but something about waking up there was surreal..and I didn't even know what that word meant at the time. (Surreal OR Vortex).

I LOVE driving the hairpin curves..One of the reasons my ex said she left me...And that was after I was tamed by having kids.

Do watch out for the side rails in Colorado..I lost my Big Brother and a year later, a girl that lived down the block from me was classmates with my old girlfriend at I think the same one in Weld County..I went back to the site last June but couldn't find it.

Looks like they re-designed most of them, but every once in awhile, the rails just jut out rather than gradually merge with the road like everywhere else.

http://www.travelblog.org/pix/shim.gif

shim.gif


http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/10254/152584/f/1094043-The-Colorado-River-near-Moab-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/1094043&usg=__2iRztz8y4dYAVs_0VBlj13fpnyc=&h=450&w=600&sz=37&hl=en&start=10&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=jtXTwDXoY3oKhM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmoab%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26rls%3DGWYA,GWYA:2010-24,GWYA:en%26gl%3Dus%26tbs%3Disch:1
Click to expand...
Are we still talking I-70? Hairpin turns? I don't think so. Some of us do like the hair-raising drives, but the OP doesn't, so I think you want to be clear about this.

 
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