FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - I Need Suggestions for a Road Trip Out of SLC
Old Jan 12, 2011, 9:42 am
  #12  
amanuensis
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Posts: 9,957
Originally Posted by InkUnderNails
I appreciate all of the suggestions, but this looks nice. We are almost certain to do SLC to DEN. This gets us up to I80, but I think we might head east for just a bit and then head back south and go to Denver VIA US40. I may try to get a couple of nights at the Hilton Vacation club in Breckenridge before going to Denver.

Are any of you familiar with this US 40 route? It looks good on the map.
I have driven from SLC to DEN several times. There are three basic ways to do it.

The fastest way is to drive from SLC to Laramie, WY on I-80 and then take US-287 to Fort Collins, and I-25 the rest of the way to DEN. A variation is to go from SLC to Kamas and then to Evanston, WY via the Mirror Lake Highway and thus back to I-80. This variation adds significant scenery -- and time. And can only be done during warm weather months -- the Mirror Lake Highway is closed once snow falls.

The second way is to take US-40 from Park City to Denver. This is the slow boat route. It is not particularly scenic until you get to Colorado. As a variation, you can take I-80 (with or without the Mirror Lake Highway jaunt) to Green River and then head south through the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area on US-191 to US-40. Flaming Gorge is very scenic. Also, this will result in you bypassing the boring US-40 Utah portion. You get back on US-40 just in time to see Dinosaur National Monument (which is on the Utah/Colorado border). Besides seeing the obvious there, there are also some interesting nature hikes there.

Another variation on the second way is to go from Park City to Kamas and then NOT take the Mirror Lake Highway but instead State Highway 35 to Duchesne, where you get on US-40. As with the Mirror Lake Highway, Highway 35 is not open during winter. This route also has lots of mountain scenery, the highlight of which is Wolf Creek Pass. This drive is at its best in early Fall when the leaves change.

The third way to Denver is to go from SLC south on I-15 to Spanish Fork, where you take US-6 south-eastward until you get to Green River, Utah, from whence you head east on I-70 to Denver. This is the shortest route but is a little longer in time than going through Wyoming on I-80 because you cannot drive as fast. The portion of the US-6 drive from Spanish Fork to Price is interesting, and US-6 from Price to Green River is boring. I-70 is boring from Green River to Grand Junction, Colorado, and very interesting the rest of the way.

You can easily drive from SLC to DEN in a day using any of the three routes IF you do not do any variations and IF you do not stop other than for gas and food. But if your goal is to enjoy the journey, then plan to do it in two days so that you have time for side trips, hiking, fishing at Flaming Gorge, or whatever.
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