Janet Espeleta

My dh & I are taking a trip at the end of the month & will be traveling from MO to Las Vegas NV by car. While looking at the atlas & trying to come up with a route we haven't taken before we saw a highway called 24 which is just north of Colorado Springs that runs between Int 25 & Int 70. So we are wondering if anyone knows if this is a decent road to take as we could completely bypass Denver by going this way. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

oatw13

From what I remember, a lot of this road is pretty rural - meaning there aren't a lot of amenities or gas stations. I would also check to make sure the roads don't have snow or ice on them. Usually January - March are the snowiest months around here. I believe you also hit higher elevations than you would on I-25 in some parts. Speed limits are also slower than on I-25 as most of it is 2 lanes I think.

Here is more info:

http://www.aaroads.com/west/us-024_co.html

I haven't driven on it for a while. Maybe someone else has been on it recently.

It is a pretty drive. Just be prepared for anything.

Scissor Queen

It's going to be a 2 lane road, it may or may not have paved shoulders. Do NOT leave Limon with less than a full tank of gas. This road is beyond "rural." There's very little of anything at all out there.

sewgull

Are you traveling by car or RV? If traveling by RV Good Sam RV web site can help. Give it try either way.

ErinMarie

Make sure to have winter survival kit and a few bags of sand,etc. Like others have said- pretty isolated and 2 way with minimal shoulders. I only drove it once in winter alone, was quite the experience. My folks have driven it countless times without incident over the years.

ktbb

I've driven Hwy 24 many times from Colorado Springs west. I've been on it once east of Co. Spgs and hope to never have to drive that way again! That part of the road is subject to severe winter/spring storms.

West of the Springs the hiway is beautiful and generally well maintained thru the winter because it's the main road to the west. But as one poster said, storms can get you anywhere so you need to be prepared. Maybe think about the drive on your way back if weather reports are better than they have been for that part of the country.

Janet Espeleta

Thanks for the info everyone. Since it will still be early March when we come home it would be better if we just stay on the main roads as we will be driving our Hyundai Sonata. Since we have never gone through Santa Fe NM or CO Springs we thought it might be fun to come home via Int 25 rather than stay on 40 all the way to OK City. We just hope the weather cooperates as this winter sure has been a humdinger!

Scissor Queen

The weather across that area is very changable. I would make my route decision after I checked the weather reports. Santa Fe is usually pretty nice by that time of year and even as far north as Co. Springs and Denver can be really nice that time of year.

IrelandDragonQuilting

I just attended a meeting today, and they had the county people there. 24 is schedule for major construction, from what the guy said it is a fairly winding road and a lot of blind corners, thus the construction coming up. I wouldn't take myself. I can tell you that denver is not that bad, hit it mid morning, 9am -10:30 and you will go straight through, or hit it mid afternoon, 1:45-3:40 I drive through there at least once a month and schedule myself to hit it through those times and it works everytime. Or take I believe it is 150 out of Pueblo, takes you up to grand junction, that is a pretty drive, however again two lane and tight. Good luck in your ventures!!

Janet Espeleta

Thanks for the info on Hwy. 24. We are taking Int. 35 out of Kansas City to Int. 40 on the way to Vegas, but decided to see a different part of the country on the way back which is why we thought we would take Int. 25 out of Albuquerque toward Denver & thought that might shave some miles off the trip. However since the part that runs between Int. 25 & Int. 70 is unpredictable as far as the weather or road construction goes, we will just stay on Int. 25 all the way to Denver. If we took 50 out of Pueblo to Gr. Junction we would be heading back to Vegas instead of toward Missouri though. Now my dh probably wouldn't mind that as we lived in Vegas for 15 yrs & he misses it terribly. However, I'm only going back for a visit as I have 2 sons & 4 grandkids who still live there, but you probably couldn't pay me enough to actually move back there! LOL