Independence Pass, Colorado

[Art E]

I will be driving my Class A with toad followed by my son in his fifth wheeler rig from Colorado Springs, CO to Salt Lake City, UT. I always try to stay off the Interstates as much as possible. Part of the trip will take us through Independce Pass in late June '06. He is not an experienced driver, which is a consideration. I'd like to hear from anyone who has travelled through this pass to let me know what to expect. Never having been there I do not know what the road is like at all.

Thanx for any info.

Art E

[Art E]

I will be driving my Class A with toad followed by my son in his fifth wheeler rig from Colorado Springs, CO to Salt Lake City, UT. I always try to stay off the Interstates as much as possible. Part of the trip will take us through Independce Pass in late June '06. He is not an experienced driver, which is a consideration. I'd like to hear from anyone who has travelled through this pass to let me know what to expect. Never having been there I do not know what the road is like at all.

Thanx for any info.

Art E

[doc]

We did Independence Pass from the Aspen side, coming up from Glenwood Springs. There is a length limit over the pass of something like 32 feet I believe. Being VERY foolish I figured this was just a suggestion. Not a good idea in a 36 foot coach.
As you pass through Aspen the road twists and turns. It gets better as you climb up and out of town. You will see several warnings about vehicle lenght over the pass. Good idea to heed them. The road gets down to one lane in several places and at times I was having to travel on the very outside lane (with little or no shoulder) in order to avoid rocks overhanging the road on the inside. My wife was petrified and we like mountain driving.
Just my opinion, but if you have a MH of any size you might be better off avoiding the pass.
Once we got over the summit. (something like 12K feet) the roads were fine and plenty wide over to US 24.

[dancogan]

I'll second what Doc said. Having driven over Independence Pass and bicycled over it, too, I'd never want to do it in a motorhome or pulling a trailer. The weather can change from beautiful to nasty in about 10 seconds up there, and it can get scary!

[Kent & Peggy]

I totally agree with the above posts. I drove my GMC/Lance 915 over the pass in June, 2004, and I would NEVER try it with anything bigger than that. Go from Leadville to I-70 to Glenwood Springs. Then if you want to go to Aspen, go from there, or go to Delta County over McClure Pass - that's a very good road. Keep your Motorhome and/or trailer off of Independence pass.

[Art E]

Thanks for all the advice; I shall heed it and stay off Independence Pass. Being on this forum is lots better than learning the hard way.

[Vette Racer]

Good idea! We drove our jeep over the pass and the rocks hanging out are the killer. People driving a large rig had to drive over in the outside lane to get through and wait for traffic to clear to do so.