re: Driving from Denver to North Texas- Best Route? (Update Pg 4)

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Not much after Amarillo and I don’t want to get stuck in a roach motel or driving straight through.

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After Amarillo it gets to be slim pickens. There is a relatively new Holiday Inn Express in Dahlart, right on 87. It is next to the Tractor Supply which I have bought horse blankets from (the problem with leaving DFW in the 90s and getting to elk camp in the teens with horses).

After that its really down to Raton, Trinidad, or Walsenburg and there isn't a lot in any of those options. If you're pulling a camper or LQ horse trailer the rest stop is good, also there are RV hook-ups now at the Love's in Dalhart. Those are kind of cool for an overnight if you have a camper/LQ trailer.

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287

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this - every time - until you get tired of it - then do it again anyway.

Capulin Volcano

Capulin Volcano 30 miles east of Raton is a cool stop. Give some place for the kids (if you have any) to stretch their legs and hike down into the caldera.
Chances are low that it will become active while you're there.

Quickest rout is going to be I-70 east to Limon, CO, then US287 South to Amarillo, TX, staying with US287 to Wichita Falls, TX.

This routes you through Hugo, CO, Kit Carson, Lamar, CO (great downtown area for food / drink), through Stratford, TX and Dumas, TX.

Beauty of this route is it keeps you out of high wind areas. This is my go to route between Childress, TX and Butte, Montana.

My son and I did route 1 last summer. It was dark most of Texas, taking turns driving. We gave it up in Trinidad, CO for a hotel room.

If I had to go back, that's how I would do it again.

Currently living in CO Springs and make this drive back to Lafayette fairly regularly. Option 1 is definitely the correct choice and takes about 16 hours driving straight through. Typically if I fill up as I'm leaving CO Springs I only need to stop twice. First stop just south of Amarillo in Claude and then again at Buccees on the east side of Dallas in Terrell.

Option 1. Done it a few times

Looks like there’s a decent holiday inn express in Trinidad. Will likely stay there and I am thinking about coming up to Dillon, CO the back way instead of going 25 all the way to Denver. Looks like there’s two routes, they only add about 30 minutes to the drive but they look like they could be pretty interesting.

#1 all the way; do it twice monthly.

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This was one of my worries about 287 but glad to hear it's a decent road

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287 is fine running, just the constant slowing down through little towns but you will be used to it after making the run on 87 from Raton to Amarillo. Mind those slow-down zones because some of them on 87 and 287 are the way those ghost towns pay the bills. I could tell you a OweO level story about mistaken identity (DL # came back to a wanted man) and spending the afternoon in a shithole jail in Claude TX where I was fed a bologna sammich and unsweet tea... all because I got speed happy on the jog over from 87 to 287 on I-40 and didn't bother to slow down. Good times, but both roads are nicely paved and there is a volcano somewhere on 87. If it happens to snow you could ski down it and mark skiing in TX off your list.