Let's see...... take 160 east through Pagosa Springs, then up and over Wolf Creek Pass, and down to Monte Vista and pickup Hwy 285 north. The is an easy drive towards Poncha Pass, and Poncha Pass isn't all that bad.
Down the north side of the pass to Poncha Springs and then north to Johnson Village. This section of road is rolling hills.
From Johnson Village the highway turns east and climbs to the top of Trout Creek Pass. This section winds and curves around as it follows the canyon, it isn't all that bad, just a bit frustrating as there are few places for people to pass you.
After cresting Trout Creek Pass you drop down into the western edge of South Park. Here the highway is "flat" but still following along the foothills as you head into Fairplay.
North of Fairplay you climb Red Hill Pass, more like a bump in the road and continue on to Jefferson where you start to climb Kenosha Pass. The climb isn't bad, but the north side is all downhill to Grant. The highway is very beautiful along here.
From Grant you follow the river for a while, still relatively flat, until you get to Indian Hills. From there to C-470 it is all downhill.
You shouldn't have any problems at all with your rig.
Rich,and Tobi (the rescued dog)
Prowler 5ver, 84 Ford F250 KCOCOLOR78 Weather
Colo. Spgs. CO
"Beautiful drive -- but you might look at going thru Leadville on Rt24 to I-70."
Going through Leadville is going to add more climbing. Leadville is at about 10,000 ft elevation and Buena Vista is about 7,900 ft. But then you have to climb Tennessee Pass which is not bad but you go down to Minturn and through Vail which is about 8,150 ft and then have to climb Vail Pass, 10,666 ft, from the west which is the harder climb.
If you want to go to Leadville, which is very interesting, a lot of mining history, a easier route is go from Leadville on Highway 91 over Freemont Pass, 11,318 ft, and get on I-70 at Copper Mountain for the drive to Denver. But I-70 adds the climb from Silverthorne to the Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial tunnels, 11,158 ft, which is a long and high climb. The only advantage to I-70 is that it is 4 lanes.
Going Highway 91, Freemont Pass, you miss Vail but to be honest Vail is not RV friendly. And while Vail is a great ski area the views in Vail are not as good as Leadville, etc. Unless you like to see a lot of very expensive houses, and condos.
The most direct route and probably the easiest is Highway 285. From Buena Vista through Fairplay and South Park has great mountain views. If there is time stop at Fairplay and see South Park City. They have created a mining era town using real buildings that have been moved from old mining camps and towns in that region. The climb over Kenosha Pass, 10,001 ft is not bad.
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