We are in a 36ft Class A with toad leave Mt. Rushmore August 15, plan to be in Denver the week of August 26th and welcome route and RV park suggestions and especially RV park in the Denver area. Having been on the road for over a year sight seeing is not the highest priority on this particular route, just comfort.
The most scenic route from the Black Hills to Colorado is to stay off the interstate. I-25 & I-80 are a mess of traffic. We take 79 south from Rapid City, go thru Hot Springs, SD onto 2, southbound, through Crawford, NE then on south on 2/71 to Scottsbluff and on to Kimball then on down to Fort Morgan. CO, then take I76 into the Denver area. We like to stay at Jefco Fairgrounds in Golden off I-70. Its away from the rush of the city a bit and closer to the foothills. They offer power & water with a great safe, clean showerhouse and dumpsite at the park. It is a smaller park and much more reasonably priced than the nearby Dakota Ridge which is pricy and more cramped, yet a very well maintained park with full services. Jefco has 24 hr security guards so is quite secure. The last time we stayed at Jefco it was $30 per day whereas Dakota Ridge was $50+. Their phone # is 303-271-6600.
My daughter lives in Arvada so we are regulars at Jefco.
On the east side of town off south I-225 is Cherry Creek state park. We never stayed there but I did used to live in that area. Since it is a state park they may not have full hook-ups. That whole park along Cherry Creek reservoir is very busy, especially on weekends. The bad part about Cherry Creek is the area is highly populated with very hectic roads. But, you will find the whole Denver metro area is a very busy area.
There are a few other RV parks in the area, some north of the metro area near Fort Collins. Where you stay will depend on what you will be doing in the area. but over all not many. Most of the Rv parks in CO are in the mountains. If you are wanting to day trip into the mountains, Golden is the place. If you have family on the Aurora/east side of the metro area then Cherry Creek would be better.
balfre1946 wrote: from Mt Rushmore to Denver going up 90 then back west to 25 seems many, many miles out of the way. Why not just down 18 to hook up to 25?
Last time we drove up from Denver we just stayed on the most direct route and had no problem. Just get to Cheyenne and then take I-25, IMHO I will always try to get off I-25 as soon as possible -- Traffic and Just an un-enjoyable road. As long as you avoid arriving, in the Denver area, on the weekend, you should be able to find a spot in most of the parks -- the weekend will be crowded as the Kids are back in school.
BOL,
Busskipper
Maryland/Colorado
Travel Supreme 42DS04
MDX-FMCA--M&G Brake
States traveled in this Coach
Once again I would be MOST grateful for an actual reply to my question..going FROM Mount Rushmore TO Denver any suggestions about routes and RV stops please?
go south on 385 to Hot Springs, then west over to 85, south to 20 and west to I 25 and then south to Denver.
there's an rv park, Terry Bison RV Ranch, on I 25 about 7 miles south of Cheyenne. Can't tell you about anything close to Denver.
I think there's a good KOA at Ft. Collins.
TexasShadow
Holiday Rambler Endeavor LE/ 3126B Cat
( Sometimes ) BMW K75 on Rear Carrier
Jeep Grand Cherokee Toad
M&G aux brake system
Datastorm 3990
854 watts of solar power
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
If you follow my advice or Texas Shadows' you will go right through Fort Robinson State Park 3 miles west of Crawford, NE (right on hwy 20). Even if you don't want to do any sight seeing it is a good stopover with 2 campgrounds. One has full hook-ups and the other, down in the trees has just electric.
It is 120 miles from Rapid City to Crawford going down 385 but if you go through Hot Springs then down 2 it is a mite shorter so very doable in one day, even with a late start.
The drive on down to the Denver area is about 300 miles/5 hours if you drive the speed limit. I-25 has a higher speed limit but not a fun/comfortable road to travel (in our opinion). I'd rather take a beating that take that route!
Even though the speed limit on the state highway is 60 (2 is state), 65 on (20 is federal)federal highways you will have almost no traffic once you leave Hot Springs! I know it's hard to believe but we can drive the 70 miles trip to Scottsbluff and barely see 6 vehicles. We find that extremely relaxing! On what we call the "back way" 2 to Hot Springs then 79/385 north to and from Rapid City, we seldom see much traffic. 385 north from Chadron to Rapid City has much more traffic.
The Terry Buffalo Ranch just south of Cheyenne is no where near Denver but can be used as a stopover on the way south if you travel on I-25.
Another good stopover on the route south is in Scottsbluff, NE; right at the base of Scott's Bluff National monument (a huge sandstone butte). It is easy access from hwy 71 heading south towards Kimball.
There is also a KOA in Cheyenne. We stopped there once but the management wasn't too agreeable so we've never returned.
Even if you've been on the road a year I think you'll find a more relaxing route is a breath of fresh air and if you don't stop to see our beautiful Pine Ridge area this time through...who knows you may never return.
A "by the way"...you'll be leaving the Black Hills right after Sturgis Bike week so no matter where you go you may run into slightly more traffic.
Offline
