Home > Blog > Holidays > Colorado I-70 Travel Tips

Traveling to the mountains can be quite the daunting task, especially for the unprepared. Having to rent a car, predict the weather, dissect current construction closures, and gauge traffic conditions can be truly tolling after an already long day of air travel. Having all of these things in mind, the hands down the best travel option will be to take a shuttle to the mountains. Doing so will cut down on the stress and cost of driving you and your family through the traffic and weather conditions on I-70, and you’ll be able to relax and enjoy the mountain vistas in a fully equipped Mercedes Sprinter as you venture your way up in elevation.

Inclement Weather

Winter weather can prove to be the most challenging portion of traveling to the mountains.  Colorado’s weather can change in an instant and it’s not abnormal for loads of snow to dump on I-70 and slow up the traffic tremendously.  These winter conditions are magnified when you are in two-wheel drive sedan with standard tires – the fairly standard rental car.  Throw your stress out the window and ditch the rental car. Our shuttles come with expertly trained drivers cruising in vehicles with the best snow tires on the market in addition to having chains on-board in case conditions get rough.

Colorado Winter Travel

Construction

Come summer the weather will have subsided, but the running joke of Colorado only having two seasons (winter and construction) remains true. Construction can cause hour or more delays and diversions that hold you back from reaching your destination in a timely manner. For this reason, it is easier to instill faith in a professionally dedicated team as our trusty dispatchers will reroute vehicles on the fly, ensuring the most efficient routing possible.

Alternate Routes

With all the potential issues that can arise to close the popular I-70, there are some alternative routes available that will still get you to the mountains.  US 285 from Denver to Park County is the most popular when traveling to Summit or Eagle Counties, and diverting vehicles on US 24 to meet I-70 near Minturn is the go-to when Vail Pass shuts down.  Neither of these routes are as safe and quick as I-70, but they’re really the only option on a holiday weekend in the summer or snowy day in the winter if you absolutely need to travel.

Colorado Highway 285

Traffic

Where do we start?  Don’t travel westbound on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings, don’t travel eastbound midday on Sundays, and plan your holiday vacation around non-peak holiday days.  If the 4th of July falls on a weekend, take some snacks and maybe some paint and canvas cause you’ll be slowly crawling along I-70 for hours trying to get up to Summit County or the Vail area.

Transportation Availability

If you do plan on renting a vehicle for your travels, do not delay! Suitable vehicles book up months in advance when it comes to the winter season and you will not want a family of five in a small sedan packed to the brim with ski gear during a winter storm. If you are looking at transportation outside of a shared shuttle and rentals, Uber or Lyft may sound like good options but availability is scarce as the mileage is very high in addition to a lot of vehicles not being equipped to handle such conditions.  Not to mention, these drivers don’t go through any training prior to hopping in their car and chauffeuring guests around.

Regardless of the situation, your best option is to trust the pros at Peak 1 Express for your private and shared shuttle needs, as it the safest and most affordable ride to the Rockies.