Has anyone travelled between Orange County and Pueblo, Colorado?

[Ladiver]

I am looking at making that drive in my R1S. It looks as if I could take the 40 or the 15. I have done long trips along the 15 but never the 40. How are the charging option along the 40 into New Mexico and the 25 N to Pueblo compared to the 15, 70, 25 through Denver?

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[Lrak1973]

I can tell you that there is a really nice level III charger at the Colorado City exit on I-25 north (Circle K) that will not show up on your native app. It is about 21 miles south of Pueblo and has a great view of the Wet Mountain Range.
I'll add a photo of it in just a bit.

 

[Lrak1973]

 

[SANZC02]

I am looking at making that drive in my R1S. It looks as if I could take the 40 or the 15. I have done long trips along the 15 but never the 40. How are the charging option along the 40 into New Mexico and the 25 N to Pueblo compared to the 15, 70, 25 through Denver?

It looks like an easy drive via 40 Using RAN and EA chargers, there is also a NACS Tesla SC in Pueblo. Longest stretch below is 172 miles but there are chargers between these stops including NACS Tesla Superchargers

Edit:

OK, I can’t help myself, I had to try more scenarios…??

If you only wanted to use Tesla, it is 40 miles further up 15.

If you have an aversion to EA, you can still use the 40 with just 1 EA stop

 

[Ladiver]

I have had decent luck with EA.

 

[JKDU]

When are you thinking of doing this trip? I ask because driving through I-70 interstate through the mountains (Vail Pass/Idaho Springs, etc) can be terrible traffic due to ski travel & snow. If you are planning the Denver route make sure you have snow tires (not just all weather/season or Pirelli AT). So the southern route through NM might be better if these are issues.

I did Denver to OC last summer through UT/Las Vegas and it was great using the Rivian Chargers. The only tricky portion was certain parts of UT (Ritchfield, UT in particular) where EA chargers were not very reliable. But I didn't have the Tesla Charger back then so if you have that then no issues. Just weather, mountain traffic to consider if you go through Denver.

 

[Ladiver]

I’ll be doing it next weekend or the following.

 

[Ladiver]

The southern route sounds better!

 

[JKDU]

Based on when you plan to go I would recommend southern route. Maybe not as pretty of a drive but it'll probably be much quicker when you factor in traffic and weather. Good Luck!

 

[Lrak1973]

Absolutely do not try I-70 on the weekends through Colorado, unless you want to waste an extra 6 hours at 5 miles per hour. It is essentially a parking lot. Definitely go the southern route, unless you are bringing your skis along, of course. Also, once you get to Pueblo, there is a level 3 charger at the Sam's Club on the north end of town where there is never a wait.

 

[BigSkies]

I've done Denver to LA on I-70 and I-15. It's an amazing and beautiful drive I highly recommend.

But I don't recommend it next weekend. It looks like snow over Vail pass most of the weekend, and you'll have to contend with ski traffic if you're in the afternoon or evening.

Consider taking the route through the mountains on your way home if weather and traffic allows.

 

[COMtnEV]

I've done Denver to LA on I-70 and I-15. It's an amazing and beautiful drive I highly recommend.

But I don't recommend it next weekend. It looks like snow over Vail pass most of the weekend, and you'll have to contend with ski traffic if you're in the afternoon or evening.

Consider taking the route through the mountains on your way home if weather and traffic allows.

Living up in the CO mountains, I would also recommend the southern route coming out. I70 was closed for multiple hours at least 3 times last week, including one 10 hour closure (there wasn't even active snow), and there aren't necessarily alternate routes. Too many jacknifed semis. As Big Skies says, the I70/I15 route is beautiful (until you get west of Mesquite). If you want to try it on the way back, take a look at https://www.cotrip.org/home for current road conditions and closure warnings. I also check a few of the cames along I70 to see if things are moving.

 

[Ladiver]

Thanks for all the feedback. The southern route is definitely the way to go. It will be a quick round trip, so not looking at spending any more time on the road than necessary.

 

[CO-Ed]

Prettiest drive, in my experience, is through southern Colorado (50). Regardless, depending on WHEN you're going to travel you're going to have to cross the Rockies. If you do that in Colorado, I agree, with COMtnEV, keep COtrip.org as a favorite to keep ahead of road closures.

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