Route 34 from Estes Park through Loveland Pass

[hhornig]

Thinking of taking this route with an SUV. Any problems this time of year?

[Busskipper]

Thom02099 wrote:

hhornig wrote:
Sorry, I meant to say Loveland, CO; not the pass. We are going East from Estes to Ft. Morgan.
Google maps shows this as a straight shot, although I know it has quite a few wiggles in the road. I am concerned more about road work on 34.

Ahhhh...you're in luck! It's a beautiful drive down the Big Thompson Canyon on US 34 to Loveland. All the road construction has been completed, any work CDOT is still doing is landscaping and off road work. You'll be primarily in a single file lane going down, but there are a lot of pull offs in case cars back up behind you. And there's a goodly number of climb lanes for the up canyon folks. I'm usually in 2nd or 3rd gear manual shift and rarely have to touch my brakes.

When you get to the Cherry Pie/Jelly place as you head down, you'll be entering the Narrows, a portion of the roadway that is indeed a bit narrow, but reconstructed from the flood of '13. Lots of twisties in the Narrows, 20MPH speeds. Once you get all the way down, you'll know it by the very large aquaduct pipe that crosses over the road and river. There's a pull off there at the Dam Store, next to..yes, a dam, and a neat waterfall with a tower to climb to get a good view, if you're so inclined to stop.

Good Info ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Thom02099]

hhornig wrote:
Sorry, I meant to say Loveland, CO; not the pass. We are going East from Estes to Ft. Morgan.
Google maps shows this as a straight shot, although I know it has quite a few wiggles in the road. I am concerned more about road work on 34.

Ahhhh...you're in luck! It's a beautiful drive down the Big Thompson Canyon on US 34 to Loveland. All the road construction has been completed, any work CDOT is still doing is landscaping and off road work. You'll be primarily in a single file lane going down, but there are a lot of pull offs in case cars back up behind you. And there's a goodly number of climb lanes for the up canyon folks. I'm usually in 2nd or 3rd gear manual shift and rarely have to touch my brakes.

When you get to the Cherry Pie/Jelly place as you head down, you'll be entering the Narrows, a portion of the roadway that is indeed a bit narrow, but reconstructed from the flood of '13. Lots of twisties in the Narrows, 20MPH speeds. Once you get all the way down, you'll know it by the very large aquaduct pipe that crosses over the road and river. There's a pull off there at the Dam Store, next to..yes, a dam, and a neat waterfall with a tower to climb to get a good view, if you're so inclined to stop.

[FunTwoDrv]

It's a great drive following the Thompson River. Somewhat winding and, of course, pretty much down hill most of the way. This is the route we take every year into and out of Estes Park.

Gary

[hhornig]

Sorry, I meant to say Loveland, CO; not the pass. We are going East from Estes to Ft. Morgan.
Google maps shows this as a straight shot, although I know it has quite a few wiggles in the road. I am concerned more about road work on 34.

[Thom02099]

hhornig wrote:
Thinking of taking this route with an SUV. Any problems this time of year?

If you mean US 34/Trail Ridge Road west from Estes Park through Rocky Mountain National Park (Loveland Pass is not on this route), then the answer is currently no. Two reasons. First, RMNP is still closed to all entry due to the coronavirus and is expected to begin a phased reopening on 05.27.20 Source Here from ROMO Second, Trail Ridge Road itself is not yet plowed through and open yet. They typically shoot for a Memorial Day opening, but that's not likely to happen this year. IF it's plowed through, it MIGHT open for the season along with the phased reopening.

However, all travel into RMNP is being discouraged, to locals only, folks who live within 10 miles of the park. And there was a mention on news reports that there was going to be a limit of 13,000 visitors per day, but this was not clear how they planned to implement.

When it does open, it's a spectacular drive in an SUV, if you get up there before the crowds, in a normal year. There will be huge snow drifts that have been plowed through, walls of snow 20+ feet high. Some of the parking lots could still be closed due to snow not yet being plowed, and the Alpine Visitors Center is usually the last to be plowed open. In normal years, it's a great drive over to Grand Lake from Estes Park.

There are 2 passes on Trail Ridge Road - Fall River Pass and Milner Pass. Loveland Pass is on US 6 as an alternate to the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnels of I-70. Nowhere near Estes Park.

[accsys]

Now you got me confused! I thought the original post was talking about going from Estes Park to Loveland on US 34. Further researching I see that Loveland Pass is actually south of I-70 on US 6, nowhere near Estes Park or US 34 so I have no idea of what the OP was referring to!

[BarabooBob]

This is from the Colorado 511 site pertaining to Highway 34 through RMNP "
US 34 Westbound / Eastbound Trail Ridge Rd (Milemarker 26-51)
Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park is closed for the season and will remain closed until further notice due to ongoing Covid-19 concerns. To hear updated road status please call the Trail Ridge Status Line at 970-586-1222.

Four years ago I drove through RMNP in early June. 34 opened about June 1 that year.

[accsys]

We took it back in 2011 in our signature rig - a 40 ft DP pulling a Jeep Liberty, and had no problems whatsoever. The road is a little crooked but nothing alarming.