We have been planning this trip for a while (we're originally going to take this trip summer 2023 but that fell through to other priorities). The original idea has been to drive, but coming from Katy, that is going to be 2 days just to get there. 2 days back as well. In recent weeks, I have really taken to the idea of flying. This will necessitate renting a car.

Our itinerary is tentative at this point, but Rocky Mountain NP, Pikes Peak, Royal Gorge, and western Colorado is included. I have also strongly considered driving into NE Wyoming to see Devil's Tower.

It has been years since I rented a vehicle other than through my insurance, so my question is, is this going to be insanely expensive given the amount of driving we are planning?

A lot of the cost will be based on what type of vehicle you get? How big of a vehicle are you getting? How many days will you need the vehicle?

Car rental prices from DIA aren't cheap especially during peak summer months. Doing the drive from Houston to Denver isn't bad through Amarillo and up I25. If you do a trip to RMNP area, NE Colorado and up to Rapid City and the Black Hills area, there are several attractions worth visiting in that corridor.

Trying to do that corridor and things in Western Colorado will be a long trip with a lot of driving.

Highly recommend checking out Ouray. It may be one of my favorite places in Colorado. The Ouray Perimeter Hike is gorgeous and they have a really cool Via Ferrata.

Check to see if your company gets special rates or even your credit card. For instance, if cars are available, I get any car i want for $42/day nationwide. I did not believe it, but I have used it about 6 times in the last 2 years and works like a charm, minus the Christmas/Southwest fiasco this past year.

The interwebs say Katy to Colorado Springs is about 15 hours so it is indeed one long day or two easy ones. Flying for you means an hour to IAH or Hobby, 2 before your flight, 2 on the flight, and 1.5 to get the car. So 7-8 really to get there by plane. The plane saves time, but not that much. Plus the plane limits your gear and stuff.

First advice is to taper your trip down a bit. Hitting the front range and mid Colorado in 1 trip is fine, adding Western (Durango, Telluride, Grand Junction) makes it a whole lot of car time. You would probably be better off combining the front range stuff with Salida, Vail, and Summit County. Between those there is so incredibly much to do you really don't need to hit Durango or Telluride.


So I would do this. Start in Springs whether driving or flying. Going straight to the top of Pikes Peak on day 1 will make everyone sick as heck so save it for the end of the trip. Instead do the Gorge, Skyline Drive, easy hikes, etc. Then hit Denver. Then on day 3 hit RMNP and stay a couple days. That way you are going up 6000 feet, followed by dropping 1000, followed by going up another 3000 feet. From there go to Vail or Breck. Summer there is just so dang good. Head down to Salida and raft, and finish your trip going up PP by rail, car, or hike. It is just so much better if you are somewhat acclimated and going from 0 (Houston) to 14k (PP) in one day will crush you.

If you tell me your group fitness level and makeup I can suggest some outdoor activities and secret stuff. Swimming holes, inner tube runs, river fishing, lake fishing, easy to intense hikes, easy to intense MTB rides, whatever you want.

Following

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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It has been years since I rented a vehicle other than through my insurance, so my question is, is this going to be insanely expensive given the amount of driving we are planning?

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rentals are unlimited miles.

If you are going to rent, you can save hundreds by taking the rail from DIA to a 'neighborhood' rental location as they call them. Takes off all the airport charges. You can even do a one way back to the airport, and it won't add the charges.

I do this often, most recently in nashville. One week rental from downtown nashville location back to airport was $250. Airport to airport was $450. Same car, same company, same dates.

Side story to this; we get to neighborhood budget rental place in nashville, it was 12:10, and they closed at noon.
I called budget and they transferred the pickup to the airport, which added the $200, I told them I don't think so, I was not warned that if I'm 10 minutes late than I have no car let alone given a courtesy call at 11:45 asking if I'm picking up the rental.
They took off the fees, but we had to uber back to airport ($25)

still saved $150.

by the time you factor in time spent at airport/flights/etc and additional costs I'd just drive. Leave Katy around 4a.m. and you can be in Colorado Spring that night. It's long but very doable and an easy drive all highway.

This past summer we took our 5 year old twins to Breck and drove. On the way up we stopped in Clayton, NM and on the way back we drove straight back to Austin County. I much preferred driving straight through and getting it over with instead of dragging it out. IMO when you know you're staying the night and breaking up the drive it opens it up to more and longer stops. I hate that. When you have the mindset of you're going to spend the day driving to get to the destination it makes the drive much more manageable and easier imo.

keep in mind the Pikes Peak Hill Climb race is June 23rd (awesome event to attend if you like racing) but the mountain will not be open to tourists for several days leading up to the race, and rooms around Colorado Springs will cost more that weekend

Use the idea above about renting off airport and go through Costco Travel. Incredible rates with free cancellation.

AustinCountyAg said:

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by the time you factor in time spent at airport/flights/etc and additional costs I'd just drive. Leave Katy around 4a.m. and you can be in Colorado Spring that night. It's long but very doable and an easy drive all highway.

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4am is unnecessary... you'd be in springs before dinner lol.

We've done south denver suburb to parents in Magnolia a few times.. can get it in 14 if we pack lunches. That's with two kids and 2 dogs, one stop for fuel, one other bathroom stop outside of big city where gas station is right off the highway easy off and on.

6am to 9pm going east.
7am to 8pm going west.
Summer time so dark driving.

For all the people saying he's doing too much you don't even know how long his trip is.

kids? ages? unless your kids are old enough to keep themselves occupied on a tablet its too far of a drive.

I agree with the consensus here to drive nonstop if kids can handle it. the time saved isn't much and having all the things you want in your car without the stress of packing for flying are nice.

SW/W Colorado should be a separate trip - just got back from Ouray/Durango/Silverton/Mesa Verde NP and 2 travel days and 4 visiting days wasn't enough. could have spent more time in all of them, added telluride, black canyon NP, etc.

As others mentioned, trying to do the front range and SW Colorado in one trip is probably too much, unless you are spending a couple of weeks. I'd pick one or the other, both have plenty to enjoy on their own and could easily do a week at each.

Aggie_Boomin 21 said:

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For all the people saying he's doing too much you don't even know how long his trip is.

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?????

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The original idea has been to drive, but coming from Katy...

Our itinerary is tentative at this point, but Rocky Mountain NP, Pikes Peak, Royal Gorge, and western Colorado is included. I have also strongly considered driving into NE Wyoming to see Devil's Tower.

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He's outlined a trip of 46 hours almost 3,000 miles, and that is without going into Western CO.

No he hasn't, the point of this thread was to ask about rental cars after flying.

If it's a week or less than I agree that's pretty tight, but he gave no duration.

Wow, thanks for all the input here!

So I'll put in a few more thoughts:

- I have been banking PTO time so as to allow for 2 weeks for this trip
- It will be my wife and I plus our 17-year-old daughter
- We're not the most fit folks around, but we're not slobbish Jabba the Hutts either. Light hiking trips should be fine but I don't see us hiking up Pike's Peak.

The original point was indeed to ask for opinions on renting a car if we are to fly to CO. Honestly, I can go either way on this. I'd love to fly, but I really would rather have my own vehicle for this trip. We'll probably end up driving.

I knew the extension up to Devil's Tower was likely a bridge too far, but I'm finding it difficult to imagine a time when I can actually travel to that site. Perhaps incorporating that into a separate trip up to the Dakotas might make that more doable? (Although there's no way around the fact that's going to be a hell of a lot of driving).

One of the "musts" for this trip is Estes Park, most particularly the Stanley Hotel, as my daughter is enamored with the idea of staying there (or just seeing it) for the connection to The Shining.

The western portions of Colorado are quite appealing to me. Telluride, Ouray, Silverton, Durango, etc. But then I think back to the early 80s when my dad took me on a driving trip that took us from Missouri City to Colorado Springs, then across the southern half of the state to Durango and 4 corners, to Arizona and the Grand Canyon, then back home across New Mexico - that was a long-ass trip, and I was so happy to sleep in my own bed once it ended. I guess my grandiose travel ideas come from my dad's influence.

Edit to add:

Driving non-stop sounds like a lot, but then I remember driving non-stop from Katy to Orlando with our youngest still in pre-school and her slightly older cousin, so should be able to do a similar drive with our daughter easily able to self-entertain.

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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I knew the extension up to Devil's Tower was likely a bridge too far, but I'm finding it difficult to imagine a time when I can actually travel to that site. Perhaps incorporating that into a separate trip up to the Dakotas might make that more doable? (Although there's no way around the fact that's going to be a hell of a lot of driving).

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do a black hills/rushmore/wind cave trip with devil's tower.

Based on what you said I wouldn't fly... mostly because the smartest way to do your trip would result in beginning and ending in different places.

It is 15 hours for you to get to Springs which is the start of any Texan's summer trip to Colorado. But it is only 16 hours to Durango. So since you want to go to both areas, you are better off starting on one side and finishing on the other. That makes it hard to rent a car.

You itinerary should be something like this. Drive from Houston to either Albuquerque or all the way to Durango. If you hammer the whole drive your second day sucks anyway since you are so beat up, so you might as well have a 12 hour day and a 4 hour morning.

Do your Durango things (Rafting, the train, golf, hiking) then go around to Telluride. Good hiking there, town is awesome (Telluride hiking is REALLY good).

From Telluride hit Ouray. I never found much to do in Ouray, but people love it.

From there head north and east over to Crested Butte. (Amazing town, just a relaxing place, Fishing the Taylor river, horseback from the place in Almont, town is great).

From CB head to Salida (rent a jeep, rafting brown's canyon or the numbers) or all the way to Breckenridge or Vail (my personal favorite). Try to hit Vail on a Sunday for the farmer's market in the main village. Sounds like a weird recommendation, but it is a great scene.

After Breck/Vail head up to RMNP and Estes Park (I actually prefer Grandby side but your daughter wants to see the Stanley).

After Estes head up 25 and over to Devils Tower. Once done with DT, come back through Denver and hit Springs. Go home from there.

If you spend a few days in each place you will burn through 2 weeks fast.

There are some awesome things to see and do in thr Black Hills but I would not drive out of the way to see Devils Tower....especially if I wasn't already in the Black Hills.

I can get from my home in Friendswood to my townhome in Breck in 16-18 hours - if I leave at 4:00a and arrive at 10:00p (gain extra hour going West after Texline) - it's not an exact science but is a guide for us depending on when I fill-up, stop at Braum's or have to pit stop somewhere.

There are roads in Texas that go 75mph so I'm doing 82mph in either my F-150 or Suburban and I usually fill-up in between Wichita Falls and Amarillo and again in Pueblo before I go up through Hoosier Pass.

Packing coffee and lunch is best so it's gas and pits only but CFA in Pueblo around 7:00p is good or we don't have Braums in Houston so it's a treat for kids for lunch around Amarillo at
12pm

My advice is drive up on day and drive home another day and then you'll have your vehicle and only be paying for gas (not including any pre-maintenance costs).

Just on the flying part if flying into COS they just added direct SWA flights from HOU. UAL also still flies direct to/from IAH once or twice per day.

knoxtom said:

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One more thing... Devil's tower is a long way away. Looks cool, but that is so much vacation time wasted in a car and it is not very close to Colorado. Seeing it will be an entire day of your vacation with over ten hours of it driving through the crappy parts of Wyoming.

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Devil's Tower pairs well with Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, Sturgis, Wall Drug, Crazy Horse Memorial. That's 3-4 days right there.

I made the trip between Austin and Colorado (Springs/Denver) many times by car.

In the old days when the kids were ages 0-7, it used to take us about 14 hours with lower speed limits and stopping regularly. These days with higher speed limits and a 17 y/o, it would take you much less.

We used to break it into 2 days with one 6 hour day and one 8 hour day stopping in Lubbock or Amarillo depending on which way we were going.

We also took the eastern route via Salina, KS once when we towed a 6x12 U-Haul from Clear Lake to Highlands Ranch. That was a longer trip but really easy and really boring.

If you drive, you can stop at places like

• Canyon (I know a Class of 77 guy there who gives a pretty good tour of the local area)
• Capulin Volcano National Monument https://www.nps.gov/cavo/index.htm

You'll have to drive through:

• Texline - frankly, it's a trip knowing that you drove for a whole day already and you're just now leaving Texas. Knew a couple guys in the Aggie Band who were from Dalhart and Dumas. That's still in-state tuition, a million miles away from College Station.
• Raton Pass - much more interesting in the snow obviously but still scenic

If you did take the eastern route through Kansas, you'd approach Colorado Springs and see Pike's Peak from the east and in the right light conditions, you can see the "Purple Mountains Majesty above the fruited plain"

Another reason to take two days is to let your body adjust to the altitude.

I don't know your physical condition but as best as I can tell, everybody on TexAgs ranges somewhere between running 6 minute miles and weighing 300 lbs.

My family is mostly from Galveston County so total flatlanders and about as fit as everybody else in Houston. One of them took a ski trip with a church group and flew from Houston to Denver and then drove to Breckenridge. Going from 50 feet to 9600 feet in the span of 5-6 hours is a massive change and in that particular situation, the person had to be evacuated from Breck and taken to a lower elevation in Denver (turns out they had an undisclosed heart condition - well, we found out - in the medical clinic at Peak 8).

Likewise, I had another family member really struggle when we drove up to Mt Evans at 14,000 feet. Struggled with breathing and didn't feel well. On that same trip, my 5 y/o got sick and started throwing up at the top of Mt Evans. Very scenic trip but, a bit challenging with the health/altitude issues.

Last item on flying versus driving, if you didn't want to put miles on your own vehicle or something like that, you could rent a car in Houston and use that. As stated earlier, just don't rent from an airport location and you should be able to save a few $$$ in pricing and maybe fees they tack onto the bill.

I did a massive road trip back in 2018 from Houston up to South Dakota over to Las Vegas and back. I was driving my own vehicle and broke down on a Thursday night in Stillwater, OK. Limped up to Wichita, KS where I found an independent BMW mechanic who fixed my X5 by Monday afternoon. In that case, I probably should have rented a car but, I did enjoy driving that X5 cross country (even though I did get stopped for speeding, doing 100 in rural South Dakota).

Have fun on your trip, I'm sure your daughter will love it. Also, check the Rockies schedule because a summer game at Coors Field is fun. Just be sure to dress in layers.

CanyonAg77 said:

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knoxtom said:

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You itinerary should be something like this

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Pretty good one. I might suggest the additions:

If they are driving hammer down to Durango, and will only start sightseeing there, ignore the next three paragraph.

Once you hit NM, you can go to ABQ, then to Durango vis Cuba and Aztec. Lots of things to do in ABQ, but the drive from there to Durango is pretty desolate. Some desert landscape is cool, but it gets to be a bit much. Chaco Canyon is off of that route. Adds quite a bit of time, but it's a unique place.

Other route is Santa Fe - Chama - Pagosa - Durango. I's probably slower, but it gets you in pretty mountains quicker. Santa Fe has been discussed here a million times, a side trip to Los Alamos is great for Manhattan Project buffs, and Valles Caldera is the prettiest place in NM. Abiquiu might be a stop for fans of Georgia O'Keefe, Plaza Blanca is a fascinating geologic formation.

Chama is a cool place, if you're riding the train in Durango, might not be worth your time, but watching the trains depart and arrive is fun for us train nuts. Drive from there to Pagosa is pretty.


On your suggested itinerary, you suggest Durango - Telluride - Ouray. I think I would go Durango - Silverton - Ouray - Telluride. About the same distance, and the drive from Durango to Ridgeway is pretty.

At Ridgeway, and on the road between Ridgeway and Telluride, you can access some filming locations for the John Wayne version of True Grit. Nice railway museum at Ridgeway.

You didn't mention the spectacular Black Canyon of the Gunnison Park. It's right along your suggested route.

And once at Salida, Great Sand Dunes is a long drive, but fascinating. Our kids loved going out on the sand

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Yeah, I didn't make any specific suggestions as I don't know what they like. I personally like Black Canyon but you really can't see any of it unless you are willing to do some pretty hard hikes. I also didn't suggest the road from Durango to Ouray as it scares the crap out of so many people. Thinking about it more, it is just so much better than the other way, unless you stop at Mesa Verde or ride the MTB at Phil's World..

Ridgeway is a cool town nobody knows about. Some incredibly rich people live there and no one mentions it. I am guessing it is so unknown because there aren't really any things to do or places to eat and the closest grocery store is in Montrose..

I also thought about the Dunes, but it is so far out of their way. If his daughter was 10 instead of 17 then it is a no brainer, but otherwise I wouldn't head that way unless Medano Creek is in surge.

Last thing, making it two days to get there and heading your route through Pagosa is smart. Pagosa is a great start to a Colorado trip

My recollection of Black Canyon of Gunnison, is that you can drive up to some pretty sensational overlooks, and not take a lot of time. I'm sure some of the harder hikes there would be spectacular.

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I also didn't suggest the road from Durango to Ouray as it scares the crap out of so many people

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Funny, it is far from the scariest road in Colorado. Decades ago, I suggested to a friend that he go skiing at Wolf Creek, as he'd never been there. Next summer, he came back from a trip across Wolf Creek Pass and told me I was out of my mind. The road scared him to death in the summer, no way he'd drive it with snow and ice.

Ten years ago, we took an epic trip to Yellowstone, and dropped back through Western Colorado. Some of the places mentioned are on the following threads:

Ouray:

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2326254/replies/36085629

"True Grit" locations

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2318527

Railway Museum in Ridgeway

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2318998

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2326253

Ridgway isn't a hidden gem anymore. Property values have risen about 400% over the last 5 years and the town has exploded. We just sold our old place there.

Just spent a week last Summer doing Sand Dunes NP, Durango, Ouray, Telluride, Grand Junction & back to my home base in Silverthorne (Breckenridge).

Either do the out of state stuff or the CO stuff, both are just too ambitious. Once in the mountains, the distances are not great, but the pace can be quite slow compared to 287 through the Panhandle. We barely scratched the surface of Durango in particular.

This was a vacation combined with some jeeping, so a lot of roads less traveled moving between the towns to enjoy spectacular views.

HollywoodBQ said:

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I Pike's Peak from the east and in the right light conditions, you can see the "Purple Mountains Majesty above the fruited plain"

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First thing in the morning as the sun is rising is the best chance to see it. This from this morning.

A couple options I haven't seen mentioned yet. You can drive solo and pick the wife and kid up at the airport. I move much faster solo.
Your proposed itinerary has seven stops. I appreciate trying to see a bunch, but consider one spot for multiple nights. Packing up all your stuff every morning and checking out of the hotel gets old. It is nice to have a 'home base' for a bit. It is also nicer to have stuff out of the truck when driving around.

62strat said:

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Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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I knew the extension up to Devil's Tower was likely a bridge too far, but I'm finding it difficult to imagine a time when I can actually travel to that site. Perhaps incorporating that into a separate trip up to the Dakotas might make that more doable? (Although there's no way around the fact that's going to be a hell of a lot of driving).

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do a black hills/rushmore/wind cave trip with devil's tower.

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This times 100. Devils tower pairs well with the Black Hills and even the Badlands. The trip to ND is a bit of an extra leg, but this trip makes more sense separate from CO. I'd focus on a loop in Colorado. Drive or fly, you can hit all NPs in Colorado and a bunch of other things too.