CO and UT help

[mpsgolf]

I’m planning another trip through CO to southern UT potentially spring 2024.

I’m thinking late spring could be ok:
Before thunderstorms / hail in E edge of Rockies
After snow across southern CO
Get to southern UT before it gets too hot

Love to get some advice on best time. Alternate time is fall.

[Dennis C]

Spring weather in the Rockies cabin be quite unpredictable. It’s often warm and feeling nice outside in late April, but snow can come in June in elevations over 7,000 feet. I live in the foothills west of Denver at nearly 8,000 feet and we usually see snow in May and sometimes in June. The hail storms that you mentioned can happen in June or July, but usually it’s more common in June. That said, they’re fairly rare. In the last 10 years I can only recall a couple that really caused major damage to homes and cars.

I don’t think there’s an ideal window where you can avoid hot weather and avoid the possibility of severe storms. My advice is to pick the time you want to go and just go. You probably won’t hit severe weather, but if you do then you can deal with it as it comes.

[Vantair]

We just completed a 3week early May trip of the same. After winter, but still beautiful snow capped mountains and cool nights. Just before school and masses let out and back just before Memorial Day. Roads and sites not too crowded.

[Genebuilder]

Originally Posted by mpsgolf

I’m planning another trip through CO to southern UT potentially spring 2024.

I’m thinking late spring could be ok:
Before thunderstorms / hail in E edge of Rockies
After snow across southern CO
Get to southern UT before it gets too hot

Love to get some advice on best time. Alternate time is fall.

Having lived in and extensively traveled the areas you mention, I would have to say there is no “Goldilocks” weather window to aim for. Even though the Front Range Is a bit more weather benign than the Western Slope side, you will see snow and particularly hail as deep as July and August.

Living in Durango, in the “Banana Belt”, we saw snow (or not) Spring and Fall.

I’m sure many weather wise Airstreamers will comment this thread. My advice would be to study published regional weather histories, use you best judgement, and be prepared for weather you would not normally expect.

[field & stream]

From one who lives in Colorado, all of the above advice is very good. I will only add that April and October are far more likely to have tough weather than May and September.

[zackro]

There is no clear window in Colorado where you're free from snow but haven't hit hail season. Last year, we got 8" of snow in late May. It snows most Octobers at some point.

But if I were to pick, June and September would be my picks for high elevation and late May and early October would be my picks at lower elevation. May and June both have hail risks (it hailed last week, but it was small), and there's probably no getting around that. We've been very rainy lately at lower elevations, and many of those weather systems have dumped snow up high.

It all really depends on how much you want to avoid some snow up high on passes and how much you want to avoid hail/lightning. Late September is probably the closest thing to that goldilocks window that we have, but it's also frequently still hot, particularly at lower elevations (90+ F sometimes).

[masterfly]

Fall is best; Springtime in Rockies is highly unpredictable weather.

[SeeMore]

If you are interested in the Moab area, I suggest considering one of the Manti La Sal National Forest campsites north of Blanding, west of Monticello or east of Moab at the 8,000 ft elevation (+) for cool summer nights when the weather at the lower elevations exceeds 85 degrees come dusk. Few know of these spots and you won't need AC overnight as temps drop into the sixties after sundown.

Dalton Springs Campground
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mant...a/?recid=73250

Nizhoni Campground
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mant...a/?recid=72878

Devil's Canyon Campground
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mant...a/?recid=72842

Warner Lake Campground
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mant...a/?recid=73218