Road passibility - Santa Fe to Breckenridge

[Zed2]

We are considering driving Hwy 285, 24, & 9 north out of Santa Fe, NM to Breckenridge, CO. in July 2006. Anyone have experience with towing a trailer on this road. (We didn't anticipate the steep grade on Wolf Creek Pass in August 2005 and want to avoid a similiar experience.)
Thanks,
Keith

[Airstream25]

Originally Posted by Zed2

We are considering driving Hwy 285, 24, & 9 north out of Santa Fe, NM to Breckenridge, CO. in July 2006. Anyone have experience with towing a trailer on this road. (We didn't anticipate the steep grade on Wolf Creek Pass in August 2005 and want to avoid a similiar experience.)
Thanks,
Keith

Keith, What you need is the "Mountain Directory West" for Truckers, RV & Motorhome Drivers. It describes some 400 mountain passes in the western states. Find it at Campers World & other places.

This directory does have a paragraph on Poncha Pass near Salida and on Trout Creek Pass south of Fairplay. The descriptions did not seem alarming to me.

[Airstream25]

Hoosier Pass on Hwy 9 near Breckenridge is more of a concern however.
The Mtn. Directory West says the CO Hwy Dept. lists this as an 8% grade on the north side. The directory says there are 10, 15 & 20 MPH hairpin turns for about 4 miles.

[Zed2]

Thanks for the info. We will certainly add this book to our reference library!
Keith
P.S. Nice to hear from another 25'er

[InsideOut]

I've driven south from Silverthrone, CO to Chama, NM and north from Taos/Santa Fe, NM to Denver, CO on all those roads in two separate trips, covering the same route although not in one trip. There wasn't anything too bad from a pass standpoint...I do recall the pass between Cumbres & Chama on Hwy17 as being a slow go, but the roads were all good and this wouldn't be along your route.

Sounds like a great trip ~ I LOVE Santa Fe & Taos and actually Breckenridge for that matter!

Shari

[CanoeStream]

Looking at CampingWorld I only find this link. That doesn't look like the right thing. Do you have a more specific source? Thanks heaps ... and mounds ... and hill and dale ... and mountain pass ... and burning brake linings ... ULP!!

Amazon.com does have a number of returns on 'Mountain Directory West' but none newer than 4 or more years ago. I guess thangs aren't changing that fast. Thanks for the idea!

[Zed2]

Here is the publisher
http://www.mountaindirectory.com/index.html

Regards,
Keith

[Airstream25]

Originally Posted by Canoe stream

Amazon.com does have a number of returns on 'Mountain Directory West' but none newer than 4 or more years ago. I guess thangs aren't changing that fast. Thanks for the idea!

My directory is copyright 2004.

[mandolindave]

Hey Keith,
Maybe making the tough part of the trip in the cooler part of the day
would make your tow vehicle happy.

[pmclemore]

I traveled the northern part of the route (from Great Sand Dunes up to Breckenridge last fall. I do recall some pretty good twisties on the downhill side south of Breck, as mentioned above. But Airstream25 has it right - just slowly go and manage your brakes carefully.

It's a beautiful trip. We enjoyed a great lunch in a bar in Alma (neat old town) just before the pass. Have a great time!

Pat

[Westfalia]

Hoosier Pass is the pass on CO-9 between Fairplay (and Alma) to Breckenridge. It is a constant high altitude climb up from Alma, with a max altitude of 11,539. The north side of the pass as you decend into Breck is steep and twisty with a couple of sharp switchbacks. There are several good places to safely pull off the road to let your brakes cool and to let traffic pass, but if you keep it slow and in a low gear, you shouldn't need to worry about that.

I grew up in Breckenridge, and have traveled over Hoosier many times in many kinds of vehicles with trailers, and have never had a single problem. We crossed over it with the 19' Bambi just last fall.