To The Far Blue Mountains
Westbound: I-70 just west of Genoa, Colorado
The sign up ahead reads: Limon 9 Miles; Denver 95 Miles
Pikes Peak straight ahead. 90 miles from here. A week’s travel in 1870.
The New American Digest
For Followers of Gerard Van der Leun's Fine Work
A great view, but for getting to Denver (and beyond) from IL, give me old US-36 across MO and KS. Great scenery, fantastic folks in the small towns …but be prepared to spend 15-20 minutes talking to them once you start !
(and when you get to the curve where 36 drops down to I-70, stay straight ahead on the county road to Strasburg, you can continue on 36 for about 12 more miles before having to deal with I-70 thru Denver [UGH!] )
My favorite route as well but sometimes “time is of the essence”.
I don’t live near Denver anymore but I often drop down from Lincoln to St Joe and take 36 across Missouri to I-72 in Illinois when I head back east.
My personal best is Limon to Jacksonville IL in 12:15.Stops in Smith Center KS and Hiawatha KS for bathroom break and gas.
Hang a left at Limon and you get a twisty road that takes you to Colorado Springs.
70 from Denver to Salina is quite a stretch. Hang a big right in Salina and I can be home in just over an hour.
Ah yes US-24 With the towns named for Indian ( country not tribes) towns. Story is that the wife of a RR baron was travelling the RR across there and named them.