11 Things NOT to Do When Driving in Colorado

Hey everybody, my name is Matt with We're in the Rockies and I'm standing here overlooking a beautiful reservoir in Frisco, Colorado. In this video, I'm going to give you the don'ts of driving in Colorado. If you're visiting Colorado for the first time, you want to pay attention to these don'ts because there are some things you need to know. And the first don't is don't look down. Hey, I'm looking down! You're going to be on some extremely high roads with sharp ledges that are just dropping for thousands of feet. It is going to be an intense experience on some of these roads. So I say don't look down if you're scared of heights. You don't want to be looking down off of that ledge. Make sure to get to some of these wonderful drives. They're just amazing and they go all over the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. There are several, several drives that get to over 10,000 feet above sea level with just incredible majestic canyons and mountain peaks all around you. But if you're scared of heights, don't look down. Okay, the next don't is don't forget to look up while you're driving through this incredible state. Make sure you're taking a look at those towering mountain peaks surrounding you. You will be seeing some of the tallest mountain peaks in the lower 48 states. The tallest peak in Colorado is Mount Elbert and it's the second tallest peak in the lower 48. Just for comparison on some of these drives and some of these majestic peaks, I looked up what some of these mountain passes were in Canada and some of the tallest mountain passes were like half of the height of the mountain passes in Colorado. I mean, it's crazy how tall and how high up you are here in the thin air of Colorado. Okay, the next don't is don't forget to fill up. When you get into these mountains, some of the towns can be pretty spread apart and even though they might look close on the map, it could take a long time to get there as you're winding through the mountains. According to the map, we've only gone about four inches. I always try to remember to fill up on gas when I am driving around the west when I have about somewhere between a half and a fourth of a tank of gas left. Because sometimes if you forget to fill up when you've got a fourth of a tank, it might be quite some time, like a hundred miles before you get to a gas station. So just remember when you're driving around the west in general, fill up on gas. Always keep an eye on that. Okay, the next don't is don't hit wildlife. Well, obviously you don't want to hit the wildlife, but the thing is you just need to keep an eye out for wildlife because you are driving around in the mountains and there could be bighorn sheep or other animals that come out in front of you really at any moment. I am standing right here on Gwenala Pass. Behind me is the city of Georgetown, Colorado. This is a big area for bighorn sheep crossing. In fact, just down here there's a viewing place that you can look at the bighorn sheep on the mountain as they're walking by. Especially keep an eye out at dusk and in the evening because that's when they're more active and that's when it's harder to see them. So you really need to be on guard at those times for sure. Okay, the next one is don't ride your brakes. Oh my gosh, I am standing here in Gwenala Pass right now and behind me is I-70. I-70, the main freeway that's running through the Rocky Mountains and you can see it's going downhill and it goes downhill for a long time. And I have been smelling brakes, burned up brakes all over the place here, both on this road that I'm standing on and on I-70. People just riding their brakes all the way down the hill. So just remember, you're going to burn your brakes up if you just have your foot on the brake the entire time. You need to put your vehicle in a lower gear. Now my son last night, I was mentioning this, my son said, well, that's only on a manual transmission, right? And I said, no, even automatic transmission cars will have an option to put it into kind of a standard type gear and you can downshift a little bit. A lower gear will help your vehicle ride down the hill a little slower and you won't have to hit your brakes as often. You're still going to need to hit your brakes, but not quite as often. So don't burn those brakes up. That's a really common rookie mistake for people driving in the mountains. Okay, the next one is don't assume your RV can go anywhere you want. There are plenty of mountain passes. You can see this road behind me. This is Gwanella Pass. I don't know the RV restrictions for this road specifically, but you will see signs that say certain roads are limited to longer vehicles. We drove Independence Pass earlier on this trip and I believe the length limit there was 35 feet. So if you're in an RV, make sure to check your route before you go. I think there's probably GPS devices or services or apps or whatever that will help you know which roads you can drive on in an RV or not. But even if you can drive on it, even if legally you can drive on it, make sure you're comfortable being able to get around tight turns and stuff like that in your RV because you're going to find plenty of roads like that around here. Don't forget about afternoon mountain thunderstorms. When we started our drive this morning on the Trail Ridge Road, it was crystal clear and beautiful. But it's around 11 o'clock and I can hear thunder and I know a storm is coming. And so when you're in Colorado, I mean, there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. So be prepared for those afternoon thunderstorms. Have your rain jacket, have your warm clothes, maybe your umbrella, and just make sure you are prepared for those mountain thunderstorms. The next don't is don't rely on cell connection. You are deep in the mountains often in Colorado and this is a general rule for the West is just don't plan on having cell connection everywhere you go. There are plenty of places where you're kind of off the grid. Now most of the towns are going to have cell connection, but as you're going from town to town, you probably won't in many places. I always carry an atlas. I know it's old school to have a paper map and an atlas and all that, but I always have one under my seat just in case I need it. I rarely need it, but you never really know when you're going to need it. So don't plan on cell connection. Okay, the next one is don't think you have the right of way all the time. When you are coming up and down these canyon roads, a lot of times you'll be coming around some sharp turns like this, so make sure to keep your eye out. And then sometimes the roads are narrow enough that somebody kind of has to pull off to the side of the road so that the other person can get through. The general rule there is that the person coming up the road has the right of way. Now that's kind of the general rule, but I don't think most people really know that rule. And so you just kind of navigate it and figure it out among the two of you if there's a really sharp turn or if there's a really narrow section where you have to pass each other. Now what I have normally found is that the person closest to the wall actually gets over like as close as they can to the wall so that the other person can pass. Now this isn't a road that you would see that on, but you do see that occasionally when you're coming around some sharp turns or you've got these really narrow spots where the two of you have to navigate a pass. Usually the person closest to the wall just gets as close as they can unless the other person drives by. Okay, the next don't is don't drive too fast or at least don't plan on driving really fast all the time. So if you're looking at the map or whatever and you see that something is like 40 miles away, you might think, oh, it only takes an hour or so, but it might actually take a lot longer because you're dealing with roads like this where you're squiggles and you're having to go slow around bends or slow up hills or whatever. So just don't plan on driving too fast. This is the Trail Ridge Road here in Rocky Mountain National Park. The speed limit here is 35 miles an hour. The road is 48 miles long. So that means it takes quite a while to drive those 48 miles at 35 miles an hour. And as you can see, it's coming downhill here and I can smell those brakes burning. So people have been riding those brakes down the hill. Remember to downshift when you're coming down the hills. The next don't is don't fear the altitude, but also don't underestimate it. So people, you flatlanders, I know there's a lot of you flatlanders watching this. It's a significant change to go from zero sea level or whatever all the way up to at times here, 14,000 feet above sea level. Denver is the mile high city and it's incredible that you could be three times as high as Denver here almost in Colorado. Many, many people visit from the coast and they handle the altitude just fine, but don't underestimate it. The general rule of thumb is don't drink too much alcohol or maybe any for the first couple of days when you get to Colorado. And then also drink a lot of water to be prepared to deal with the heights. The person in Breckenridge told me that's the number one problem that she deals with at the visitor center there is people having altitude issues. You get a little dizzy, really thirsty, kind of lightheaded, things like that. So take it easy, ease yourself in, drink a lot of water. Don't be too afraid of it. People handle it. It's just fine. But, you know, be prepared to deal with it. The last one is don't miss our Colorado playlist. We'll put a link to it on the screen here. Thank you so much for watching and until next time, go West, young traveler.