I’ve got to disagree with the ACA’s route. Its route makes for a very long, lonely, unshaded route with very few services.. US50 just a few miles to the south goes through many more towns and there’s more to see. From Pueblo, US50 goes through about 20 towns to Garden City, KS while CO96 goes through 3 or 4 in the 250 miles. There are a lot of places that have names on CO96 but they are mostly just that, names.
There’s also more interesting things along the US50 route. There’s La Junta which has the
Koshare Museum, and
Bent’s Old Fort. Lamar has a very nice little museum and Granada has the
Amache National Historic Site. On the CO96 route, you are closer to the
Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site (which is worth a very sobering visit) but it’s still 10 miles north of the highway which may be a bit out of the way.
Originally Posted by
barrypreacher
Has anyone tried to ride out of Colorado Springs on hwy 40 to 96 to 56? I wanted to drive from Colorado Springs to McPherson Kansas... & that appears to be the most direct route that should have some services along the way (hotels, food, etc.). I know that the first day out of CS could be a busy route until the main trucking route heads off north. Every other route that I look at adds a ton of miles. My wife will be driving the car (extra parts, support, tools etc.) & meeting me each day for lunch & hotel at night. Thoughts? Safety on those hwys? Thank you!
If you are talking about US40, that road doesn’t go through Colorado Springs. US24 does and you can take that to CO94 and then turn towards Ordway at Punkin Center (how many times do you get to type the name “Punkin Center”?) but, honestly, that is one of the loneliest routes you could pick for riding across Colorado. There ain’t nothin’ out there. Driving from Ordway to Limon on CO71 is mind numbingly boring and one of the few places in Colorado where you’ll find signs saying “No services for 71 miles).
I would suggest going south out of Colorado Springs to Pueblo (follow Fountain Creek to Fountain, then follow I-25 or do the dirt on the east side of Fountain Creek on Meridian/Overton Road). Then strike east on US 50 to Hutchinson, KS and strike northeast from there to McPherson. Hutchinson is kind of a cool place to visit (they have a salt mine you can tour) and this route is far more interesting and, more importantly, more populated. US50 has some traffic but it is generally a nice wide road with good shoulders, at least through Holly. It’s been a while since I’ve driven through Garden City but I recall the road as being pretty good even then.