Trip Review - Texas to Montana

Charles.maine · 07-03-2016, 02:29 PM

Well I did not get as many photos of the campgrounds as I had intended. Felt a little weird going around snapping pictures in full campgrounds. Might kind of make people get a little suspicious. So I thought I would go this route instead.

Trip in review:

Departed Fort Worth, Texas headed to my parents house in Canon City, Colorado. Total miles: 680 miles. Took us about 14 hours. Truck pulled the trailer like a champ. I was concerned about pulling over Raton Pass a little. This was no issue at all. Was about to run right about 70 the entire way with little to no wind. Averaged about 11 MPG overall. Only real issue was the road construction in Dalhart, TX. It is horrible especially if you are headed north on HWY 287. Additionally there is a low clearance under the train tracks which you can tell many have ignored!!

Day 2 we left Canon City and headed north to Billings, MT. Stayed at the Billings KOA. Only issues this day was the wind. Strong wind out of the west all the way from Cheyenne until just about the time we got on I-90 at Buffalo. Had to slow down to about 65 and still was able to keep right around 10.5 MPG. We did take the advise of my parents and took the E-470 loop around Denver. Traffic was horrible downtown. I was not aware of this until we were headed there but Billings KOA was the 1st ever KOA. I guess the headquarters for KOA is actually in Billings. Either way it was a nice spot. I think we stayed in spot 53. It was a little tight but there was a lot larger rigs there.

Day 3 we departed Billings and headed for West Glacier KOA. We took some back highways (3-12-191-87) into Great Falls then took I-15 up to Shelby. There was an actually cutoff at Valier however I was not sure what the roads would be like and I wanted to get fuel in Shelby to prevent having to stop in Browning. I had taken the advise of many on here as well as reviews and did not want to stop at Browning or Cutbank for that matter for fuel.
Rest Stop on I-15 near Dutton, MT:

At Shelby jumped on Hwy 2 and headed west along the south boundry of Glacier National Park. This was the second area I was concerned about towing after Raton Pass. But again had no issues at all. Landed that night at the West Glacier KOA. We were in spot 152. I was nice backing up to a wooded area with the road to the entrance on the other side. Traveling with dogs it was nice being so close to the fenced in dog park. Only real complaints were like every park the WIFI was non-existent. You have to be standing outside the office to get it. And the group tent was about 30 feet from our campsite. So 2 of the nights we were there they have shows and we had about 2 dozen people parking/walking right next to our campsite. However it was kind of nice the one night to be able to sit in my lawn chair under my awning and listen to the speaker. I could hear her clear as day.

Looking toward the northwest at our spot:

From our front door looking to the southeast:

Looking to the south:

After about 5 days there we headed south to Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park. We came down Hwy 35 to Hwy 93 which I did not like. Its a winding road along the banks of the Flathead Lake. I-90 and then Hwy 287 were fine. No issues. This park is enormous. I believe it is the largest we have ever stayed in. And they were completely full. We stayed there 6 nights I believe and twice our neighbors left and there was someone there replacing them the same day. I don't remember seeing an empty site once. With that being said though there was not a lot of traffic and no issues at all. WIFI here was great however they limit you based on what kind of site you have. More basic sites are limited to two devices and premium sites are 6 I believe. Little secret I did not know until I did it was when you run into this situation use an extender. We have one that we use to boost the signal within our fifth wheel and it only counts as 1 device. Laptops and cellphones all connected to it with no issues. Early in the AM were were even able to stream CNN while eating breakfast.
Looking to the south at our spot:

Looking to the north at our spot:

After our stay here we headed back to Canon City. Only real issue here was road construction coming into Rawlings on Hwy 287. Then on I-80 between Rawlings and Cheyenne there was construction with 1 lane in each direction open and 50 mph limit. Not a big issue actually saw my fuel mileage shoot up to around 14 going that slow. Again decided to take the E-470 loop around Denver. Added 14 miles I believe onto the trip however saved us like 30 mins if I remember right.

After a few days in Colorado it was time to head home. Again I-25 however heading south Raton Pass was totally different. I found it to be a little more difficult. Truck stayed in 4th gear and had no issues running about 55-60 mph up and over. No real issues but more difficult then it was going north.

Any questions let me know. One of the things I was really wondering about this trip was how the truck would handle the large trailer on such a long trip with various driving conditions. There were a lot of people that said cannot do it, you need a dually. I am not going to sit here and say that a dually would not be nice. Will my next truck be a dually, probably. However I can say that I had no issues towing this trailer with my truck and would not sweat doing it again. Truck started and stopped with ease. The only time I would say that I was a little white knuckled was in the wind. However I slowed down and the wind was no longer a factor.

BandJCarm · 07-03-2016, 02:34 PM

Outstanding report.

Suggestion: Don't go through Dalhart on 287. Stay on I-40 till Vega and go north from there to Raton.

Charles.maine · 07-03-2016, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Outstanding report.

Suggestion: Don't go through Dalhart on 287. Stay on I-40 till Vega and go north from there to Raton.

That still puts you going thru Dalhart...

BandJCarm · 07-03-2016, 02:43 PM

Yes.
I was thinking of Dumas.
My bad.

campgold · 07-03-2016, 08:07 PM

Thanks for the report! I'm leaving on my first long trip this next Saturday. I'll be going from Colorado Springs to Montana for two weeks. I'm from Texas and have done that drive from Fort Worth to Colorado many times!

RubberNail · 07-04-2016, 01:15 PM

Read your post with interest. I've pulled about 60k miles, including 2 trips to Alaska, with a 13.5k Montana 5th wheel using a 2007 GMC 2500HD SWB 4x4 Duramax with similar comfort and confidence as you. I've owned prior Cummins Duals, and while they do very well and have some strong points, never felt better than with my 2500HD, plus I can pull through the car wash and park at grocery store with no issues for me, or the neighboring vehicles. Having owned both, having pulled about 60k with each, similar size rigs, mountains and valleys, I see no reason for anyone to trade a perfectly good 2500 to get a dually. If I were to get another truck for the same purpose, likely would be the same truck in a 3500 SRW, but unlikely that will ever happen since mine does all that's needed and is paid for.

It's tiring listening to the 1 ton Dual people preach. Been there and done that, and no, you are not going to Hell just because you drive something else. That said with the Caveat, with any trailer, never exceed your rear gross axle weight rating, or you could make a quick trip there.

mdstudey · 07-04-2016, 01:28 PM

Sounds like a wonderful trip. I can understand white knuckles with the wind in Wyoming. I was heading home from Sturgis one year and had a gust of wind move me on my Heritage Springer from my lane to and almost into the ditch of the opposite lane. Scary stuff.

CJnDD · 07-04-2016, 07:40 PM

Charles.maine, we may be taking a trip in the future on the same route you took.
I have a question...why not fuel in Browning or Cutback?

Charles.maine · 07-04-2016, 07:42 PM

Just a rough area. Especially Browning, it's on an Indian Reservation. Look at the reviews of some of the gas stations and you will understand.

Jestercyco · 07-04-2016, 07:51 PM

I've taken the same trip to see our son in Montana. It was wonderful and with our new 5er last year. Wasn't the it a great experience? We're were gone three weeks. Went to glacier park and stayed at the Koa in Missoula Mt. What a great spot.
Jester

rainsmik · 07-05-2016, 10:11 AM

Outstanding report!! which I really appreciate.

I am heading that way in a couple of weeks but I am confused. My maps don't show 287 going through Dalhart. My maps show that 87 goes through Dalhart and 287 goes through Dumas. Is the problem, low clearance and construction in Dalhart or Dumas? I am looking for a route around the problem.

Major Oz · 07-05-2016, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainsmik

Outstanding report!! which I really appreciate.

I am heading that way in a couple of weeks but I am confused. My maps don't show 287 going through Dalhart. My maps show that 87 goes through Dalhart and 287 goes through Dumas. Is the problem, low clearance and construction in Dalhart or Dumas? I am looking for a route around the problem.

I was trapped there about two months ago, pulling my 26fkws.

It is a horrid mess, with only ONE road crossing the tracks......ONE !

And that is the one they are fussing with -- one man with a shovel and six watching.

And the side streets have Fulda Gap tank traps for water runoff at each intersection.

Avoid it at all costs.

Merlin14 · 07-05-2016, 12:05 PM

Great report and pics always make them better.
Thanks for posting it and sharing your experiences.

Charles.maine · 07-05-2016, 03:22 PM

Sorry for the confusion but we took Hwy 287 to Dumas and then jumped on Hwy 87 to Raton. The horrible construction is in Dalhart pretty much the entire length of the city limits. Going south is not as bad as north. North is horrible.

texasbuckeye · 07-06-2016, 10:06 PM

Construction is ridiculous ! ! Completely through town and many impatient drivers cutting across neighborhoods and then trying to get in front of cars. Went through yesterday. 5 days in Yellowstone, 5 days in Idaho, 4 days in Montana, and 3 days in Wyoming . . . had a great time. If you get close to Arco, Idaho . . . Mountain View RV park is nice and you won't find better ribs anywhere ! ! Also, the huckleberry cheesecake to die for ! !

rainsmik · 07-07-2016, 12:53 PM

How much delay are we talking about in Dalhart? I was planning on spending the night there as it is close to the maximum I like to drive each day. The next rv park involves about a a 30 mile detour to avoid Dalhart. Is it worth it?

texasbuckeye · 07-07-2016, 01:24 PM

We spent the night on the way up from Ft. Worth. The jam is getting through the light. The campground was a right turn from the light, so in the morning, we turned right and traffic wasn't bad leaving town. Just got to get past that light.

Charles.maine · 07-07-2016, 06:42 PM

We went through mid morning. I would say a good 30 min delay.

rmoore0852 · 07-08-2016, 04:54 PM

I live in west TX and just returned from a Colorado trip. Yup, the construction traffic in Dalhart is terrible, the whole town is torn up right now. Plus the hills around Raton Pass kill your fuel mileage and time.

Let me suggest an alternate route that worked very well for us last week. NB out of Amarillo, take 287 through Dumas. You continue north through the Oklahoma panhandle. In Lamar Colorado turn straight west on US 50 to Pueblo, where you pick up I-27. This route only adds about 20 miles to the trip and I got considerably better fuel mileage and made better time. By avoiding the mountains around Raton, I maintained 10.1 mpg and just left the cruise control set on 65 the whole way. I will never go through Raton and Dalhart again.

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