Take A Break With A Salt Lake City To Denver Road Trip

By Megan Hanson

With the recent opening of our newest Salt Lake City campevan rental site, there’s never been a better time for a Salt Lake City to Denver road trip. A quick Google Maps search provides three main options, here are just some of the highlights of each!

Start Heading West on Interstate 80

Begin your Salt Lake City to Denver road trip by heading west out of Salt Lake City on I-80 and prepare for a 500 mile trip through the rugged and expansive landscapes of Wyoming. Just over the border, stretch your legs at Bear River State Park — perfect for a picnic lunch complete with views of the bison and elk that call the park home. Further down the road, you’ll find Fort Bridger, once a supply stop on the Oregon Trail, and the recreation-rich Green River area. 

Camp spots are plentiful at Seminoe State Park or the Medicine Bow National Forest, and you can’t miss the 60-foot-high granite pyramid known as the Ames Monument in Buford before heading to Cheyenne, Wyoming’s capital city. From there, it’s a quick drive down I-25 to Denver. If you have extra time, take a quick detour through Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park before dropping off your campervan at our campervan rental Denver location.

Avoid The Interstate By Taking Route 40

Running through the wilderness of Northern Colorado, US-40 works best as an epic winter ski road trip hitting many major resorts. While on your Salt Lake City to Denver road trip, stop in Park City, home to Park City and Deer Valley resorts, with Snowbird and Alta nearby as well. On the eastern edge of the drive, you’ll head straight through Steamboat Springs, with Winter Park, Keystone, A-Basin, and Loveland all options before you head into Denver. 

In between ski runs, you’ll drive through the red deserts of Western Colorado. Take a quick detour north into Dinosaur National Monument just over the Colorado border, where the canyon walls contain over 1,500 visible fossils as well as petroglyphs and other historical traces from eras long since gone. 

Head South To Interstate 70

Heading south out of Salt Lake City, it’s about 175 miles until you hit I-70, the main thoroughfare through much of Utah and Colorado. While it won’t take you directly through Moab, it’s a short detour for a great camping spot for the night before continuing your Salt Lake City to Denver road trip into the Centennial State. 

Many of Colorado’s great mountain towns lie on this road, including Glenwood Springs (stop for a dip in the famous hot springs!) as well as Vail and Frisco before heading into the heart of Denver. Other spots not to be missed include the hiking trails in the Colorado National Monument outside of Grand Junction, as well as Lake Dillon just outside of Frisco. Head through the Eisenhower Tunnel — or over Loveland Pass if you’d rather — and before you know it, you’ll be, sadly, dropping off the camper van at our Denver camper van rental location.

With so many unique features and destinations on each of these three routes, the hardest decision will be which road to take! Maybe it’d be easier to just take them all. We’re up for it if you are! Book your van out of the newest depot in Salt Lake City and hit the road today!