Denver to Raton ~ Thruway Bus route?

[niemi24s]

I like it...it's certainly great scenery, but I think the idea was to use only public transit, if at all possible.

Thanks. I was asking for me. Unlike V-V, I think I'd rather hitchhike than take a bus!

 

[user 6862]

FWIW, just tested a booking from stations either side of Denver to Raton for this November and the last possible date of 9 Mar 2021 and no bus connection was shown as an option. CZ to Galesburg transferring to the SWC for the leg to Raton was the only offering. Maybe that means there won't be a Thruway bus connection for you.

Thanks for taking the trouble niemi24s, I have tried a couple of different options.
Denver to Oklahoma City gets 2 Thruway buses, first Denver to Raton, second to Newton, KS to OKC. Also tried Denver to Dodge City but haven't had good enough reviews on Dodge to stay a day, but it did get the bus to Raton and the SWC to Dodge in the price.

We would possibly spend 2 or 3 days in the OKC area, we visited once and really enjoyed the city and it's surrounding towns. If we did use this route here is our first of 3 options to get there.

LAX to SLO to Sacramento (maybe using the San Joaquin) to Denver to Raton to Newton to OKC.

From OKC I'm not sure yet, this is only the start of making a plan.

And if your coming to the UP is for the Fall colors, get here before the middle of October. Otherwise all those leaves may be on the ground under a layer of snow! And we do get snow up here. Got about 185 inches so far where I live with 5 to 8 inches in the forecast for Monday. Hot-diggity!!

Gawd Blimey (an east London saying), it's mid April and that's a lot of snow. Should that be Cold-diggity?

Yesterday and today we had sun and 27 C, early summer temperatures. No rain for a month and starting to look like the last 3 years which were declared an official drought. This is an area of big trees, many of the pines haven't survived the drought. We lost 5 pines and they will have been 100+ years old. The big oaks are also starting to suffer visibly, some of these are 3-400 years old. Still, climate change isn't happening is it.

Edit: is the middle of October a reliable cut off point for the Fall colours?

I don't think there are any realistic routes south from Denver other than I25.

I have been on the SWC and one of my favorite parts was Raton Pass. I think it's more interesting on the train than I 25.

I live in Pueblo and I wish the train would come here.
I would take the bus to Trinidad and ride the train thru the pass!

If we use the idea above we will go through the pass twice in one day more or less as you suggest, thanks for your input

 

[user 6862]

Thanks. I was asking for me. Unlike V-V, I think I'd rather hitchhike than take a bus!

Been there done that. Have met some wonderful people hitch hiking, also a few crazies... but you certainly get to meet people.

 

[niemi24s]

Edit: is the middle of October a reliable cut off point for the Fall colours?

That's hard to say. As the color change is triggered by both reduced daylight and temperature, I think it could vary by a week or two over the years at a single location. But in the Fall, both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan keep areas close to their shores warmer than areas farther inland. As a result, trees in Marquette (on the shore of Lake Superior) will start turning colors noticeably later than those around me (only about 25 miles away from Lake Superior).

Although Lake Superior never gets warm enough to go for a pleasant swim, it's so huge (2,900 mi³ of water) it acts like a gigantic heat sink for the UP. For our latitude we're warmer in the Winter and cooler in the Summer because of it. And in Winter, it's largely responsible for all the snow we get. There's a place about three hours from me that's had 285 inches of snowfall this year - so far.

 

[MARC Rider]

Yes it seemed obvious that the I-25 would be the route but hoped that it might have travelled further west calling at some of the more remote towns as part of a collection service.

Just looking for a scenic ride between the two places although bus right heading south down the I-25 may give a good view?

Thank you

If you've never been to that part of the country, even the ride down I-25 is pretty scenic. When I did my Philmont trip in 1968 with the Scouts, we got off the train in Denver, and they bussed us down to Philmont over the Raton Pass. For is Eastern dudes, it was like being in a different world.

 

[Bob Dylan]

That's hard to say. As the color change is triggered by both reduced daylight and temperature, I think it could vary by a week or two over the years at a single location. But in the Fall, both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan keep areas close to their shores warmer than areas farther inland. As a result, trees in Marquette (on the shore of Lake Superior) will start turning colors noticeably later than those around me (only about 25 miles away from Lake Superior).

Although Lake Superior never gets warm enough to go for a pleasant swim, it's so huge (2,900 mi³ of water) it acts like a gigantic heat sink for the UP. For our latitude we're warmer in the Winter and cooler in the Summer because of it. And in Winter, it's largely responsible for all the snow we get. There's a place about three hours from me that's had 285 inches of snowfall this year - so far.

I still remember the First (and Only!) time I was talked into swimming in Lake Superior by my In Laws from Thunder Bay.

Coldest I ever was, I thought I was paralyzed and this was in August!

 

[niemi24s]

I still remember the First and Only!) time I was talked into swimming in Lake Superior by my In Laws from Thunder Bay.

Coldest I ever was, I thought I was paralyzed and this was in August!

Late Summer is the best time for a dip in Lake Gitchie Gumee provided you know the trick. The Sun will, if it's not too windy, warm a thin layer of water on top of the frigid water below. But maybe only deep enough for a squirrel to enjoy a swim. However, a steady breeze will push that top layer of warmer water across the lake and pile it up, so to speak, on the downwind shore. To a depth of maybe a foot. And that can make for a fairly pleasant swim provided you stay in that shallow and warmer top layer. But let your feet hang down while treading water and numbness will soon creep upward from the toes.

Lake Superiors coldness is the basis of this line... "The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead" ... in this haunting ballad . .

 

[Willbridge]

I think most of us would do that too.
The reason they make the transfer at Raton instead of Trinidad, is because the bus can do the pass in less than half the time the train takes...that gives the bus a better, more reliable connection to the train, in case the bus is delayed for any reason.

That is part of the reasons. I worked on setting this up and we found two other reasons:

1. A better station, including supporting food, beverage, hotel services nearby in case anything went wrong.
2. Group travel between the midwest and Raton (think Boy Scouts) often blocked all the space through Trinidad.

ColoRail produced a brochure describing Raton and printed a Denver<>Los Angeles timetable for a while, as Amtrak had little interest in selling it. I've experienced being told on the national number that I shouldn't take it because the connection was too close.

 

[Willbridge]

I don't think there are any realistic routes south from Denver other than I25.

I have been on the SWC and one of my favorite parts was Raton Pass. I think it's more interesting on the train than I 25.

I live in Pueblo and I wish the train would come here.
I would take the bus to Trinidad and ride the train thru the pass!

If you are not already a member of ColoRail, you should join, as it's gotten a fair amount of attention to the alternatives for Front Range access to Train 4 and from the Midwest on Train 3. One alternative is rerouting the SWC via Pueblo. There are pros and cons to that, of course.

https://colorail.org/
That's been needed since May 1, 1971. One of the perpetual aspects of Amtrak has been just missing millions of additional people in markets that could be tapped with either short connections (later de facto "banned" by PRIIA) or through-car operations, combined with whining about the long-distance trains.

 

[railiner]

I never used a bus from Denver to connect to Train #3, but many times I did so to connect to No. 4. I even had a choice of routes...
I could take the Trailways at 2:40 PM that went via Colorado Springs and Pueblo to La Junta and connect there, or I could leave later, at 4:00 PM, and take the faster route thru Limon to Lamar, and connect there. Then it was a fairly short wait for #4 on to Kansas City, and sometimes back onto the bus to St. Louis.

This was in the '70's...

 

[FreeskierInVT]

I did the Denver to Raton shuffle last August, taking the Zephyr east and picking up the Chief at Raton to continue to Chicago. I opted to rent a car, leaving Denver early in the morning, and making a quick trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park to go sandboarding. I didn't have a ton of time at Great Sand Dunes, so in retrospect I should have left Denver even earlier or made it a 2 day excursion to try and explore the region a bit more.

The Hertz location in Raton is about a 3 minute walk from the train station, and its a small, family run operation. They said they try and stay open as late as possible if the train is running late since it makes up a big chunk of their business, but definitely call ahead if it appears the Chief will be late (especially heading east).

 

[justinslot]

Ah, I am gaming out a trip from LAX to DEN and as usual on this forum people have already addressed the exact question I was interested in!

FreeskierInVT, if you run across this thread again--how is the drive from Raton to Denver? Specifically, how extreme are the changes in elevation...I have noticed in recent years (driving from SLC to Park City and especially Flagstaff to Phoenix) that I have a really hard time not being terrified out of my mind when driving significant changes in elevation, particularly driving down steep inclines. (I'm from Jersey...it's pretty flat save for the northeast corner.) Of course if the Raton to Denver shuttle comes back, that won't be an issue, I'll just use that.

 

[railiner]

Ah, I am gaming out a trip from LAX to DEN and as usual on this forum people have already addressed the exact question I was interested in!

FreeskierInVT, if you run across this thread again--how is the drive from Raton to Denver? Specifically, how extreme are the changes in elevation...I have noticed in recent years (driving from SLC to Park City and especially Flagstaff to Phoenix) that I have a really hard time not being terrified out of my mind when driving significant changes in elevation, particularly driving down steep inclines. (I'm from Jersey...it's pretty flat save for the northeast corner.) Of course if the Raton to Denver shuttle comes back, that won't be an issue, I'll just use that.

It is Interstate-25, all the way...like all interstates, an easy drive, with easy curves, no switchbacks, relatively easy grades. Raton Pass will be the highest elevation, the whole way.

 

[justinslot]

Railiner--thanks!