I want to go railfanning near the moffat tunnel, on eaither side(preferably east) but i want to know, is there any good hotels or motels that boarder the track? hopefully not near winterpark, that gets real expensive, but any help is appreciated
Nothing west of the tunnel, except for multiple empty condo/timeshares that might finagle a “deal”. There is a Hostel in Fraser on US40. Your best bet is either Mud Season (May) or the off season which is now with school back in session. The snow starts flying soon.
CopCar spends his time on the other side of the tunnel (running at capacity), but I don’t think you’ll find anything there.
The east side is pretty empty of stuff. Of course, its not that far of a drive from Denver, so one could easily stay on the west side of the Metro area (Arvada, Golden, Westminster, Lakewood, etc.) and get an early start up to the tunnel (obviously, the east side is best in the morning).
On the West Side, I’d look into finding a deal on a Condo/Time Share like MC said. There should be plenty available right now. If not, looking around other towns on US 40 might be beneficial to you. Towns like Tabernash, Granby, etc. might offer decent motel rates. If I’m on US 40, it usually means I’m camping on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, so I can’t help you too much with whats around.
Just as an FYI, the road up to the east side is a little rough (actually, in the scheme of Coloradoan roads, its actually pretty nice…but compared to back roads in other states it may leave a little to be desired). I’ve done it in the cruiser before, so its not that bad. Still, something with a little clearance would make life easier.
BTW, autumn hits a little earlier up in the high country. Mid-September should be a good bet, but the peak does change a little every year. The east side of the tunnel, and the Moffat line immediately east of the tunnel has some nice stands of Aspen. Not sure when you were planning on heading up here, but that would be a pretty good time to go.
Good luck, and drop me a line if you’re in the neighborhood.
When I go up there, alway on the east sid, I just camp out…that area is busier at evening, night and early morning than at day. I’ve waited 8 hours for trains in the day after the wb zeph… of course… this goes back to the Rio Grande days before the U.P. (registered trademark ) took it all over. You’ll have a ball there…check out the blower that clears smoke on the east side after a train goes through…sounds like a jet
I stayed at the Winter Park Lodge on the west end. From the conference room in the hotel (where the meetins I was attending were held) I could see the trains entering and exiting the tunnel.
During swing season (now through early november) and mud season, the rates aren’t too bad.
dd
Thanks for the help…Is there like a “town” or something i can type into mapquest to get a map upthere?
See the map online at the Winter Park Mountain Lodge’s website at http://www.WinterParkHotel.com/map.cfm. Winter Park, Colorado and Fraser, Colorado are the nearest towns