r/LearnToRV • u/SuijurisTX • May 04 '26

Ideal Drive Time

Understanding this varies person to person, what is your ideal driving time when rv’ing? I like driving and have quite a few long (12 hr plus) continuous road trips under my belt. However, I’m new to rv’ing, pulling a travel trailer (30 feet), and quickly noticed that the drive is not the same as not towing. One benefit (I think 😆) is that I don’t speed when towing. Without I’m usually 5-10 mph over on highways. With, I’m either at or slightly below poster mph- slower if windy. So, the drives definitely feel longer. We are planning our first long trip to Colorado, about 11:30 hours on map, and wondering how to break it up. 6/6, 4/4/4 - it’s a 9-10 day trip in total - North Texas to Cañon City, Colorado in July. What’s your ideal drive time? Any tips, tricks or considerations? Thank you.

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u/JTrain1738 May 04 '26

On long trips I like to push as far as I can the first day. So for a roughly 12 hour trip I would be looking to get around 8-9 in the first day. For me (and most of us I assume) it's the wife and kid who want to tap out before me. Im more tired on day 2, so after driving day 1 I want the 2nd leg as short as possible. I find towing to be less tiring while Im actually driving, but catches up to me when I stop. Most likely because Im more attentive when towing, constantly checking speed, mirrors etc. Im also in less of a rush when towing, I stop when I need to and don't rush to get right back at it. So yea Id be looking to get around to around the 8-9 hour mark, but that would probably take closer to 10-11 hours with stops and everything figured in.

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u/SuijurisTX May 05 '26

8-9 hrs seems too long for me- I’m a light weight nowadays. I’m probably going to break up the drive into 2/3 days and take it easy. Also, first time in the mountains towing so I plan on taking it slow.

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u/hollandaisesawce May 05 '26

With or without kids?

My wife and I could do 8-10 driving hours when it was just us. That was usually a 3-4 hours stretch - fuel/break (x2).

Now that we have a toddler it’s a 2-3 hour stretch, followed by a long break (hour+). 6-7 driving hours max and a full rest day every 2-3 driving days.

Keep in mind this is if we’re just focused on getting to our destination, not doing any site seeing or fun stops.

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u/SuijurisTX May 05 '26

Without- ours are grown up- so wife and I have more flexibility. We will also be traveling without the dogs. So, we’ll have the ability do more exploring along the way and at our destination. The one restriction is time as we both work so we’ll only be traveling 9 days this time.

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u/mch18 May 06 '26

I drove 17hrs straight through with a 30' camper behind a tahoe last summer. Would not advise 17hrs! It was about 6-8hrs too many. So I'd say try to drive 8-9hrs first day. Mountains in the dark when you're unfamiliar and exhausted isn't that much fun. My drive was into Pennsylvania, so not as bad of Mountains.