Denver → Arapahoe Basin
Denver to Arapahoe Basin Car Service
Arapahoe Basin is usually the last Colorado ski area to close, and it often keeps running into June. That is 89 miles and about 1h 50m from Denver airport, on a weekend when most of the state has packed the skis away.
Elevation profile
- Distance from DEN
- 89 mi
- Typical drive
- 1h 50m
- Elevation
- 10,780 ft
- Climb from DEN
- 6,710 ft
Passes on this route
- Eisenhower Tunnel 11,158 ft highest vehicular tunnel in the United States
- Loveland Pass 11,990 ft tunnel bypass, required for hazmat traffic
The season is the reason people book this drive
A Colorado ski season typically runs from mid-November through April or May. Arapahoe Basin usually goes past that and into June.
So there is a stretch of the calendar where this is the only ski transfer that makes sense. In May and June the rest of our mountain destinations are summer bookings. This one is still a lift day.
We give a range rather than last year’s closing date on purpose. Closing dates move with the snowpack, and a date copied from one season predicts nothing about the next.
89 miles, about 1h 50m
I-70 west from Denver International, then across the Continental Divide. Clear roads make it 1h 50m.
We do not publish a storm-day or peak-weekend figure for this route. Other routes have a verified one, this route does not, so the number stays off the page.
Keystone sits 4 miles further out at 93 miles. The two are neighbors, and the drives are close to identical until the last few minutes.
The tunnel and the pass above it
The Eisenhower Tunnel carries the interstate at 11,158 feet. Loveland Pass crosses the Divide the other way, at 11,990 feet.
Arapahoe Basin is one of only two destinations on our board where both roads are in play. Everywhere else it is the tunnel alone.
The pass runs 832 feet higher than the tunnel and hazmat traffic is required to use it, since those loads are not permitted in the bore.
10,780 feet at the base
The base elevation is 10,780 feet. Among the areas we serve, only Loveland Ski Area starts higher, at 10,800.
Denver is 5,280 feet. That makes the gain 5,500 feet, done in under 2 hours from a jet bridge.
A spring trip disguises this. The skiing feels casual in May, and your body is still at an elevation where medical guidance caps sleeping gain at 1,000 feet a night. Water helps most: 3 to 4 liters a day, starting before you leave the airport.
The traction law ends before the season does
Colorado’s traction law runs September 1 through May 31 on I-70 between Morrison and Dotsero.
Read those dates against a season that reaches June and you get an odd case: a lift-served ski day on a highway where the winter tire rule has just expired for the year.
While it is in force, the requirement is 3/16 inch of tread plus a snowflake, all-weather or M+S rating, on every passenger vehicle under 16,001 pounds GVWR. Fines run $100 plus $33, or $500 plus $157 for blocking the road.
Our tires do not change on June 1. A road at 11,158 feet does not read the calendar either.
What it costs
Arapahoe Basin is not on our published price list. Rather than borrow a number from a neighboring resort, this page gives none.
Tell us the date, the passenger count and your flight, and we will quote the trip. Published flat rates for other routes are on the rates page.
Late-season dates are worth asking about early, while the schedule is still open.
What goes in the car in May
Spring trips pack differently. The same skis, fewer layers, and often a group that has driven this road before and would rather not do it again.
Under 2 hours also means a third-row seat is a fair place to sit, which stops being true on the long western routes. Seat counts and cargo figures per vehicle are on the fleet page.
Give us the head count and the ski bag count together and the vehicle is settled before you book.
Getting back to DEN
The return crosses the Divide again, then drops 5,500 feet to the airport.
Eastbound I-70 fills in the afternoon in June the same way it does in January, because the corridor carries more than skiers. We build the pickup time from your departure, not from the drive time on this page.
What the price includes
- Airport waiting included — a delayed flight is not a rebooking
- Flight tracking — pickup moves with your arrival
- Your driver waits at the vehicle in the designated pickup area, not inside the terminal
- I-70 Mountain Express Lane tolls on peak days
- Child seats at no charge, on request
- Bottled water in the vehicle
- Gratuity — included, not added at the end
- Traction-law compliant vehicle, September through May
No meter, no surge pricing, no fuel surcharge. The number you are quoted is the number you pay.
Questions we actually get asked
- How long does it take to drive from Denver airport to Arapahoe Basin?
- 89 miles and 1h 50m in clear conditions. Winter weekends run longer.
- Which high points does this route cross?
- Eisenhower Tunnel at 11,158 ft, Loveland Pass at 11,990 ft. Weather closes them from time to time, and any detour adds time.
- Do I need snow chains or a special vehicle?
- Not in our car. Colorado enforces its traction law on I-70 between Dotsero and Morrison from September 1 through May 31, and every vehicle in our fleet carries compliant tires for the full season. In a rental it is your problem: the fine is $100 plus a $33 surcharge, and all-wheel drive alone does not satisfy the law.
- How high is it, and will the altitude bother me?
- Arapahoe Basin sits at 10,780 ft, which is 5,500 feet above Denver. Standard guidance above 8,000 feet is to gain no more than 1,000 feet of sleeping elevation per night — a transfer covers that in 1h 50m, which is why the first night often feels rough.
- Will our skis and luggage fit?
- A Suburban gives 41.5 cubic feet with all three rows up and 98.8 with the third folded. Ski bags are long rather than bulky, so the constraint is usually shape, not volume — tell us the passenger count, bag count and ski bag count and we will size the vehicle.
- Where do I meet my driver at Denver airport?
- Pre-arranged private cars meet passengers on Level 5 of the Jeppesen Terminal, at Island 2. Your driver waits at the vehicle in the designated pickup area, not inside the terminal.
- What happens if my flight is delayed?
- Airport waiting is included in the price. A delayed flight is not a rebooking.