Three Good Stops

Denver to New Orleans: where to stop

1298 miles, about 19 hr 17 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between Denver, CO and New Orleans, LA, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

Pueblo, COStretch your legs in Pueblo, CO · mile 132

The other 11 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

C•••••, NMstretch, meal · mile 269
D•••••, TXfuel · mile 320
A•••••, TXstretch · mile 452
C•••••, TXstretch, overnight, meal · mile 585
W•••••, TXfuel · mile 640
F•••••, TXstretch · mile 774

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How the days break up

DayMilesDrivingNight in
15858 hr 47 minChildress, TX
25868 hr 29 minOpelousas, LA
31272 hr 2 min—

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan Denver to New Orleans your way →

Questions

How far is Denver, CO to New Orleans, LA?
About 1298 miles, roughly 19 hr 17 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive Denver to New Orleans in one day?
Not comfortably. At a 9-hour driving day it splits into 3 days, with a night in Childress, TX.

Where is a good place to stop between Denver and New Orleans?
Pueblo, CO is the first one on this route.