Origin
Aurora, CO
Late night in Aurora on Saturday
Local time
4:23 AM
MDT
Current temp
47°F
Unavailable
Live forecast
Trip from Aurora, CO to Brighton, CO
Compiled and reviewed by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy · Last reviewed Apr 18, 2026 · Editorial standards
Drive Time
34m
Distance
24.2 mi
39 km
Drive Score
6/10
Good drive
Same Day?
Yes, doable
Fuel Cost
$3
one way
EV Charging
Good
8 stations
Best Time to Leave
4 AM
0h 32m
★
6 AM
0h 35m
8 AM
0h 40m
10 AM
0h 37m
12 PM
0h 36m
3 PM
0h 37m
5 PM
0h 40m
8 PM
0h 33m
Estimated drive times based on typical traffic patterns. Actual times may vary with weather, construction, and real-time conditions.
Aurora, CO
Wikimedia Commons
Brighton, CO
Wikimedia Commons
Trip Overview
The drive from Aurora, CO to Brighton, CO covers 24.2 miles and takes about 34m behind the wheel. This route is realistic as a one-day drive if you keep your stops efficient.
The route leans on CanAm Highway, Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway, North Vasquez Boulevard for much of the mileage, and the overall profile is turn-heavy local drive. The longest uninterrupted segment is about 8.1 miles on CanAm Highway. At current regular gas prices, budget about $3.29 one way before food or hotel costs.
Who Is This Route For?
Weekend Trip
Doable as a same-day drive at 34m. Total distance: 24.2 miles.
Family Friendly
Moderate complexity with 0 natural rest stops along the way.
Solo Traveler
34m drive, comfortable solo distance.
EV Driver
0 DC fast chargers along the route. Coverage: unknown.
Scenic Drive
Turn-heavy local drive route profile.
Drive Character
Expect a 34m drive with frequent turns across 24.2 miles of local and secondary roads.
This route has more turning and local-road decision points than a simple highway run.
There are about 23 navigation steps in the underlying route data, so the final approach matters more than the middle miles.
CanAm Highway is the longest continuous segment at about 8.1 miles.
How Hard Is This Drive?
Expect a hands-on drive with frequent turns and local roads rather than long highway stretches. This route has several spots where lane changes, forks, or exits need your full attention. The trickiest moment comes around 1.2 miles in near East 17th Place.
Driving Effort
10/10
Focused - lots of decisions in a short distance, but it is over quickly
Balances navigation complexity with total wheel time.
This is a short but busy drive. With 19 decision points packed into just 24.2 miles, you will need to pay attention to lane changes and exits — but the whole thing is over in 34m.
Where does it get tricky?
The main spots that need attention: at 1.2 miles (East 17th Place): Lane positioning matters here; at 2.8 miles: Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here; at 6 miles (I 270 / Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway): Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here.
Critical Maneuvers
5 of 19 key pointsThese are the spots where you need to pay the most attention. Preview them before you drive.
7
1.2 mi into trip
|
~3m in
|
East 17th Place
Turn right onto East 17th Place
Lane positioning matters here
Use the straight / right lanes.
8
2.8 mi into trip
|
~5m in
Keep slight left at fork toward I 70 West: Denver
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
Exit 12A
Toward I 70 West: Denver
8
6 mi into trip
|
~10m in
|
I 270 / Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway
Keep slight right at fork onto I 270 / Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway toward I 270 West: Boulder
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
Exit 279A
Toward I 270 West: Boulder
8
9.3 mi into trip
|
~15m in
Take the exit toward US 85, CO 2 North: Vasquez Boulevard
Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one
Use the slight right lane.
Exit 2B
Toward US 85, CO 2 North: Vasquez Boulevard
8
15.6 mi into trip
|
~23m in
|
US 85 / CanAm Highway
Keep slight left at fork onto US 85 / CanAm Highway toward US 85 North: Greeley
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here
Use the slight left / slight right lanes.
Exit 12
Toward US 85 North: Greeley
Main Roads
| Road | Distance | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| CanAm Highway | 8.1 mi | 9m |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway | 3.3 mi | 4m |
| North Vasquez Boulevard | 2.8 mi | 3m |
| Heartland Expressway | 2.7 mi | 3m |
| Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Highway | 2.1 mi | 2m |
| I 225 | 1.1 mi | 1m |
| North Potomac Street | 0.6 mi | 1m |
| US 6 | 0.6 mi | 1m |
Longest stretch:
CanAm Highway
— 8.1 mi, about 9m
Turn-by-Turn Driving Directions
Step-by-step road directions between Aurora, CO and Brighton, CO.
1
Start on North Vaughn Street
80 ft
·
5 sec
·
North Vaughn Street
2
Turn right onto Toledo Street
0.2 mi
·
49 sec
·
Toledo Street
3
Turn slight right onto East 10th Avenue
257 ft
·
16 sec
·
East 10th Avenue
4
Turn left onto North Potomac Street
0.6 mi
·
1 min
·
North Potomac Street
Use the straight / right lanes.
5
Continue on North Fitzsimons Parkway
0.3 mi
·
40 sec
·
North Fitzsimons Parkway
Use the left lane.
6
Turn right onto East 17th Place
0.2 mi
·
29 sec
·
East 17th Place
Use the straight / right lanes.
7
Take the ramp
0.4 mi
·
51 sec
Toward I 225 North
Use the left lane.
8
Merge onto I 225
1.1 mi
·
1 min
·
I 225
9
Keep slight left at fork
0.8 mi
·
1 min
Exit 12A
Toward I 70 West: Denver
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
10
Keep slight left at fork
0.4 mi
·
46 sec
Toward I 70 West: Denver
11
Merge onto I 70
2.1 mi
·
2 min
·
Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Highway
Use the straight lane.
12
Keep slight right at fork onto I 270
3.3 mi
·
4 min
·
Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway
Exit 279A
Toward I 270 West: Boulder
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
13
Take the exit
0.3 mi
·
35 sec
Exit 2B
Toward US 85, CO 2 North: Vasquez Boulevard
Use the slight right lane.
14
Merge onto US 6; US 85; CO 2
2.8 mi
·
3 min
·
North Vasquez Boulevard
15
Take the exit onto US 6; US 85
0.6 mi
·
1 min
·
US 6; US 85
16
Merge onto I 76; US 6; US 85
2.7 mi
·
3 min
·
Heartland Expressway
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
17
Keep slight left at fork onto US 85
8.1 mi
·
9 min
·
CanAm Highway
Exit 12
Toward US 85 North: Greeley
Use the slight left / slight right lanes.
18
Take the exit
0.2 mi
·
33 sec
Toward CO 7: Brighton
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
19
Enter roundabout onto West Bridge Street
48 ft
·
0 sec
·
West Bridge Street
20
Continue on West Bridge Street
413 ft
·
14 sec
·
West Bridge Street
21
Turn right onto South Main Street
0.1 mi
·
22 sec
·
South Main Street
22
Turn left onto Bush Street
414 ft
·
11 sec
·
Bush Street
Use the left lane.
23
Arrive at destination
Bush Street
Fuel & Cost
Regular Gas
$3.29 one way
$6.57 round trip
$3.45/gal
25.4 MPG avg
9 kg CO2
| Fuel Type | $/gal | One Way | Round Trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| midgrade | $3.85 | $3.67 | $7.34 |
| premium | $4.15 | $3.95 | $7.91 |
| diesel | $3.75 | $3.57 | $7.15 |
No toll roads detected on this route.
Drive Cost (one way)
Fuel
$3
Estimated CO2 emission: 8.5 kg one way.
Driving Electric?
About $3 in charging · 0 stops · 63% less CO2
| Vehicle Type | kWh | Stops | DC Fast | Home Charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average EV | 7.3 | 0 | $2.54 | $1.16 |
| Efficient EV | 6.1 | 0 | $2.12 | $0.97 |
| EV Truck/SUV | 9.7 | 0 | $3.39 | $1.55 |
Gas CO2
8 kg
EV CO2
3 kg (63% less)
This trip is well within single-charge range for most EVs. No charging stops needed if you start fully charged.
DC fast charging avg $0.35/kWh. Home charging avg $0.16/kWh. US grid CO2: 0.39 kg/kWh.
Travel Intel
Current conditions at both ends of the drive.
Destination
Brighton, CO
Late night in Brighton on Saturday
Local time
4:23 AM
MDT
Current temp
44°F
Unavailable
Live forecast
Time zone
Same local time
Origin and destination are on the same clock, so arrival timing is easier to judge at a glance.
Temperature spread
3 degrees cooler at arrival
A meaningful temperature swing is a good cue to rethink layers, water, and how soon you want to arrive.
Road read
34m on the road
Use the two city cards together: check the sky where you start, then compare it with the local time and temperature at arrival.
Weather data from the National Weather Service. Conditions may change; check closer to your travel date.
Frequently Asked Questions
The drive from Aurora, CO to Brighton, CO covers 24.2 miles and takes about 34m without stops. Add 15-30 minutes for a fuel or rest stop on longer drives.
The main roads are CanAm Highway, Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway, North Vasquez Boulevard. Expect a mix of highway and local road driving.
This is a comfortable same-day trip.
The midpoint is about 12.1 miles from Aurora, CO. Look for rest areas, gas stations, or food options near the halfway mark.
At current regular gas prices, expect to spend about $3.29 one way. This estimate uses 25.4 MPG — your actual cost will vary with your vehicle's fuel efficiency and current gas prices.
Leave by 9 AM and you'll arrive before lunch. Even a 4 PM departure gets you there before dark in summer.
This is a short but busy drive. With 19 decision points packed into just 24.2 miles, you will need to pay attention to lane changes and exits — but the whole thing is over in 34m.
The main spots that need attention: at 1.2 miles (East 17th Place): Lane positioning matters here; at 2.8 miles: Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here; at 6 miles (I 270 / Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway): Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here.
The route from Aurora, CO to Brighton, CO does not surface many named destination signs beyond the main corridor.
How this page is built
Compiled by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy from open government datasets — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for geometry. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.
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