Denver to Salt Lake City Fuel Cost
Driving distance and fuel cost for a trip from Denver, CO to Salt Lake City, UT: 518.7 miles (834.8 km) one way. Use the calculator below with your own vehicle and fuel price.
This is an estimated default price. Automatic price detection only applies to visitors in the United States. Everyone else can select their own currency and enter a local price below for an accurate result.
Your results
- Total fuel needed for this trip
- 17.29 US gallons
- Total cost for this trip
- $25.94
- Total distance for this trip
- 518.7 miles
Fuel economy in every unit
- L/100km
- 7.8
- MPG US
- 30.0
- MPG UK
- 36.0
- km/L
- 12.8
Cost by vehicle type
One way trip cost at $1.50 per US gallon (placeholder price), using one representative vehicle from each category in the 30 vehicle dataset tracked on this site.
| Category | Vehicle | Combined | Fuel needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | Hyundai Elantra | 34 MPG | 15.3 US gallons | $22.88 |
| Midsize Sedan | Nissan Altima | 31 MPG | 16.7 US gallons | $25.10 |
| Compact SUV | Toyota RAV4 | 30 MPG | 17.3 US gallons | $25.94 |
| Midsize SUV | Chevrolet Traverse | 23 MPG | 22.6 US gallons | $33.83 |
| Truck | Ford F-150 | 21 MPG | 24.7 US gallons | $37.05 |
| Hybrid | Honda CR-V Hybrid | 40 MPG | 13.0 US gallons | $19.45 |
| Electric | Tesla Model Y | 120 MPGe | 4.3 US gallons | $6.48 |
About this route
At 518.7 miles (834.8 km) and about 9.0 hours of driving each way, Denver to Salt Lake City is a comfortable long day drive or an easy weekend trip without an overnight stop, mostly on interstate highway. Sustained highway speed means real world fuel economy on this route will likely track closer to a vehicle's highway rating than its city rating.
Because this trip crosses from CO into UT, fuel prices along the way can vary meaningfully, sometimes by fifty cents a gallon or more, mainly due to differences in state fuel taxes and each state's distance from major supply infrastructure. Checking average prices for both states on the gas prices section of this site before you go can help you decide roughly where to plan fill-ups.
At 519 miles, expect to need roughly 1 fuel stop along the Denver to Salt Lake City route for a typical vehicle with a 300 to 400 mile usable range between fill-ups, more for a smaller tank or a less efficient vehicle, fewer for a longer-range one. Planning stops around meal or rest breaks rather than waiting until the tank is nearly empty avoids being caught short in a stretch with limited services.
A trip this length works well as a single, focused travel day, either as an out-and-back day trip for the more energetic end of this distance range or as the first or last leg of a weekend trip. Plan on at least one stop for fuel, food, or both somewhere along the way rather than driving straight through.
Distance and driving time source: OpenStreetMap Nominatim geocoding and OSRM driving routing. Last updated July 24, 2026.
Reverse route
Salt Lake City to DenverNearby routes
Frequently asked questions
Divide the 519 mile distance by your vehicle's fuel economy to get the fuel needed, then multiply by your local fuel price. The calculator above does this automatically and is pre-filled with this route's actual distance, so you only need to enter your own vehicle's fuel economy and the price you expect to pay.
EPA and routing data put this trip at about 9.0 hours of driving time each way, covering 519 miles (835 km). That estimate assumes normal traffic and highway speeds with no extended stops, so budget extra time for meal breaks, fuel stops, or traffic on the day.
Select "round trip" in the calculator above to double the one-way distance and get a total for the there-and-back journey automatically. If your return route differs from the trip out, for example if you take a different highway, run the calculator separately for each leg and add the two results together instead.
Yes, the underlying distance is identical in both directions since it's the same physical road, so the fuel cost calculation matches exactly regardless of which way you're headed. The only realistic exception would be a route with one-way roads, a toll bridge crossed in only one direction, or a temporary detour, none of which factor into this baseline distance figure.
Yes, substantially on a route this length. Aerodynamic drag increases with the square of speed, so fuel economy drops roughly 7 to 14% for every 10 mph driven above about 65 mph. Holding a steadier, lower highway speed on a long trip like this one can save real money in fuel without adding much time.
At 519 miles, expect to need roughly 1 fuel stop along the Denver to Salt Lake City route for a typical vehicle with a 300 to 400 mile usable range between fill-ups, more for a smaller tank or a less efficient vehicle, fewer for a longer-range one. Planning stops around meal or rest breaks rather than waiting until the tank is nearly empty avoids being caught short in a stretch with limited services.
30 MPG is just a generic starting point so the calculator shows a result immediately; it isn't tuned to any specific vehicle. Replace it with your own vehicle's combined fuel economy, found on its window sticker or on this site's own vehicle pages, for an estimate that actually reflects what you drive.
Keeping tires properly inflated, removing unnecessary roof cargo, and using cruise control on flat highway stretches all measurably help. If you're driving with others, splitting the fuel cost across passengers effectively divides the per-person cost of the trip, which is often a bigger saving than any single driving habit change.