Boise · the midpoint
Boise is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the county seat of Ada County. The population of the city was 235,685 at the 2020 census. Read more →
Meet halfway between Denver and Portland
The fair place to meet is Boise, ID — the city closest to the midpoint of Denver and Portland. From the farther side that’s about 13 hr 21 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Boise, ID
From Denver
13 hr 21 min
637 mi to Boise
From Portland
7 hr 14 min
345 mi to Boise
Portland has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 6 hr 7 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Denver and Portland are about 981 miles apart.
More meetups from Denver
Meeting in Boise
Denver and Portland are about 981 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Boise, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 13 hr 21 min of driving on the Denver side and 7 hr 14 min on the Portland side — the fairest single meeting point among the cities near the middle.
Over this distance most people will fly rather than drive the whole way. Boise still makes a fair, central place for Denver and Portland to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Boise doesn't have what you're after, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Denver and Portland.
About the cities
Denver
Denver is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Officially a consolidated city and county, it is located in the South Platte River valley on the western edge of the High Plains, and is just east of the Front Range of the Rocky… Read more →
Portland
Portland is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located in the Pacific Northwest at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, it is the 28th-most populous city in the United States, sixth-most populous on the West Coast, and… Read more →
City descriptions adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); photos via Wikimedia Commons, credited above.
Questions
- Where is the halfway point between Denver and Portland?
- Boise, ID is closest to the geographic midpoint, which makes it the fairest place to meet.
- How far apart are they?
- About 981 miles by road.
- How long is the drive to meet in the middle?
- Roughly 13 hr 21 min from the farther city to Boise.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.