vlan device gateways

If you're sending 5 VLANs down a trunk to a layer 2 switch, the gateway for devices plugged into that layer 2 switch would depend on which VLAN their device's port was configured to use.  Assuming your VLANs are carrying IP traffic, each VLAN would typically have an IP subnet associated with it (doesn't necessarily have to or could have more than one, but generally speaking will have one).  Whatever is routing that subnet would be the appropriate gateway.

Trunking through multiple layer 2 switches is fine, there is an upper limit based on distance and latency, but two is completely fine.  You would simply have to have trunk ports in between them.

If you trunking is working correctly, your gateway still is the layer 3 switch VLAN interface IP for systems from within each VLAN.

For example, if your vlan5 has vlan interface ip 10.10.10.5 for 10.10.10.0/24 subnet then, your gateway for vlan 5 computers would be 10.10.10.5, no matter where they are as long as they are in the same vlan 5.

What if the layer 2 switch has an interface ip on that vlan?

I would have thought so too.  I had the layer 3 switch as the gateway for those devices, however any time I was on any of the other vlans other than the management vlan, I could not go anywhere.  

I called Dell this morning and they looked at all my routing, gateways, etc.  They said if the vlan has an interface IP, it should be the gateway of those devices.  I made that interface ip my gateway and that solved it.  

Now, I know making the layer 3 switch your gateway works sometimes, but it seems when I was on this 3rd switch in the chain, it wasn't.  

The layer 2 switch doesn't need to route in this case.

So i'm not really sure what the deal is.

I understand what you're saying.  This is all still a little above my head.  There is probably more than one way to make it work.  Thanks for the help guys.