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Old 05-20-2012, 08:10 AM
 
2 posts, read 18,500 times
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Hi, we are driving from Dallas to Chicago and back. I would like to know if there are any scenic routes as this will be our first road trip. We have a week.
Going - Dallas - St Louis (overnight stay) - Chicago
returning - Chicago - Memphis (overnight stay) - Dallas
Then, I have read that Joplin is better to stay rather than St. Louis. Or just go via Memphis and not St. Louis. So I'm confused.
Also thinking to cover the Missississipi River and Cincinnati - is that a ridiculous idea?
Your advice will be appreciated. Thank you!
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Old 05-20-2012, 09:48 AM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,147,998 times
Reputation: 6424
Well, an EF 5 Tornado struck Joplin a year ago. Last fall, when I was there it was a town still cleaning up the ripped out foliage, and the structural devastation, while it continues to mourn its loss of nearly 200 residents.

In the past I drove from CA thru El Paso, or thru Dallas on my way home to IL. Since you like road trips you might like a couple of interesting places I found for an weekend getaway. Then I'll show you a more scenic route into Chicago on a mix of two and four lane routes. Realistically you can drive from Dallas to Chicago in one day. You arrive tired and all you see is Interstate routes. The Midwest is wide open space, rolling hills, forested areas and great rivers.

From Dallas there are some nearby getaways you might find interesting. Dallas EAST to Shreveport (barely over the LA border) to Greenwood Road exit. Turn N about 5 miles to the American Rose Garden. From Shreveport go S to Natchitoches ( Nak a dee sh) It is the oldest continuous settlement on the Louisiana Trace, and where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed. I usually continue S to St. Francisville for its pre-Civil War Catholic Church; the interior is amazing. I continue S to Baton Rouge because it is Cajun country, fun and the food is good.

In the Spring drive WEST toward Amarillo. On the western edge detour south to Palo Duro and its Palo Duro Canyon. It's call the Little Grand Canyon. There is no entrance fee in off season.

I've also driven into Dallas from OK and Texarkana.

Go EAST to US 69 in Oklahoma and turn North. It is two lane, gorgeous country. You will wind your way into Grove, OK on Grand Lake. Stay the night or continue N to I-44. Turn East to MO and turn N on I-71 about 3 miles to stay at Carthage. It is Civil War history, Precious Moments, a Civil War courthouse that looks much like Disney's castle at night, and one of the the most amazing True Value Hardware stores you will ever visit. I like the Best Western Motel there. Return to I-44 and go East about 100 miles past Springfield to MO 5 at Lebanon and follow it to the entrance of the Lake of the Ozarks. You will come to a 5-way Intersection. I believe it is US 54. Turn right and follow it through Jefferson City to Kingdom City. Here you are going to hop on to I-70 EAST for about 150 miles to St. Louis. Here you merge on I-270 NORTH to Chicago. You will pass throughout the North side of St. Louis to merge on I-55 MORTH. Follow it to Springfield (90 miles). Exit IL 29 North. It ends at I-80 a few miles west of the southern most section of Chicago @ I-55.

It is a scenic route that follows the Illinois river for nearly 100 miles. At this point you have the opportunity to visit the largest Inland Wetlands Refuge in America (Off US 136 west about 20 miles) . You will pass through Pekin, Peoria and Chillicothe before your reach IL 26 to merge into I-80 at Princeton.

What I like about this route is there are many access points onto I-80 until you reach Illinois. The last point I think is I-70 and I-61 just west of St. Louis. Here is an alternate route. I-61 passes Troy. It is a good place to stretch and gas up. This route takes you into Mark Twain's Hannibal. You can pick up 24 East which will eventual lead into IL 29 North near Peoria to I-80. In any case you are still moving NE toward Chicago.





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Last edited by linicx; 05-20-2012 at 09:58 AM..
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Old 05-20-2012, 09:54 PM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,147,998 times
Reputation: 6424
Happily and thanks to AT&T, US Cellular and Verizon, there are very few areas in Illinois that do not have cell phone service. Even the no signal area is usually less than 3 minutes. I've had Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon phones in these areas. I think as a whole Verizon does a better job in rural America. The scenic routes are generally short compared to 200 miles of Interstate.

If you are going to bring firearms into Illinois they must be unloaded, empty chamber, cased and not in reach of driver or passengers. Ditto for ammo. If you get stopped, and the cops see it, they keep it and you get a ticket.

Do not speed. Do not speed OR talk on a cell phone IN school zones and construction zones, and observe Scott's Law. In other words if any emergency vehicle is stopped on the side of the road.... DO NOT pass in the lane next to said vehicles UNLESS you are on a two-lane road. Sirens and lights are a moot issue when it pertains to Scott's Law. And no smoking with 15' of the entrance of any public building in Illinois.

Last edited by linicx; 05-20-2012 at 10:05 PM..
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Old 05-20-2012, 10:38 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,063,327 times
Reputation: 18725
Default What is your goal???

By saying "you have a week" does that mean a week to spend wandering around the whole of North America so long as you get some task done in Chicago and back in Dallas seven days later OR does it mean you want to spend at least a few days in Chicago before heading back to Big D???

I have driven the route via I-44 & I-55 many times and greatly prefer that to the route via I-30 & I-57. When I want to push it is not too hard to have the whole trip done in about 15 hours. If you want to break the "road time" into two legs a layover in Rolla (college town) is not too bad. You could also throw in a little detour via I-35 if you wanna visit Oklahoma City & Tulsa. There are probably a nearly infinite number of variations through towns like Waterloo IA, Freeport, IL, Louisville KY, Toledo OH etc, but honestly I think the sights t take in in Chicago mean I would wanna spend as much time HERE as possible...

I would not rate ANY of the potential routes, even avoiding interstates, as having high "scenic route" quotient. Even deliberately snaking around the Mississippi is unlikely to add more than a few "postcard moments" and the travel time will be greatly increased: Dallas, TX to Chicago, IL - Google Maps



Quote:
Originally Posted by kiran-sooraj View Post
Hi, we are driving from Dallas to Chicago and back. I would like to know if there are any scenic routes as this will be our first road trip. We have a week.
Going - Dallas - St Louis (overnight stay) - Chicago
returning - Chicago - Memphis (overnight stay) - Dallas
Then, I have read that Joplin is better to stay rather than St. Louis. Or just go via Memphis and not St. Louis. So I'm confused.
Also thinking to cover the Missississipi River and Cincinnati - is that a ridiculous idea?
Your advice will be appreciated. Thank you!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-20-2012, 11:53 PM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,147,998 times
Reputation: 6424
The OP said in the first sentence, " I would like to know if there are any scenic routes as this will be our first road trip."

The I-35 - I-40 - I-44 - I-55 is not scenic. It does not pass through Iowa, Kentucky or Ohio, but it does enter toll roads. Will Rogers Tollroad comes to mind. US 59 at the TX/MO border to I-44 is very scenic and its toll free. It also bypasses Big Mac by several miles - and I am not talking about food. Even if he sees something scenic, he can still stay in Chicago for two nights.

Rolla is a small college town with little to see. It is roughly 12-13 hours from Dallas - with or without scenic views, and without the traffic in OKC and Tulsa. I regularly drove the southern routes between IL and SoCal for 30 years. I drove a ton of US byways and Tx FTM routes, too. And I lived in that area for number of years.

I-35 3.5 hours to OKC. 2 hours to Tulsa. 2.5 hours to OK/MO border. 6+/- hours to St. Louis. 1 +/-hour from 1-44 to I-270/I-55 junction. 6+/- to Chicago via I-55. It is not unusual to have heavy traffic in OKC, Tulsa and St. Louis plus most of the way to Chicago. .

Dallas to US 59 is 2.5 hours and 5+/- hours to OK/MO border. This is normal traffic once you leave Dallas until you reach 100 miles west of St. Louis. Chicago/St. Louis rush hours 6-9am and 3-6pm

Truthfully he should take the Dallas - Chicago trip and save Memphis for another week.

Last edited by linicx; 05-21-2012 at 12:36 AM..
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Old 05-21-2012, 01:45 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,063,327 times
Reputation: 18725
This is the correct link to the route that snakes up along the Mississippi -- Dallas, TX to Chicago, IL - Google Maps
Very slow and not really all that scenic except for maybe the bluffs near Savanna IL, but if your goal is have the river towns as a place to check off this hits more ...

Last edited by chet everett; 05-21-2012 at 01:59 AM..
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Old 05-21-2012, 02:26 AM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,147,998 times
Reputation: 6424
Actually I did drive a few miles of that and I would agree. I did not have that in mind as much a pleasant mix of Interstate and scenic US routes that moves NE toward Chicago. US 54 through Lake of the Ozarks is 5-lane highway with a stoplight where one can hop off for a quick look at the nearby little dam. Then it passes through Jeff City and crosses Truman's beloved Missouri River. It is four lane from where MO 5/US 54 intersect to Chicago. It would be not be so much a giant pain to go scenic all the way as much as it would be time consuming. I believe I-61 west of St. Louis goes to I-80, but I am not sure.

That little three corner area of NEOK, SWMO and NWAR is very historic and has tons of things to do between Lake of the Ozarks to Hot Springs and between Branson and Grand Lake. If you haven't been in that neck of the woods you probably wouldn't be familiar with Stand Wattie, Chief Splitlog, or War Eagle. There are some beautiful camp sites for RV/primitive, too.

Last edited by linicx; 05-21-2012 at 02:45 AM..
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