[Spies797]

I will be driving to vegas from St. Louis in a few weeks and will stay for two months. Any thoughts on the two routes (hwy 70 or 40)? I have heard taking 70 in the winter can be tough with the mountains. Should I check a day or two in advance to see if any storms are supposed to roll through Denver and surrounding? Thanks

[SoCalCpl2]

I would actually not go on 70 thru Colorado UNLESS the weather is to be ok the day before during and after your drive thru.. Same with 40 in Arizona, as it is 7000 ft around Flagstaff and gets nasty in winter.....

If you need to I-10 is better in winter if there are storms, but is is a bit more south...

Having drivien all these routes a various times, I would take the 10 if possible....

[demoknite]

10 is the sure fire way this time of year. 40 could be shut down or very slow. Never been on 70. Always check the weather closely and the applicable state DOT websites. Either way be sure to have plenty of food, water, blankets and other typical winter survival items. Dont take it lightly.

[Spies797]

Can I take 70 if there is not a projected storm along the route? Or would it still be rough goings

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by Spies797

Can I take 70 if there is not a projected storm along the route? Or would it still be rough goings

If there is no storm you will be fine. The road is cleared fairly quickly. The potentially difficult parts are really out in Kansas and eastern Colorado. Those areas will see massive blizzards and flat out strand you due to bad visibility and quickly building snow drifts which can't easily be cleared. Put it this way, the 70 going east from Denver is closed more than the 70 going west due to winter conditions. Most of the time even if the weather is bad going up into the mountains they will just require you to use snow chains for a 20-30 mile stretch of road.

[ElleTea]

After driving 40 through Flagstaff in GOOD weather, I can say there is no way I would even want to that when the weather is bad!

Also, my experience was not all weather shows up on radar. We hit some freezing drizzle that made it a bit scarey through Albuquerque even though weather reports and radar showed dry conditions.

[bayview6]

Originally Posted by Spies797

I will be driving to vegas from St. Louis in a few weeks and will stay for two months. Any thoughts on the two routes (hwy 70 or 40)? I have heard taking 70 in the winter can be tough with the mountains. Should I check a day or two in advance to see if any storms are supposed to roll through Denver and surrounding? Thanks

I would take I-40. Just watch the weather. I drive I-40 four or six times a year and it's an easy drive. Once I left Tulsa at 4 in the morning to beat the January storm and had to drive all the way to Grant, nm. After I checked into the motel, I turned on the TV and the road just East of Albuquerque was already shut down.

Flagstaff usually gets cleared rather quickly since it has only about 50 miles of heavy snow.

[Clarkcty]

Take the I40. I did that drive many years ago from Kentucky to Vegas. Keep an eye on the weather and make preparations.

[Raiderman]

I third (or fourth?) I-40. I've driven it at all different times of the year. I-10 will add quite a bit of time to your trip, and I-70 is a tougher drive. It's the lesser of the evils. The only bad experience I had was hitting black ice in Tucumcari trying to go up the incline west-east out of the city.. Had to turn around and go back for the night. But had I listened to the radio or watched the weather on TV (the internet wasn't out yet), I would have just stayed put.

Even if you stay where you are for an extra day due to inclement weather, I think the drive is still easier than the 2 alternatives.

[Spies797]

Thanks for the responses so far. A couple more

Two days of 11 hours driving or three days of 7?
Also what website should I check te weather? CNN?

Thanks