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We just drove through there a few days ago. There are a lot of up and down roads through there, if you know what I mean! And there is no direct route -- you do realize that there is a "big ditch" that blocks your way!? (The Grand Canyon). That route is almost all mountainous roads. If you go that way, take your time, do not be in a hurry, and allow for bad driving weather. But, if you have to go, check out US Route 89 that goes around the east end of the Grand Canyon. That will certainly be the shortest route. To try to stay on Interstates can take you on a longer trip. Hope you have safe travel RevSam
I will be driving from Mass to San Diego the first week of Dec. AAA sent me a triptick and suggested using I80. After reading this posting, I think I need a more souther route. Any suggestion on getting from Mass to I10. Thanks
I will be driving from Mass to San Diego the first week of Dec. AAA sent me a triptick and suggested using I80. After reading this posting, I think I need a more souther route. Any suggestion on getting from Mass to I10. Thanks
And you needed to bring up a post from 2007 to say this?
Watch the weather channel a few days before leaving, then choose your route.
Hello! I was wondering if anyone could tell me the best Southern route to take from Southern California to Boston, MA. I will be leaving the first week of January (I know, right smack in the middle of winter) but I have to do it! I really need some help staking out the best highways least amount of snow/hazardous driving conditions. Thank you!
In dec 2006 I drove from NJ to SF.
Drove through virginia (Blacksburg), Knoxville, Memphis, hot springs, ar, to Texas (Dallas, el paso), las cruces, nm, Tucson, Phoenix and onwards to so California to the Bay Area. No snow. I had orig planned to go via Albuquerque but the interstate was closed due to snow. I avoided it going through El Paso.
Hello! I was wondering if anyone could tell me the best Southern route to take from Southern California to Boston, MA. I will be leaving the first week of January (I know, right smack in the middle of winter) but I have to do it! I really need some help staking out the best highways least amount of snow/hazardous driving conditions. Thank you!
That's easy.
I-10 (or 8, depending upon where in SoCal you're starting from) to Kent, TX, then I-20 all the way to Florence, SC, then north on I-95 to the NJ Turnpike, then back on I-95 again. You can take I-287 around NYC if you like, or just bust right through the Bronx.
However, you're not guaranteed winter-free driving on that route by any stretch of the imagination. I-10/20 is prone to snow or, worse yet, ice anywhere from about Willcox, AZ to I-95. Worse, if the roads do get bad, there ain't no snowplows or salt trucks coming, for the most part. About all TX, LA, MS, AL, or GA will do is get out and sand the overpasses and bridges....maybe. AZ and NM oftentimes won't even do that. If it gets bad, you can either drive on it or tie up and await the thaw, which sometimes can be 3 or 4 days.
I-95 is pretty well plowed and treated from VA on up to Boston, but NC and SC aren't all that prompt in doing anything because most of their equipment is stationed in the piedmont or mountains. The coastal plain where 95 runs don't get nearly as much snow or ice so they're not set up for it.
If the weather reports indicate it's going to get really bad for a long time on I-20, you could just stay on I-10 to Jacksonville, FL and head up I-95 from there. It's quite a bit farther, but it rarely gets bad along that route after you get east of San Antonio.
That's easy. Sorta; but it's still almost 3500 road miles!
I-10 (or 8, depending upon where in SoCal you're starting from) to Kent, TX,
then I-20 all the way to Florence, SC, then north on I-95 to the NJ Turnpike,
then back on I-95 again.
You can take I-287 around NYC if you like, or just bust right through the Bronx.
That's it.
However, you're not guaranteed winter-free driving on that route by any stretch of the imagination.
Or no rain. Or no cold either. It's still January.
If the weather reports indicate it's going to get really bad for a long time on I-20,
you could just stay on I-10 to Jacksonville, FL and head up I-95 from there.
Absolutely keep an eye on the weather and the reports.
At even 600 miles a day you're gonna have 5 motel nights en route;
probably more and especially if you stay over anywhere.
It won't be a sin if you take an extra day because of weather too.
That axiom about discretion and valor comes to mind.
hth
Last edited by MrRational; 10-30-2011 at 09:07 AM..
We are moving from Washington to North Carolina, but plan on stopping in Rhode Island to visit family before heading south to NC. The problem is that we just put our house on the market and obviously have no idea when it will sell.
If by chance it ends up selling in the winter months, what is the best, least amount of snow way to go?
DON'T take 80. That stretch through the Donner Pass in California, Wyoming, and Western Nebraska is awful if it's snowing, then you could get dumped on with snow in Chicago. 90 isn't that terrible.....until you get to Chicago to join with 80, then it's miserable all the way up through Western Massachusetts.
The best and safest way: 5 to 40, East on 40 to 44 in Oklahoma. North on 44 till you reach St. Louis, East on 70 to Pennsylvania, north on 81, East on 84, East on route 6 in Manchester, CT which will drop you off in downtown Providence. Heading through Penn will be a pain, but easier then 80 through Wyoming, or 90 through Chicago or on the edge of Lake Erie.
DON'T take 80. That stretch through the Donner Pass in California, Wyoming, and Western Nebraska is awful if it's snowing...
The OP asked that Q in 2007.
They show Charlotte NC as their location now.
I think they made it.
hth
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California to Boston
