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One tip, though. Don't follow I-80 all the way into Salt Lake City unless you just want to go over Parley's Summit. Instead, peel off on I-84 and run it down through the canyon to I-15, then head south. It's really not much farther and avoids going over the Wasatch Front entirely.
Yep, that's what I'd do, too. Also, once you leave Salt Lake City heading West, the next 100 miles is the Great Salt Lake Basin. Not a lot out there (except one VERY bizarre statue of some sort...) so prepare accordingly.
Thanks to the Interstate Highways, it is now possible to drive from coast to coast and see absolutely nothing.
Find roads that are not interstates. Use Interstates only to bypass large city traffic.
I disagree, jtur88; there are some Interstate Highways that are absolutely GORGEOUS;
I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge
I-71/75 going down the Cut in the Hill into Cincinnati
I-87 in Upstate NY
I-70 through the Rocky Mountains.
I-15 in SW UT
I-80 through the Sierras
I-25 has a number of scenic stretches in NM and Southern CO.
There's more but these immediately come to mind. (There IS a lot to be said for running the "skinny roads", too)
I disagree, jtur88; there are some Interstate Highways that are absolutely GORGEOUS;
I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge
I-71/75 going down the Cut in the Hill into Cincinnati
I-87 in Upstate NY
I-70 through the Rocky Mountains.
I-15 in SW UT
I-80 through the Sierras
I-25 has a number of scenic stretches in NM and Southern CO.
There's more but these immediately come to mind. (There IS a lot to be said for running the "skinny roads", too)
Also I-89 in New Hampshire through Franconia Notch/Gap.
I-90 in South Dakota I also find to be quite nice. I-90 from Spokane to Billings is also a stunning trip in summer time.
Looking at your maps, I can tell you that I-40 will give you some great views from the Great Smoky Mountains. You might be able to take a detour to see the park? Also, that is in the area of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have heard it is a nice little trip to drive that Parkway, very scenic.
The other route takes you through Denver. A few things we saw there: Royal Gorge and Pike's Peak. These are located south of Denver. Once you get into Indiana, just east of Evansville, there a National Park Memorial Site: The Lincoln Boyhood home. It isn't far off the interstate at all (visited about a year ago) and isn't that big. There is a small visitor's center, and a small hike back to the cabin and water well.
Louisville has a few things to offer from what I heard from friends, though I have never done a Louisville visit myself. On the other side of the river, Indiana has a state park, Falls of the Ohio. We drove in, took some shots of Louisville from the north side of the river, and left. Had more of an industrial fell than I thought it would. There is also a visitor's center in the park, though we didn't visit. Near the interstate there is an Indiana Visitor's Center. Since you are in Lewis and Clark area, that visitor's center had a _ton_ of Lewis and Clark stuff you could buy. So if you are a Lewis and Clark fan, make sure to visit this Indiana State visitor's center (note: It is actually off of I-65, not too far from the river).
That's all I have. Driving in the mountain areas wasn't bad at all. I have driving the Appalachian mountains and the N. Rocky Mountains.
From southeast to northwest....best route please!!!
My fiance and I are moving from Birmingham, AL to Boise, Idaho. He's in the Air Force and unfortunately got stationed in Mountain Home, Idaho. But we plan to live in Boise.
We would like to stop in some nice, major cities along the way. We were thinking about New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Tucson, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and of course I have to visit the Grand Canyon...whether he likes it or not. lol. We are in no rush to get to Idaho as you can see.
By the way we are driving a U-haul. So what do you think is the best route there? We plan on driving mostly during the day and I pray we dont have to drive more than 6 or 7 hours per day. Did I mention ever since that movie "The Hills have Eyes" long stretches of desert scare me half to death. lol Guess I'll have to get over that.
Please help me in anyway you can....especially you stillkit. Thanks ya'll!
My fiance and I are moving from Birmingham, AL to Boise, Idaho. He's in the Air Force and unfortunately got stationed in Mountain Home, Idaho. But we plan to live in Boise.
We would like to stop in some nice, major cities along the way. We were thinking about New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Tucson, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and of course I have to visit the Grand Canyon...whether he likes it or not. lol. We are in no rush to get to Idaho as you can see.
By the way we are driving a U-haul. So what do you think is the best route there? We plan on driving mostly during the day and I pray we dont have to drive more than 6 or 7 hours per day. Did I mention ever since that movie "The Hills have Eyes" long stretches of desert scare me half to death. lol Guess I'll have to get over that.
Please help me in anyway you can....especially you stillkit. Thanks ya'll!
Whew! That's a tough time of the year to make that trip, and especially if you insist upon seeing the Grand Canyon enroute.
The problem with going via the Canyon is that from there on to Mountain Home, you're pretty much limited to a long drive across an empty desert, on a two-lane road with very little traffic, in the dead of winter, on two of your three choices. The third choice is considerably farther. The Canyon itself stands between you and your destination and you either have to go around the east end of it, or the west end.
Around the east end, you'd leave the South Rim via AZ-64 east over to US-89 at Cameron, then north on 89. You start out traversing the Kaibab Plateau, which is roughly 7000 ft in elevation and subject to real snow storms, then you get into the high desert and back onto the plateau again before you get to Jacobs Lake, the entrance to the North Rim. Arizona does a pretty good job of keeping that road clear, but the snow can come down hard enough that they can't keep up. Additionally, once you turn back west on AZ-389 at Fredonia (It's your best route to the interstate), you head back into the desert again. 389 becomes UT-59 at the state line and you sort of re-enter civilization when you get to Hurricane, UT. There's a pretty good downgrade into Hurricane.
For an inexperienced driver with a U-Haul, and in Feburary, I wouldn't recommend it. If you run into conditions that you don't want to drive in, you might find yourself sleeping in the truck as services and accomodations are few and far between. That road carries some traffic because it's the most direct route from Salt Lake City to Phoenix, but it's not much.
Your other choice is to go via Las Vegas, which means going back to I-40, then west all the way into California and taking US-95 north. Or, alternately, US-93 north from Kingman, AZ across the new bridge below Hoover Dam. Either way, you come out at the same place: Boulder City, which is just across the hill from Las Vegas. Both roads carrry quite a bit of traffic and aren't all that desolate and lonely. Neither is subject to very much snow.
From Las Vegas, you only have two options, one of which I wouldn't attempt if I were you. That would be US-93 all the way into Twin Falls, ID. If US-50 is considered the "Loneliest Road in America" (you cross that route at Ely, NV), then US-93 must be the second loneliest. There is literally nothing out there and your plan of only driving 6-7 hours at a time would go right out the window unless you just wanted to sleep in the truck all by yourself in that God-awful wasteland.
Your best bet from Vegas is to just stay on the interstate, taking I-15 north to I-84 west at Ogden, UT. At least you'll have some company and services are available at just about every exit. But, it is quite a bit farther. And, even I-15 can get pretty lonely in southern Utah, after you climb up out of the Virgin River Canyon at the NV/UT state line, but you'll have a lot of company as traffic is pretty heavy all the time.
The Air Force hasn't done y'all any favors sending you off to Mountain Home that time of year, but you'll be alright if you stay on the interstates and stop when (not if) conditions get bad.
If you're dead set on seeing the Canyon, may I recommend that you don't drive that U-Haul truck up there? Instead, park it at Williams, AZ and take the train (if it runs in the winter...I really don't know). In any case, I don't think you can take a vehicle into the Park and must use the shuttle busses anyhow. Someone who's been there more recently than I have can tell you about that.
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From southeast to northwest....best route please!!!
