So I moved to Vegas last month and I just flew home to drive my car out now that the housing situation is finalized. Leaving from Albany NY Monday afternoon. Google maps default route is I-90W to I-80W, then I-76W to I-70W to finish it out. Not attached to that route or anything, just the default route.

Im driving with a friend and it would be nice to make a fun road trip out of it. Thoughts on routes to take, places to stay, things to see, food to eat, ect...

Gogogo

I live in Colorado. The stretch of I-70 from Denver to its intersection with I-15 in SW Utah traps a lot of travellers in the wintertime. We are in snow season now, and this stretch could be very easy and enjoyable, or it could be a nightmarish white-knuckler.

Consider going SW to pick up I-40 in TN or OK and enter Nevada from AZ via NM, or continue across Wyoming on I-80, and pick up I-15 at Salt Lake City.

If you come across I-80, when you get to Ogallala, NE at I-80 milepost 126, check these websites for Colorado www.cotrip.org and Utah http://511.commuterlink.utah.gov/tats.web.report/ road information. Then decide if you're going to go SW on I-76, or continue west on I-80 to SLC.

I took the Colorado route once.... Outstanding! I had to stop a few times and look down at the river.

I-40 can be no picnic through NM and AZ either. Check the weather reports.

Driving from MD last summer we took 70 to 15, thats the only 2 roads. We stopped in St. Louis and Denver for our 2 nights, nothing else was really worth seeing. STL is solid if you've never been, and Denver is absolutely awesome driving thru the rockies, plus it breaks the trip up into almost 3 even 800 mile segments. Other than that there really isnt **** along the way to see (Kansas and Utah are boring as hell)

I-40 > I-80 >>>> I-70 if weather is even any concern when crossing Continental Divide

I definitely want to avoid snow on the roads bc my car has summer tires and they are no good at all in the snow. So it sounds like I should head south to I-40 at some point? I would have really liked to drive through the Rockies for the view I've heard so much about, but not at the cost of getting stuck in the snow.

Your first choice is whether to go through Chicago (I-80), St. Louis (I-70), or Memphis (I-40). I don't know what your timetable is, so I'd say just keep an eye on the weather as you approach Denver, then select the best route when you're sure what the weather will be.

The I-40 route still crosses the Rockies, just not as high as Colorado. The Continental Divide west of Albuquerque is pretty much just a high plateau. Then there is another high point near Flagstaff. AZ which is probably where you are most likely to encounter snow. The Grand Canyon is available as a side trip from Flagstaff, but that will probably add a day to your journey. The I-40 route follows the legendary Route 66 for much of its length. You could hit Nashville and Memphis, the Big Texan Steak House http://www.bigtexan.com/ in Amarillo, TX, the Sandia cardroom in Albuquerque, Petrified Forest National Park (a bit of a disappointment IMO), and Hoover Dam. Between Memphis and Albuquerque is basically 1033 miles with nothing of scenic interest.

just did this very trip in mid-may coming from Long Island, NY...obviously weather wasnt a concern in may, it may or may not be now.....I opted to break it into 4 days, I left tuesday morning and got to vegas friday late afternoon....I took I-70W, which goes through st-louis,kc and then denver, grand junction, to I-`15, through utah then to vegas....I cant speak to I-40 route or I-80 route....first 2 days extremely boring imo....I did Ny to Indianapolis, approx 12 hrs, stayed over...day 2, Indianapolis to Salinas KS approx 10 hrs, you kinda hafta stop there as theres nothing afterwards for a long ways.....day 3 the drive is a bit nicer as you pass through denver, and then from denver to grand junction is beautiful with rivers, mountains, etc.....ditto for sleeping in grand junction, nothing after it for a long ways.....day 4 the nicest as utah is all red and nice scenery, and that leg to vegas from grand junctions much shorter than the first 3 days of driving (7 hrs or so)....
idk anything special to do if you take the route I did, walk through st louis is cool see the arch, bush stadium, etc, then grand junction walk around town its a nice town, maybe a side trip if you're not in a hurry to somewhere in utah or a nat'l park before you hit vegas...it's a lot of driving but i found it relaxing, YMMV....safe travels

If you go on I-40, Nashville is a great town. Memphis is a craphole but Beale St is supposed to be all right.

Indianapolis doesn't have much unless you want to go to the NCAA Hall of Champions or the Motor Speedway Museum (I live here, it's a nice place but not a destination). St Louis is really nice and has a lot of free things to do if you were there for a day or so....

Thank you so much everyone for the responses! I really appreciate ppl taking their time ro help me out. I decided to forgo I-40 due to the extra time it would add since we haven't been stopping much and bacially have just been trying to bang out the drive as quicky as possible. Since we took I-80 we're following this advice:

Based on the weather maps i've checked on my iPhone and at rest stops it looks line I-70 should be ok for tomorrow morning, but I'll check again in Ogallala. I'm just past Grand Island in Nebraska atm taking a nap. Thanks again and let me know asap if I have the weather wrong! Are their certain zipcodes I should look up?

I just watched the weather report on the Denver 10 o'clock news. There's going to be a High pressure area over Colorado Wednesday with temps in 60's. The I-70 corridor is actually preferable to the I-80 corridor for Wednesday.

Have a nice drive. Stop in Blackhawk if you have time. I live in Eagle, CO (I-70, MP 149).

I suggest fueling up at Grand Junction, CO (Horizon Drive, I-70, MP 31, has gas stations, fast food, etc. convenient to highway), and then again at Cedar City, UT (I-15, MP 62 has a Love's truckstop with convenient cheap gas), then you're good all the way into Vegas. If you don't think you can make it to Cedar City, stop in Beaver, UT (I-15, MP 112).

Some potential sightseeing spots:

-CO I-70 MP 254: Genesee Park, City of Denver park where they keep a buffalo herd, also good views of Mount Evans.

-CO I-70 MP 224: Silver Plume, Old mining town and the western terminus of the Georgetown Loop Scenic Railroad, the railroad yard is there, and the town has a funky bar, continue west from here on the frontage road to MP 216 Bakerville and back onto I-70, this stretch was closed for four days a few years back by a heavy snow storm, they had to blast the snow down off the mountainsides to eliminate the avalanche danger.

-CO I-70 MP 216: Loveland Pass, Highway 6 takes off here and goes over 11,000 foot Loveland Pass at the Continental Divide (good photo op), Loveland Ski area is on the east side and Arapahoe Basin is on the west side, both are open right now, The Highway 6 route over Loveland Pass returns to I-70 at MP 203 but adds about 40-minutes of drive time.

-CO I-70 MP 217-218: Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels, highest point on the Interstate System, crosses under the Continental Divide, vertical red marker on wall about halfway through tunnel, truck parking area on right immediately after exiting tunnel, dads challenge their kid's to hold their breath during the trip through the tunnel.

-CO I-70 MP 203: Silverthorne-Dillon, go east on Highway 6 toward Dillon, about 1.5 miles turn right onto Dillon Dam Road, drive across Dillon Dam all the way to Frisco, get back on I-70 at MP 201, or drive through old town of Frisco and get back on at MP 199, Dillon Dam Brewery in Dillon, and another microbrewery in Frisco.

- CO I-70 MP 195: Copper Mountain Ski Area, this is the beginning of the ascent to Vail Pass, Wheeler Junction is the true name of this spot where West Ten Mile Creek takes off from Ten Mile Creek, nice views of Ten Mile Ridge, can get off here to go to Leadville and then Aspen via Independence Pass (closed in Winter).

-CO I-70 MP 189: Top of Vail Pass, popular area for snowmobilers, the mountains in front of you and to the right are the Gore Range, Vail Pass is a divide between the Blue River drainage and the Eagle River drainage which are both tributaries of the Colorado River, from here you follow the Black Gore Creek, to Gore Creek, to the Eagle River.

-CO I-70 MP 189-180: descent from Vail Pass, after going through the Narrows and a number of curves, you notice a mountain on the left with some open areas and some chutes, this general area is called the East Vail Chutes which is out-of-bounds skiing accessed via the Vail Ski Area.

-CO I-70 MP 180: East Vail, you're now in the Town of Vail, you can get off here and follow the frontage road through the town all the way to MP 173 and return to I-70.

-CO I-70 MP 176: Main Vail Exit, the town is pretty dead now, but you may want to park in the parking garage and take a stroll through the pedestrian part of the Village.

-CO I-70 MP 171: Dowd Junction, Gore Creek joins the Eagle River, Town of Minturn, Tennessee Pass and Leadville is south from here on Highway 24, there is a railroad along the Eagle River that goes over Tennessee Pass (highest railroad pass in the US), but Union Pacific no longer runs trains over it.

-CO I-70 MP 167: Avon, locals ski town, Beaver Creek Ski Resort visible in the valley to the south.

-CO I-70 MP 163: Edwards, locals ski town, population center of Eagle County.

-CO I-70 MP 157: Wolcott, quiet village where sheep ranchers used to drive their sheep for loading onto the railroad, Highway 131 heads north from here toward Steamboat Springs, 131 very popular route for motorcyclists in Summer, Castle Peak is in front of you.

-CO I-70 MP 149: Eagle, county seat for Eagle County, a locals town, I live here.

-CO I-70 MP 133: Dotsero, Eagle River joins the Colorado River, the railroad joins the Denver-Salt Lake City main line of the Union Pacific Railroad, you will now see trains.

-CO I-70 MP 131-117: Glenwood Canyon, spectacular stretch of road, rest areas at Bair Ranch, Hanging Lake and Grizzley Creek offer sightseeing and interpretive opportunities.

-CO I-70 MP 116: Glenwood Springs, stop in at the Hot Springs Pool for a relaxing dip, Highway 82 goes south from here to Aspen.

-CO I-70 MP 116-011: Glenwood Springs to Mack, highway follows Colorado River, enjoy views of river, railroad, and overlooking mountains.

-CO I-70 MP 62: Debeque, begin Debeque Canyon

-CO I-70 MP 44: Palisade, emerge from Debeque Canyon, Palisade is know for fruit growing and wineries, Book Cliffs start on right, you follow the cliffs well into Utah.

-CO I-70 MP 31: Horizon Drive, Grand Junction, stop and gas up, Grand Junction is Colorado's major city in the western part of the State, Colorado National Monument is west of town, Gunnison River joins the Colorado here.

-CO I-70 MP 19: Fruita, stop here and get your mountain bike down off the roof and go for a ride, Fruita is a mountain bike friendly town with great trails.

-CO I-70 MP 0 = UT I-70 MP 232: Leaving Colorful Colorado, Welcome to Utah, the Beehive State, 232 miles to I-15 at Cove Fort.

heh I can't find the directions I used but I went from troy to vegas so obv you will go through a lot of the same. I had 2 drivers and myself we did it in 40 hours and only slept for like 3 hours during the trip had plenty of close calls but the rotating sleep was key with 2 people it's obv a lot harder I think we went by GPS for most of the way

Get a AAA guide and find things that interest you.

A couple things come in mind.

Columbus, OH: German Village, drink some beer.
Fairborn, OH: US Air Force Museum. It is free and has virtually every aircraft ever flown by the Air Force. It is just a short detour off I-70.
Indianapolis: The Speedway.
St. Louis: Gateway Arch, AB Brewery (what's better than free fresh beer?)

I think others have covered further west.

mikeinNY - thank you so much for this post. It was exactly what I was looking for. I am moving to California from Ohio and traveling the entire way via I-70. Initially I was going to drop down through NM and up to Vegas (where I am meeting a friend). But then I decided the weather would be good enough to travel through the rockies and needed a place to stay between Denver and Vegas (without looing it up myself, of course). So thank you for passing on your wisdom. I really appreciate your insight!

I posted an "I am moving to Vegas Thread" a few months back but I guess I may be full of ****. Still have yet to make the move. But I asked about what to do about a car and whether to buy one out there or buy one in NYC and drive it out there. The resounding advice was to sell most of or all of my stuff before I went to Vegas. And as far as the car goes, the advice was mostly to get someone to ship it out there for me, not to drive it myself. Maybe you want to do the same if it has not been suggested to you thus far. Driving cross country is arduous. I bet you could get a professional service to ship it for you for like $800 or so. Consider that alternative too. Once your car is surplanted in Vegas, then go sight seeing.

Edit: Just noticed this thread is 2 years old...lol

Tbh dude, I think you're looking at Wayyy more than $800 to ship your car, let alone other stuff. The drive is a once in a lifetime experience and you'll get to see a lot of the country you otherwise might not see. Personally, I got rid of everything I couldn't fit in my 4door honda and had a good friend drive out with me, shill in vegas a couple days, then I paid his return flight. $260 for a companion was well worth it, he couldn't even split the driving b/c my car was a 6speed. Also, if you're dematerializing for the first significant time in your life, about a backseat and trunk full of stuff seems about right. I guess if your car is a POS and you have the $ for a new one then you could consider other options.

Other tidbits, we stopped once at a proper hotel and once just to crash at a reststop with the seats reclined. Felt about right. Another night at a hotel woulda made it real easy. Figuring $110 a night avg. Depending on time of year it can be treacherous but it's not that bad. I drove through the rockies and it was sleet and freezing rain and I had summer tired. I just went hella slow but we got through. I'd go that route again the Rockies were so beautiful. Denver is an amazing city and the views and crisp mountain air in your lungs are worth the drive alone imo.

Once you get to NV, go through the HENDERSON DMV over all others. Idk bout Summerlin, but Sahara is awful from what I've heard and Henderson DMV was super helpful, reasonably fast, and just overall not nearly as bad as NY DMVs. That being said, I procrastinated on doing it for 2 years until my NY registration expired and I couldn't renew it from NV.

Best of luck.

I went through the Rockies last February. It was a terrible idea. I went literally under 100 miles in 7 hours...cars were sliding downhill...just a huge azz mess. Ended up finally being able to exit & spend the night & a mountain lodge type place, but if there's any question about the weather, I'd take the New Mexico route.

I did up a not very exciting TR of my drive from MA to Vegas in 4L (as such I apologize for the memes, poor English, etc.). If anyone is curious they can read it here:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/62...now-up-977971/