boulder to NY

[typhoon55]

I willl be doing the above road trip around nov.15th and looking for online planner that will tell me where 7 - 8 hr. driving time will be approx. to arrange overnight - food etc. - also optional routes

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Most free on-line mapping software will tell you how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B, but not how far you can get from Point A in so many hours. So you are stuck with a couple of options. You can take a guess at how far you can get down the road, and then let the software give you its estimate of how long that will take. You would then adjust your target destination accordingly and get a new estimate. Repeat the process until you find something you're comfortable with. Alternatively, you can buy a more capable mapping program that will map out the range of places you can get to within a certain time frame and go from there. I have MS Streets & Trips®, and they call this feature 'Create a Drivetime Zone'.

The other thing you would know, but I do not, is what you mean by "where 7 - 8 hr. driving time will be". There is a difference between 7-8 hours of driving (not accounting for food, fuel and bio breaks) and 7-8 hours of on-the-road time (which does take those stops into account). I've had a go at figuring both cases, by golly, and here are my results, using 7˝ hours as a 'range' and finding the closest decent sized city at the end of each day, I get:

7˝ hours of driving:
Lincoln, NE
Peru, IL (jct I-80 and I-39)
Youngstown, OH
New York, NY

7˝ hours on-the-road:
Kearney, NE
Malcom, IA
Elkhart. IN
Clarion, PA
New York, NY

AZBuck

[typhoon55]

thx for your guess and golly - it is a great help to give me some options . I am more of in between guess and golly :) just kidding

I am going to try the first option of 7 1/2 driving time so will explore your first list


My concern is weather related issues cropping up at that time of year.
thx again

[typhoon55]

I am looking at taking the lower route 70 instead of the more direct rt 80 as it could be better to avoid Chicago, better weather? , and more sights?

It does not seem to be that much longer but cannot seem to get actual mileage as the trip planners always show the direct route.

[glc]

Boulder to NYC on the southern route?

1825 miles via I-70 to the PA Turnpike to I-81 to I-78.

Stops would roughly be:

Topeka, KS
Effingham, IL
Washington, PA
NYC

Definitely less tolls going this way.

[typhoon55]

ok great - seems to be about the same distance as the I-80 trip
less tolls is good
maybe a little less traffic and more scenic?
if there is weather related advisories, it may also be the better route.

[Midwest Michael]

It does not seem to be that much longer but cannot seem to get actual mileage as the trip planners always show the direct route.

Several of the online map programs now allow you to "drag and drop" your own routes. Google was the first to start doing this, but I believe some of the others like Yahoo or Mapquest also offer this feature now too.

[glc]

You will have four traffic issues.

Kansas City
St. Louis
Indy
Columbus

Avoid in rush hour. St. Louis can be especially bad because I-64/US-40 is closed through town for reconstruction.

Another option is I-80 to I-74 and pick up I-70 in Indy. This will cut out KC and STL. It will add about 75 miles (1900), and your first 2 stops would be Lincoln/Omaha and Champaign, IL.

If you want to almost totally eliminate tolls, you can pick up I-71 in Columbus, take that to I-76 to I-80. This is also 1900 miles (1825 if you take 70 to Columbus) and would put your 3rd stop at around Youngstown OH or Sharon PA. I-80 is a lot more picturesque across PA than the Turnpike, but can get VERY nasty in bad weather, it's a major through truck route.