Planning Spring Road Trip

I'm planning a road trip in April 21st 2014. Going to leave Scottsdale AZ to Boston MA. Want to avoid highways when possible. Last time I did this trip was in 2007. Looking for different options. Thanks, Slab Monkey

Welcome to the great American RoadTrip Forum!

Would you care to share a little more information? How long do you have for this trip? Is it a one way, or round trip? What was the route you took in 2007? What are your interests? Without these basics it is very hard for folk here to give any meaningful advice.

Lifey

From Holbrook to St. Louis, you are going to be in the Historic Route 66 corridor and you might find that of interest and it would allow you to "avoid highways" which by that I assume you mean Interstates.

10 to 14 days and its a one way trip. In 07 we went from Scottsdale to Canyon de Chilly for first day. Second day four corners, Cortez, Telluride, Ridgeway, down to Silverton and stayed in Durango. Third day to Pagosa Springs, Taos to Dalhart (nasty slaughter house town)for night three. then to Childress, Wichita falls, Sherman for night four. Then to Texarkana, to Greenville night five. Were going to visit Barber Museum but a huge stock car race diverted us. Went by Batesville, Tupelo,Decatur,and stayed at Gatlinburg night six, Blue ridge Parkway, The Tail, Cherohala, Roanoke night seven after one of our guys hit a deer, Night eight at Front Royal, Then Gettysburg, Hamburg PA night nine because of heavy rain, Day ten to Boston. Sorry for messy description.

Best way not to hit a deer is to drive during daylight hours. :-)

One suggestion would be to head out of Scottsdale and up to I-40. There are several alternatives there, such as Rt 60 east towards Globe, then up through Salt River Canyon, driving through Lakeside-Pinetop and Snowflake on Rt 77 before coming to Holbrook where you'll catch I-40 east. That's a great drive as long as there isn't any snow (definitely possible in the springtime). Otherwise, go I-17 north to I-40 at Flagstaff, then head east.

From there -- I-40, I-44, I-55, I-70 east to Columbus, OH where you'll catch I-71 up to I-90 and across. The only bother with this route is that parts of I-44 and I-90 are turnpikes. If you're driving a car and not towing anything, it shouldn't be too expensive.

As an alternative, get off I-40 at Tucumcari NM and head up US-54. You can get back to I-44 in MO where it's not toll any more (only in OK). US-54 is alternately 2-lane and 4-lane.

Things to see and do along the routes I've suggested: Salt River Canyon, Petrified Forest National Park, Petroglyphs National Monument near Albuquerque, Rio Grande State Nature Park in Albuquerque, the National Nuclear Museum in Albuquerque, Dorothy's House Museum in Liberal KS (haven't been, but would love to go), Mid-America Air Museum Liberal KS (if you go US-54), the Gateway Arch at St Louis, much aviation history in Dayton OH including the USAF Museum there (which is FREE) at Wright-Patterson AFB.



Donna

If you want to avoid the highways the best thing to do would be to go to this web site:

http://www.us-highways.com/

On that site you will find a list of all the US routes. There were several transcontinental routes that you still can follow today from coast to coast.

US 2, 6, 20, 30, 50, 60. Then there are many US routes that go through most of the country as US 12, MI to WA.

There are web site such as the Lincoln Hwy, and the Grand Army of the Republic Hwy.

Also the American Road Magazine has a forum where people well versed in the old routes can make suggestions if you wish to take the US routes instead of the Interstates.

And, ten to fourteen days should be enough time to make the trip.

Hello guys,

Looking for some possible routes that folks have taken. Trying to avoid highways. Thanks, Slabmonkey

Please keep all posts about the same trip in one place, and please do not simply repost the same question. - Mod

The thing about transcontinental, non-Interstate drives is that there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of possibilities, and since you are deliberately avoiding the major cross country highways, you end up stringing together a number of different good regional routes. In your case what I'd be looking to do would be to use US-64 across northern New Mexico, US-54 across the Kansas, US-50 in Missouri and Illinois, OH-4 to work my way north a bit, then US-6 through Pennsylvania and MA-2 across Massachusetts. Of course, you'll have to find suitable connecting roads to join that all together, and leave at least 2 or 3 more days that an all-Interstate would drive, but that's one basic routing.

AZBuck

Your 2007 trip seems to have been quite relaxed and varied as to routes and sites visited. How did you go about planning that route?

As one who regularly travels from and to Boston, to and from different parts of the country, some of the routes I have particularly enjoyed are 20 through MA and NY; 6 and 209 through PA; 6, 20, 24 and 30 through OH, IN; and 50, wherever I could pick that up. Besides that, I have alternated these with some of the more pleasant interstates, such as I-88 in NY; I-84 in CT; and I-81 through PA and into VA.

At other times an interesting sign has routed me onto a road of which I had never heard, which I had not considered. It is the way I have stumbled upon some real gems.

Lifey