LA to NYC and back

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning a road trip in June/July to New York and back from Los Angeles, I'd like to be in New York by July 5th and will be staying there a little over a week before driving back to Los Angeles. I'm planning to rent a standard size car. I was thinking to leave L.A. on June 25th and go the Northern route through Nevada and Idaho for a few days and stop at the Glacier National Park in Montana for a day, then continue the trek East through one of the Dakotas to Minnesota / Chicago / Ohio / PA and finally NY. On the way back home I was thinking to go a Central route so we could drive through Colorado and Utah. I was just wondering if anyone has driven these areas and could offer any advice or things to look out for that we haven't thought of. Any recommendations on the route would be great, for example if North Dakota is a better drive than South Dakota or vice versa. As much as we'd like to see every state, we don't really have time to drive through all of them.

Thanks and happy travels!

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

One thing you will have to do before departing is make sure that Going to the Sun road through Glacier is open for the season by late June. Depending upon the winter, the road sometimes doesn't open up until July, and you may want to reverse your trip plans.

You need a minimum of 7 full days of driving to get from LA to NYC via Glacier so you won't have a lot of time for other detours, but it's still enough time to have a nice trip.

The Dakotas both have their plusses and minuses, as far as one over the over might be concerned.

If sticking to interstates (as you probably need to do for times' sake), you'll have less mileage going 94 -- 120 miles less (about 2 hours), straight through Chicago (ugh, the traffic and the tolls), and down to I-80. If you take the 90 to I-29 south, to I-80, you'll have more corn fields (Iowa), 120 miles, a little less traffic, and a few less tolls. You'll have to choose, more miles or more traffic.

On the way back, you could take I-70 all the way across (with more tolls in PA) and have some gorgeous scenery west of Denver and all the way across the rest of CO and most of UT's 70. When 70 ends, take the 15 south. I've done this route, it's a good one. Be aware that there are 108 miles of no services along I-70, between Green River UT and Salina UT. Fuel up either in Grand Junction/Fruita (less expensive) or Green River. That's the San Rafael Swell area, really stunning in its own way. Between Denver and Grand Junction, it's mountains, ski areas, and (on Fridays and Sundays) a bit of traffic between Denver and Glenwood Springs.


Donna

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Originally Posted by Midwest Michael

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

One thing you will have to do before departing is make sure that Going to the Sun road through Glacier is open for the season by late June. Depending upon the winter, the road sometimes doesn't open up until July, and you may want to reverse your trip plans.

You need a minimum of 7 full days of driving to get from LA to NYC via Glacier so you won't have a lot of time for other detours, but it's still enough time to have a nice trip.

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Thank you, Midwest Michael! I didn't know that about the Sun Road so I will definitely check and the good thing is we are flexible on our routes and dates so we can always reverse our plans and do the Northern route in July on the way home like you mentioned. Thanks for your insight and info.

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

The Dakotas both have their plusses and minuses, as far as one over the over might be concerned.

If sticking to interstates (as you probably need to do for times' sake), you'll have less mileage going 94 -- 120 miles less (about 2 hours), straight through Chicago (ugh, the traffic and the tolls), and down to I-80. If you take the 90 to I-29 south, to I-80, you'll have more corn fields (Iowa), 120 miles, a little less traffic, and a few less tolls. You'll have to choose, more miles or more traffic.

Be aware that there are 108 miles of no services along I-70, between Green River UT and Salina UT. Fuel up either in Grand Junction/Fruita (less expensive) or Green River.

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Thank you for the great info and advice, Donna! We will check out those routes going through Chicago and decide which one we want to take and will be sure to fuel up in Grand Junction.

If you would like to avoid the majority of tolls, here are a few options to explore:

A. Take I-90 to I-29 south to I-680 to I-80 east. Then take I-74 to Indy, then I-70 east.
1. At Columbus, take I-71 north to I-76 to I-80 to NYC.
2. At Washington PA, take I-79 south to I-68 east to I-70 east to I-81 north to I-78 east to NYC.

B. Take I-29 south to St. Joseph, then US-36 east to I-72 east to I-74 east to Indy, then as above.

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Originally Posted by glc

If you would like to avoid the majority of tolls, here are a few options to explore:

A. Take I-90 to I-29 south to I-680 to I-80 east. Then take I-74 to Indy, then I-70 east.
1. At Columbus, take I-71 north to I-76 to I-80 to NYC.
2. At Washington PA, take I-79 south to I-68 east to I-70 east to I-81 north to I-78 east to NYC.

B. Take I-29 south to St. Joseph, then US-36 east to I-72 east to I-74 east to Indy, then as above.

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Thank you, glc! Being from the West Coast I completely forgot about toll roads. It will be great to save some money on the trip.

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Originally Posted by oakstreet

Thank you, glc! Being from the West Coast I completely forgot about toll roads. It will be great to save some money on the trip.

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Keep in mind, to avoid those tolls, you'd be adding quite a few miles. Those routes to avoid tolls add about 300 miles compared to going through North Dakota and about 200 miles compared to taking I-90 through South Dakota and beyond.

In other words, you could easily end up adding a half day of driving and spend an extra $30 on gas to "save" $40 on tolls.

Well, another "advantage" is you will stay far away from Chicago and its traffic. They also have scenic opportunities.