Durango to Chicago Recommended Lodging on a 3 day drive ending in Chicago

We are traveling from Durango CO to Chicago and are planning two nights of lodging along the way. Any recommendations or tips?

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The most direct route between Durango and Chicago is to take US-160 to Del Norte and use CO-112 to connect to US-285 north to Denver. From Denver I-76/I-80 will take you the rest of the way to Chicago. Two stops in decent-sized towns, with perhaps more lodging choices, which would be more or less break up your drive into three relatively equal days (about 400-450 miles per day) would be Sterling CO and Omaha NE. You could easily cover more miles than that per day, but would need two overnight stops in any case, so you might as well take it easy and see a few sights along the way.

AZBuck

As far as lodging choices go, Sterling and Omaha have a number of chains and some mom-and-pops. Sterling is a wee-bit more limited, but I see them having a Best Western, Holiday Inn Express, First Interstate Inn, Quality Inn, Ramada Inn, Super 8, and Budget Inn. So mostly they are in the budget-to-mid-range prices near the freeway. They also seem to have a lot of chain places to eat near the freeway.

If you are interested in history at all, I-80 has a couple of sites about the Pony Express, in Nebraska. For instance, near Gothenburg, you will find a Pony Express Station. There is also Fort Kearny State Historical Park, near Kearney. It's not that far from I-80.

AZBuck has also given you a link to a list of state parks within a few miles of interstates. Just use that link and scroll down to I-80.


Donna

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

The most direct route between Durango and Chicago is to take US-160 to Del Norte and use CO-112 to connect to US-285 north to Denver. From Denver I-76/I-80 will take you the rest of the way to Chicago. Two stops in decent-sized towns, with perhaps more lodging choices, which would be more or less break up your drive into three relatively equal days (about 400-450 miles per day) would be Sterling CO and Omaha NE. You could easily cover more miles than that per day, but would need two overnight stops in any case, so you might as well take it easy and see a few sights along the way.

AZBuck

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This is useful information- I appreciate it!