Any advice for a Summer Roadtrip to New York City

Ive been planning a road trip from El Paso Texas to New york City for me and two of my friends. I had planned for trip to NY to last 3 days, 2 nights on the road with nights in Oklahoma City and Indianapolis. I've chosen this route because we have stop by St. Louis. With that said was wondering if the trip is possible in 3 full days driving 700+ miles a day. All three of us are capable of driving so fatigue isn't an issue as we can easily take shifts.

I was just hoping that someone would know if covering all those miles in three days is possible and if so any tips or suggestions?

Welcome to the RoadTrip America Forum!

We recommend topping out at around 550 miles per day. Driving in "shifts" makes the trip into a job. Can you add in some extra time to your itinerary? You would be far better off to add in some extra time, to keep yourselves alert and refreshed, and to enjoy the scenery along the way.

We have driven 600 miles per day no problem. That's with 2 drivers changing off. Make your hotel reservations beforehand. Nothing's worse than driving 700 miles and not being able to find a room, especially out in the middle of nowhere.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

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Originally Posted by KevinC

...wondering if the trip is possible in 3 full days driving 700+ miles a day. All three of us are capable of driving so fatigue isn't an issue as we can easily take shifts.

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We see these kinds of comments all the time, and they simply ignore reality. 750 miles a day (700 won't get you to your destination in 3 days) requires 14 hours of driving by the time you factor in minimal stops for gas, food, and rest areas, as well as slowdowns due to traffic. That leaves only the barest minimum of time to 'cool down' at the end of the day and get to sleep, and get up and going in the morning. Everything you do will take longer than you might be used to because there are three of you. And you simply cannot get enough quality sleep in a car to make up for this. The statistics of deaths and injuries from accidents caused by fatigued drivers are sobering. This is not a trip that will be either enjoyable or safe. Do yourselves and everyone else you'll share the road with a favor and plan on taking 4 days.

AZBuck

Thanks AZBuck when i planned a schedule for the trip i made two, one consisting of 4 days. i figured i would probably have to wind up taking 4 days on the road. Thanks for the advice!

If you have 3 drivers, this is a good procedure to follow. I am not advocating you do this in 3 days, but even with 4 days, it's going to help. You can push yourselves a bit, spend the first night in Shamrock TX and the second night in STL. Third night around Akron OH would get you into NYC fairly early on the 4th day.

I'm making a pretty long road trip over the summer and i just wanted to know if its possible to drive from El Paso, TX to Oklahoma City in a day. The full length of the trip is very long, 2100+ miles, and this would be the longest part of the trip as the other days will top out at no more than 500- 520 miles. Just wanted to know if there's any way this can be accomplished. I know its a stretch but it would really help to be able to make it to OK by the first day, we have three drivers.

As I said previously, trying to drive 700 or more miles a day is simply counter-productive, Yes you can do it, but it will NOT be fun and it is no way to start off a multi-day RoadTrip.

AZBuck

Depending upon which way you go, you're looking at a trip that will be somewhere between 700+ miles of non-interstate highways or 800 miles if you stick to the Interstates.

Anyway you look at it, that's going to be a good 15 hours on the road and its a pretty miserable way to start a trip. Even if the rest of your legs are more reasonable, you're going to be so exhausted from the first day that you'll spend the rest of your trip just trying to get caught up.

Of course, the better questions are
1- why are you going to OK City in the first place? If you are going to approach this as a speed run, you'd be better off heading through Dallas and Memphis to I-40, eventually taking I-81 North.

and 2- If you are giving yourselves 4 days, then you can break this up into even legs where you are never driving more than 600 miles in a day - so trying to really push yourselves out to nearly 800 miles really isn't necessary.

The issue here is that we need to be in a place where we can get to St. Louis, MO some what early ( early evening ) by the second day of the trip. I've been trying to find a way to accomplish this and stopping for a night in Oklahoma City is one of the few options I've found where this might be possible

Well, you're looking at about 1300 miles from El Paso to St. Louis, which is two very long days on the road anyway you look at it. Trying to get there "early" on the second day is going to be a problem any way you look at it.

I still would say stopping in Lawton would be better than trying to push all the way to OKC. Lawton will be about 13 hours on the road, and you'll be looking at another 11 hours or so to St. Louis, so you'll have to plan to leave early both days if you want to do this, have time to get some rest, and make it to St. Louis in early evening. Just know any way you slice it, whatever your evening plans are for St. Louis, you're going to have spent a whole lot of energy in your job trying to get there in this timeframe.