Chicago - LAX in August: I-80 vs I-40

Dear members,

I am new to the forum and congratulations for the website and discussion. It is very helpful!
I tried to spend some time searching it before posting. Sorry if my query was already addressed and somehow I missed that.

My wife and I are planning a road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles this August on a Mustang convertible. The initial idea was to broadly follow I-40 westbound but we have a concern about the heat especially when crossing Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Do you think this might be a concern, especially if we plan to stop a bit on the way?
Alternatively we were thinking of driving on I-80 (and I-70), perhaps chiller in August, but we are not sure which one has more sightseeings. What was a priority for us was stop at Grand Canyon and Las Vegas and we can do that on either of the itineraries. We know that each of them has its beauties but with only 13 days to cover Chicago - LAX one way we think we need to chose one of the two itineraries... or perhaps there is a third alterative route that would look more interesting for a first timer on US inter states?

Many thanks for your advice or any road experience between these two cities.
Best regards
Rob

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

There are literally hundreds of route number options you could choose from by getting off Interstate and mixing it up a bit, you don't have to stick to an Interstate all the way. Of what route to take will come down to what holds most appeal to you. You are going to run into some hot weather whichever way you go and it will be a case of hood up and aircon on.

To get to the Grand canyon I would certainly head towards Denver, well more Rocky mountian NP nearby and take 170 into Southern Utah. It's a very scenic Interstate, but you also have the choice to head south of I70 and use some of the US highways, such as US50. That would take you over Monarch Pass, through Currecanti Nat Rec area to Black canyon. [Not to mention lots of other choices] In Utah you will find wonderful NP's such as Arches,Canyonlands, Bryce canyon and Zion to choose from if they suit your interests. You could also visit Monument valley on route to the Grand canyon by either heading down 191 from Moab [Arches] or through Page AZ from Bryce canyon/Zion NP. It's not just about National parks, the scenery, towns and Indian lands you will come across are quite amazing. From the GC you can take I40 west [where you can detour onto an original section of route 66 through Seligman] before turning off to Vegas via the Hoover Dam. At the start of your trip you have other options too. You could head to St Louis and through Kansas City for example.

From LV you could get to LA same day or you could detour through the Mojave or Death valley, both will be extremely hot !

It could be that you personally prefer I40 and if that were the case you should stick to that route. The same goes for wanting a convertible. A larger sedan would be more roomy, practical and comfortable and less costly, but it's your trip and you should make the most of it to suit your personal tastes.

So you could use all three Interstates for your journey. Have a look around RTA and study a good map to see what appeals to you and when you have decided and have a couple of dots on the map we can help answer further questions and fill in the blanks.

Enjoy the planning !

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Yes, I know that it's called the Desert Southwest, and I know the popular expression "But it's a dry heat!". I do live in the Sonoran Desert, after all. But July and August are our rainy season. We have a monsoon climate where most of our rain occurs during those two months as the humidity rises, leading to almost daily afternoon thunderstorms. Just the extra humidity, combined with the 100-110ºF (38-43ºC) temperatures, can be quite unpleasant. And rain in an area that is not used to it and has poor drainage can lead to flash flooding. So, for those reasons, I would suggest that you take the I-80/I-76/I-80/I-15 route which is both historic, roughly following the old Oregon Trail and Lincoln Highways across the plains, and scenic, crossing the Colorado Rockies then the San Rafael Swell in Utah, and passes near a number of great National Parks including Rocky Mountain, Arches, and Zion. If you take this route, then you should definitely visit Zion and then make the loop around to the east on UT-9/US-89 through Page AZ and enter the Grand Canyon from Cameron, exiting to the south to Williams and from there take I-40/US-93 to Las Vegas.

AZBuck

Dear Southwest Dave and AZBuck,
Thanks to both, advice is very helpful. Will redesign a bit the itinerary based on the above and will certainly get back to you and the forum with more queries... cheers

We are planning a coast to coast and the first leg would be NY-Youngstown, sleeping there and continuing next day to Chicago. Possibly, from Youngstown onwards we wanted to avoid the I-80 to see something different.
I liked very much your idea to continue after Youngstown and "switch over to I-76 and take that out onto the farmlands of Ohio, following it until it terminates at its junction with I071. From that point, roads like US-24 and US-30 would take you through the small towns of the Midwest ending up in the Chicago area".
Could you give me please some more detail on this suggested route? We wanted to pass Akron, Mansfield, Fort Wayne on the US 30 and join the I-90 right before Chicago. In this way we hope to see some real mid west... what do yu think? It should be around 8hrs drive... Any nice spot on the way? Many thanks!

I think you mean I-80, not I-90?

There's no real good way to avoid Chicago traffic, but what would work best to transition from US-30 to I-80 would be to take I-65 north at Merrillville IN. Once you get past the I-65 interchange, US-30 is very congested and slow going with tons of traffic lights and low speed limits all the way to Joliet IL. Youngstown to I-65 via I-76/I-71/US-30 is about 400 miles and can be done in right around 8 hours.

US-30 between Mansfield and Fort Wayne is near-Interstate quality, bypassing all towns, with reasonably high speed limits. West of Fort Wayne is not as fast, it's a divided highway but with a lot of grade crossings and some traffic lights and lower speed limits.

This is only about 20 miles longer and probably 1 hour slower than taking the toll roads all the way across, and this is how I usually go between Chicago and the east coast.

Many thanks, that helps! It seems that sticking to the toll road all the way might be the best balance(scenary vs driving time)
I guess that the scenary should be mostly the same between I-80 and US-30/I-71/I-76/I-65.

I'd spend the extra hour. You will save money ($23.40, the extra gas for 20 more miles is negligible, 4 bucks at the most) and you will have the opportunity to stop in towns to get more of a "flavor" of the Midwest. Getting off and back on the toll roads can be a hassle, a lot of the interchanges are out in the middle of nowhere. In the scope of this trip, the extra hour is nothing.

I assume you will be taking I-80 from NYC to Youngstown? I usually stop for the night at Exit 223 in OH (Niles, OH-46), there's a few hotels and a large travel center (truck stop) right off the exit.

If you are looking for recommendations for lodging off I-80 near Chicago, I would get past Joliet - look at Morris or Ottawa. Unless you hit rush hour, it shouldn't take you much more than 1 hour to get to Morris from where you get on I-80 off I-65, it's just under 70 miles. Ottawa is another 30 minutes west.

Sounds as a good tip, many thanks! Yes, the first leg NYC to Youngstown will be on the I-80 and we will overnight in the Youngstown area (Niles looks like a good option). We will then be onto Chicago on the US-30/I-71/I-76/I-65. Always dreamed of seeing some real midwest and this seems as a good plan.
Our trip plan is getting together little by little and we are so excited. The following stretch is now Chicago - Sioux Falls with a stop somewhere in between. Here the doubt is
a) I-90 W
b) US-20 W and I-90 W
c) I-88 W and I-90 W
d) Going thru Des Moines - Sioux CITY

Honestly no idea (I could literally flip a coin but does not seem like a professional approach to trip planning)... I tried to read as much as I could and it seems that the northern route (Dubuque - Waterloo) is quite nice but again your help would be crucial... Many thanks

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Originally Posted by FL37000

Honestly no idea (I could literally flip a coin but does not seem like a professional approach to trip planning)...

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It's as professional as any other method. Really, as you have found, you have many choices. You are researching them, and discovering quite a bit about them. That is professional.

Have you thought of leaving it open? See how you feel on the day, when you are there. See how the time goes; see how you feel about travelling on the Interstates / minor highways.

Not every mile needs to be planned to the nth degree.

Lifey who rarely plans anything

Chicago (Morris) to Sioux Falls is actually drivable in one day via the Interstates, so you can take the small roads most of the way with an overnight stop. With this in mind, I'd probably go north on I-39 to Rockford, then take US-20. It's very scenic in western IL, you may want to stop for a while in Galena. Proceeding into IA, you will be very near the Field of Dreams, it's out in the sticks north of Dyersville. Waterloo would be a good overnight, if you want to go farther, the next city with good lodging options is Fort Dodge (or Mason City if you want to head north on US-218 to US-18 to go the rest of the way across).

This is so true.. and probably we will follow the mood as always. However it is always good to have some tip to hit some good spot and this website is so precious for that... some of the best places are often quite hidden.... thanks for the inspiring words!

I have to say that I am partial to I-90, but that's mostly because of my familiarity with it. Having lived along various parts of it for much of my life, I can easily say that I've traveled at least a Quarter Million Miles just along this section of highway. There are also several detours off of it you could consider, like taking US-12 from Madison to Wisconsin Dells (still 4 lanes, but takes you near Devils Lake and through the Baraboo Hills.) or taking US-14 from Madison to LaCrosse, which is 2 lanes through the bluff country of Southwest Wisconsin, and from there you could pick up MN-16, which is a National Scenic Byway, rejoining I-90 near Austin, MN.

US-20 is nice too, Galena is a popular getaway destination for Chicago residents, and I've always found Dubuque to be a nice town. It is also 4 lanes for much of the trip across Iowa, and you'd certainly get a good feel for Northern Iowa.

I wouldn't take I-88 to I-90, but I-88 does run roughly parallel to the Lincoln Highway, which was America's first cross country road. If you wanted to completely avoid the freeways, that could be a fun choice.

thanks! I like to imagine how it is gonna be... the description gives me a very good idea of what we will find. much appreciated.

Our itinerary is shaping up and we look forward to hitting the road in three weeks. We were thinking of driving no stop from Waterloo to Rapid City and then have one or two day rest at Mount Rushmore and Badlands. It might be around an 11 hrs stretch but we are three of us so we can alternate at the steering. Would it be feasible? Then from Rapid City we wanted to drive down to Denver which will be a shorter leg.

You could make it from Waterloo to Rapid in a long day - likely more like 12 hours, but it wouldn't make much sense. The Badlands are about 100 miles east of Rapid, so if you wanted to stop to see them, you'd be backtracking after your long day. It would make more sense to stop when you get near the Badlands.

I would spend the first night in Wall. Then, in the morning take SD-240 into the Badlands, and when you reach the exit turn right on SD-377 through Interior to SD-44 to Rapid City. You can spend the next night in Rapid City or closer to Rushmore - such as Keystone, Hill City, or Custer.

Rushmore to Denver is about 8 hours.

Many thanks! I see that Hill City - Denver can be driven on different routes. We were thinking of US 71, going through Nebraska, or alternatively US 85 through Wyoming. Any suggestions? We will probably just mask small stops on the way but I was wondering which way has the best scenaries. We will be ultimately heading through Grand Canyon so we might then spend the following night in Denver.

The thing is, in The West most roads are scenic and so it becomes incumbent upon you to make the most of your 'small stops'. Assuming that you can devote a full day to the drive down to Denver then I'd look at using US-385 down to US-20 just west of Chadron NE and then head west through Fort Robinson State Park, to Harrison. From there take NE-29 south, with a stop at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, to Mitchell NE. Next up, take NE-92 east along the southern bank of the North Platte River (not US-26 on the north bank). You'll be following the route of the old Oregon Trail and quick stops at some of its landmarks such as Scotts Bluff and Chimney Rock, and Court House and Jail Rocks would be in order. You'd then finish up by taking US-385, NE-19 and CO-113 south to Sterling and getting on I-76 for the final run into Denver.

AZBuck

That sounds great! Now the last question in the planning is on the Denver - GRand CAnyon route. We were thinking of leaving Denver around noon and sleep in Durango or Cortez and the following day to reach Tusayan to enter the south gate. Another alternative would be to sleep in Grand Junction, but I would preferr to get the closest to Tusayan. Any suggested route Denver - Tusayan? It should be, i guess, around 8 good hours of driving. Many thanks as always!

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Any suggested route Denver - Tusayan? It should be, i guess, around 8 good hours of driving.

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Not from Denver it wouldn't be. I'm presuming you are referring from Grand junction to Grand canyon ? It will most likely be closer to 9 hours. From Durango it would be under 8 hours.

I would actually recommend heading to Cameron and the Cameron Trading post near to the east entrance of the park and drive in that way instead of going all the way to Tusayan. That way you follow the same path as the Colorado river into the main canyon area and do not start in the 'middle' of the south rim. This would also give you time to stop at Monument Valley for an hour or two and not have to double back from Tusayan towards the east entrance to visit the viewpoints along Desert view drive.

If you are spending the night in Durango I would take US 50 as described in post 2 [Monarch pass, Currecanti] and drive down US550 aka 'The Million dollar Highway', which is quite spectacular! It'll most likely add a couple of hours to the trip, but it's worth imo and you could stay in the either of the wonderful mountain towns of Ouray or Silverton.

Another option would be to take US285 to CO 112 [Del Norte] to US 160 over 'Wolf Creek Pass' and through the 'Hotsprings town' of Pagosa Springs.

My software says the *fastest* route from Denver to the GC is I-70/US-191/US-160 and in through Cameron. It's possible to do this in a day and a half with an overnight in Grand Junction.

No way to do this in 8 hours - it's almost 700 miles!

If you want to go via Durango or Pagosa Springs as Dave has suggested, you should take 2 full days.

I would suggest you leave Denver early in the morning and take US-285 to Poncha Springs, then US-50 to Montrose, then US-550 to Durango and spend the night.

Next day, take US-160 through Cortez and go through 4 Corners. Then take US-191 north to US-163 and go through Monument Valley. You won't have much time to really explore it, but just the drive through on 163 is worth it. At Kayenta, get back on 160 and take that to US-89 past the Cameron Trading Post, then take AZ-64 into the GC.

For planning purposes, you need to allow about 3.5 hours to get from MV to GC.

NOTE: If you take the fastest route, you can take US-163 through MV instead of staying on 191 all the way to 160. You could also take US-6/UT-128 through Castle Valley into Moab to get from I-70 to US-191.