Denver to San Jose, CA

[TheOdyssey]

Hello,

We're driving from Denver to San Jose, CA in July. Looks like we have two main options:

1. North to Cheyenne, then West on I-80 via Salt Lake City, Reno etc.

2. West to Grand Junction, down to Las Vegas, Barstow, Bakersfield, and then up I-5.

The distances are almost identical - any thoughts about the two routes? It seems like the Southern route would be more scenic perhaps, but that's as far as I got in weighing my options.

I'd love to drive this in two days if possible. But, that might be pushing things??

thanks for any input!!

[jamesdozer31]

Hello and welcome to RTA. The southern route would be the most scenic and breathtaking. Two days is not wise at all for this trip three days would be pushing it to the max. Is time a factor in this trip??

[Mark Sedenquist]

We're driving from Denver to San Jose, CA in July. Looks like we have two main options:
1. North to Cheyenne, then West on I-80 via Salt Lake City, Reno etc.
2. West to Grand Junction, down to Las Vegas, Barstow, Bakersfield, and then up I-5.

Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum! First, it is an OK drive to do in two days, I have done it several times, (**but you need to know that it will require a minimum of eleven hours of driving each of the two days to accomplish this** -- unless you are an experienced long-haul driver, that is longer than we generally recommend). As you already know it is about 1300 miles using I-80 and it is about 30 miles shorter routing through Las Vegas.

It seems like the Southern route would be more scenic perhaps, but that's as far as I got in weighing my options.

They both have scenic views, but I-70 is just plain gorgeous and allows you to drive through the incomparable San Rafael Swell in eastern Utah.

The Basin & Ranges of central Nevada are one of my favorite geographic locations and what I would do is take I-70 to Salina and then cut due west on US-50 across Nevada and past Lake Tahoe into the California's central valley and then on into San Jose. This route is actually the shortest route (1274 miles) but it will be alittle slower across Nevada and California. But you should be able to cover the distance if you want a slightly more scenic route.

If you can stretch this into three days, there are all sorts of fun detours along any one of these primary routes and you can drive a much saner 5-8 hours per day

Mark

[elw612]

have done that stretch before, both ways you should be fine in two days, heck i made it to minneapolis and back in 2.

[Mark Sedenquist]

have done that stretch before, both ways you should be fine in two days, heck i made it to minneapolis and back in 2.

And how fast were you driving and how many hours in each day?

Mark

[TheOdyssey]

Thanks for the tips. I think we'll plan on 3 days. There isn't that big of a rush. Mostly we were just trying to avoid paying for a second night at a hotel. Maybe we can find a campsite or something along the way.

[elw612]

well i stopped at two hotels for about 4 hours each, the rest pretty much non stop except gas and eats and a few sights..