time to get out of seattle, here i come vegas

[lasengero]

Hi everyone!! Im moving to vegas from seattle and i am planning on driving it. Unfortunately time is something i have little of. I have used mapquest and Google to map out the route and it wants me to use the I90 - 82E - 84E - 15S. I have never driven this route so I am a little hesitant to go for it. On the other hand i am pretty familiar with I5. Is there a better way to get to vegas using I5? Do i need to go all the way down to LA and get on the 15? While im at it is the mapquest route really faster? Thanks everyone your help is hugely appreciated.

Martin

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Isn't the point of a roadtrip to go places you haven't been? But I digress...

If you take I-5, you don't have to go all the way south to LA. You can cut across CA-58 through Bakersfield and pick up I-15 at Barstow.

I suspect the mapquest route through Salt Lake is in fact shorter, but I'm not sure how much of a difference there would be between the two routes.

Added:
The distance via Barstow: 1325 miles
The distance via Salt Lake City: 1260 miles

[lasengero]

Awesome Midwest Michael. It pains me to not actually take more time out nd enjoy a new undriven route but my job owns me like no other, i wish it didnt. anyway to follow up on my question are you familiar with the highways that mapquest recommends? I84, I82 etc. Are they 2 lane roads? I like I5 cause it's pretty much a 70-90 mile an hour route.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Are you familiar with the highways that mapquest recommends? I84, I82 etc. Are they 2 lane roads? I like I5 cause it's pretty much a 70-90 mile an hour route.

The "I" in I-84 and I-82 and I-5 refers to an Interstate Highway, which means, at the minimum that these highways are all four lane, limited-access throughways. There is no state in America where you can travel 90 mph legally.

Mark

[PNW Judy]

I've driven from Vegas via the SLC route (I-15, I-82, I-84). If you're in a hurry, I'd go for it. The traffic is far less than you'll find along the I-5 route and the only 2 places where congestion might be an issue are when you go through Boise and SLC.

And you will not experience any congestion in either of those cities unless you're driving through them at rush hour. You will find more regular traffic and more congestion on I-5 at any time of day.

And there are places where you will also be virtually the only car on the road. The likelihood of having times like that on I-5 are quite slim.

I've done this route from the Olympia Peninsula, through Boise, through SLC to other parts of Utah, Colorado, etc. numerous times without any traffic issues being a bother. Only once did I get bogged down in Boise. It was about 5pm and they had some highway construction going on that was slowing things down. Believe me, it was nothing like Seattle traffic jams! Same with SLC. The only time I got slowed down was when I was going through there at about 7:30am.

So, use your good Seattle Sense and avoid those areas at those times and enjoy the drive!

And, yes, it's a 4-lane highway. I don't recall any bad spots along the way. I remember a very smooth, well-maintained highway the entire route.

[lasengero]

Thats great Judy!! i've made up my mind and will take the 82-84-15 route. It just dawned on me that I5 traffic is I5 traffic regardless of where you are. Plus doing the I5 route adds like 200 something more miles. How long do you think the trip will take with minimal stops?

[PNW Judy]

I've done it in 2 long, grueling days. Very grueling. I couldn't tell you the total driving miles but I got up at about 6am and stopped driving around 8-9pm both days. I did do some rest stops throughout the day, even taking a bit of a nap on the second day but I don't remember how long it was. Maybe an hour or so. And I do stop at all scenic viewpoints, etc. even if it's only for a few, short minutes.

I would plan for 3 days.

1260/60mph (the most I think you will be able to average on this route) would mean the driving time alone, without stops, is about 21 hours. Over 2 days, this is tough. But three 7 hour days isn't bad at all.