best winter route from Buffalo NY to Nashville TN

[trish61]

Hoping for a safe trip this week, avoiding mountains, any recommendations?

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

There really are no mountains between Buffalo and Nashville, unless you really go out of your way.

The direct route is simple, I-90 to Cleveland, I-71 to Louisville, and I-65 to Nashville. It's a 700 mile trip, so that's a very long drive to do in one day - actually more than professionals are allowed to do. Expect it to take 12-14 hours, in good conditions. Since you're going north/south there's not much you can do about weather. Any other route you take is going to add significantly more miles, and make it impossible to do this trip safely in just one day, so you'd be better off waiting a day for the conditions to improve anyway.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

If you live in Buffalo, you are well aware that mountains are not your only, or even your biggest concern, with a winter drive. Lake effect snows in the lee of Lake Erie can be far worse than anything you'd see in the Appalachians. Nevertheless the preferred winter route would be the shortest all-Interstate route possible, and while that doesn't go through any mountains, it does follow the shore of Lake Erie for a while before turning south. What you'll want to do is take I-90 down to Cleveland and use I-271 south along the east side of that city to I-71 south. I-270 provides a way to go around Columbus to the west and get back onto I-71, as does I-275 around Cincinnati to the east, and I-265 goes around Louisville to the east although on this last one you'll want to get on I-65 south for the rest of your trip to Nashville.

The drive normally takes about a day and a half, meaning that you can take your overnight stop wherever is convenient, around Louisville if you get an early start and on Day 1 and have no weather delays, or closer to Cleveland if snow delays your departure from Buffalo, or anywhere in between that's convenient for you.

AZBuck

[glc]

If there is a big lake effect issue between Buffalo and Cleveland when you need to travel and you have a passport or EDL, go through Canada (QEW, 403, 401,402) and cross back into the US at Sarnia, then take I-69 to Indianapolis to pick up I-65 to Nashville. This does add 160 miles and about 3 hours to the more direct route (weather being equal) but may be safer depending on conditions.