St Louis to Lansing

[welshman]

Hi

On my first road trip next year in Sept 2020......starting in Chicago & will be visiting St Louis & Toronto on my way to the Ryder Cup in WI. I plan to drive from St Louis MI to Lansing MI in a day. Is this feasible? Would you recommend the route via Chicago or via Indianapolis. I'll be driving on a Sunday. Are the interstates busier on a weekend? Also, plan to cross over to Canada on a Monday morning via Port Huron / Sarnia, about 9:00am....is this the wrong time of day to cross the border? Many thanks for sound advice!!

[DonnaR57]

Hi, welcome to RTA!

St Louis to Lansing is about 500 miles via Indianapolis. That would be doable in one day, and yes, I'd go through Indianapolis instead of Chicago. Traffic any day of the week in Chicago is not a good thing. If you are traveling the first weekend in September, which is Labor Day Weekend, it will not be pleasant in Chicago.

As far as crossing the border into Canada on a Monday morning, I would check EZ Border Crossing website if you possibly can. Port Huron/Sarnia is one of the busier crossings. That border crossing is known as the Blue Water Bridge. There are 13 lanes and handle a LOT of traffic. Factor in your border wait for your transit time, wherever you are headed that day.


Donna

[Midwest Michael]

I agree with Donna, this is a pretty easy trip to do in a day, and I would also recommend going via Indy to avoid tolls and the higher chance of seeing Traffic in the Chicago/Gary area.

As far as crossing into Canada, I can never seem to find patterns for long waits - sometimes I cross when I expect no wait and see long lines, sometimes I expect long lines and have almost no wait. In addition to the site Donna Provided, Michigan DOT has a Twitter feed for the Blue Water Bridge that provides good traffic updates.

Out of curiosity, it seems like you've got kind of a strange route planned - Chicago southwest to St. Louis all the way back northeast to Toronto and then west again back to Sheboygan/Milwaukee. Depending upon how flexible you are on your travel dates, it'd be quite a bit more efficient to go from Chicago to Toronto to Wisconsin and then finish in St. Louis - although putting both St. Louis and Toronto in this same trip is going to mean a lot of miles no matter which way you go.

[glc]

Michael, I think this trip may be ordered in this way around the dates for the Ryder Cup.

[Midwest Michael]

Yes, I'm aware, but what I'm saying is if the OP's travel dates are flexible, they could go to StL after the Ryder Cup, rather than heading back to the airport after the tournament ends and save some time/miles.

Alternatively, Depending upon the interests and available time, I'd also consider doing a loop that either includes St. Louis (including perhaps Kansas City or Minneapolis) or Toronto (and Detroit, Cleveland?) instead of both.

[welshman]

Yes, I'm aware, but what I'm saying is if the OP's travel dates are flexible, they could go to StL after the Ryder Cup, rather than heading back to the airport after the tournament ends and save some time/miles.

Alternatively, Depending upon the interests and available time, I'd also consider doing a loop that either includes St. Louis (including perhaps Kansas City or Minneapolis) or Toronto (and Detroit, Cleveland?) instead of both.

Thank you for all the advice. My trip starts 2.5 weeks before I go to the RC & I need to be in Toronto on specific dates to see family.....hence the roundabout route I need to take. Can always miss out St Louis altogether......but I have a 6 day gap from being in Chicago area to arriving in Toronto. Are there any other destinations I should consider besides St Louis which lie between Chicago &Toronto?

[DonnaR57]

There are a few good things between Chicago and Toronto, depending of course on your interests. In Ohio, there is the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. There's also drives along some of the Great Lakes -- finish up Lake Michigan, skirt along the rest of Lake Huron, then Erie and then Ontario. Of course there is the infamous Niagara Falls.

St Louis DOES have a lot going for it, to be sure: the Gateway Arch and surroundings, Grant's Farm, some phenomenal museums, Six Flags, and a good (almost free) zoo.

Donna

[AZBuck]

As Donna noted, there are several possibilities for spending a week, more or less, between Chicago and Toronto - depending on your interests. As I look at your itinerary what strikes me is that it is heavy on urban areas and seems to treat everything in between as just ground to be covered as efficiently as possible. If that's true then Donna's suggestion of a route through South Bend (Notre Dame University), Cleveland (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Cuyahoga Valley National Park}, and Niagara Falls is certainly worth considering.

But, if you'd like to get away from city life for a while and experience some natural beauty, quiet and solitude, then there's another alternative that I have used a few times in the past, and that is to go 'over the top' of the Great Lakes by heading north out of Chicago, up through Michigan to Sault Ste. Marie and cross into Canada there and take the Trans-Canada Highway (ON-17/ON-69/ON-400 to the Toronto area. Some of the quieter highlights of such a route might include Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, Colonial Michilimackinac and Mackinac Island, the Soo Locks, and French River Provincial Park.

Also, for the run from Toronto to Haven for the Cup you might want to consider, rather than going back through Chicago, heading from Sarnia directly across Michigan to Ludington and taking the ferry over to Manitowoc on the Wisconsin side. Just some thoughts for making the most of every day of your visit. But as always, the final decisions are up to you.

AZBuck

[welshman]

Hi

Thanks to everyone for all their advice. It's difficult to choose a route because the sheer physical size of the US is something not used to in Wales. Here, I can travel 2 hours in any direction from my village & visit mountain ranges, moorland, forests, seashore & 21 towns/cities with over 100k population. Pop per sq mile in UK @ 710....in US only 87......so 'urban' is what I'm used to! Love the US for its people & your attitude to visitors....service usually second to none! Again many thanks for all your advice!