best route ideas please from surprise, az to vancouver, wa (not thru CA-too busy)

[djtraveler]

Thanks in advance for any/all suggestions of good route(s) to travel from surprise, AZ to vancouver, Wa/Portland,OR area in early summer.. WE will be in an rv (type yet to be determined). Our ideal route would be less crowded but also have gas stations along the way enough not to worry about running out of gas. we just drove here (from vanc, wa) last week and went thru oregon (was fine) and then CA (sacramento) and it was traumatic-too busy and we hope never to take that route again. (onramps were horrible and short and we know we had it pretty good in WA state with long onramps). So,looking for other ideas/routes. we have a road atlas we can refer to but your knowledge is invaluable those of you who have taken different routes. we know we may have ot go thru some busy spots but we hope to keep that to a minimum. we will camp along the way . thanks so much.

[AZBuck]

There are really only two basic routes for you and fortunately neither goes through California. They are also within a hundred miles of each other in terms of length and they would both take about three days of steady but not exhausting driving. If I were doing this I would take the slightly longer route because it has slightly more scenery and slightly more civilization on the way north through Nevada. That route would be to simply get on US-93 and stay on it all the way up to I-84 in southern Idaho. You could then complete the journey to Vancouver on I-84. Just remember that there are occasionally smaller parallel roads to the main highways that will let you enjoy the scenery at a slower pace and to get off for a few national monuments/forests/wildlife refuges as well as the Snake and Columbia Rivers.

The first day would be the hardest as there is little in the way of lodging until you get to Ely NV, a bit over 500 miles from Surprise. Midway between Ely and Vancouver would be around Nampa ID.

AZBuck

[djtraveler]

AZBuck-thanks so much for your reply! i immediatlely told my husband we had a way to get back to VANC w/out going thru CA-yea! i think that sounds like a good route. thanks so much. djtraveler.

There are really only two basic routes for you and fortunately neither goes through California. They are also within a hundred miles of each other in terms of length and they would both take about three days of steady but not exhausting driving. If I were doing this I would take the slightly longer route because it has slightly more scenery and slightly more civilization on the way north through Nevada. That route would be to simply get on US-93 and stay on it all the way up to I-84 in southern Idaho. You could then complete the journey to Vancouver on I-84. Just remember that there are occasionally smaller parallel roads to the main highways that will let you enjoy the scenery at a slower pace and to get off for a few national monuments/forests/wildlife refuges as well as the Snake and Columbia Rivers.

The first day would be the hardest as there is little in the way of lodging until you get to Ely NV, a bit over 500 miles from Surprise. Midway between Ely and Vancouver would be around Nampa ID.

AZBuck

[Southwest Dave]

Is this going to be a sight seeing road trip or an A to B in the most efficient way possible ? How much time do you have ? If this is a one way trip in an RV rental the one way fee could be quite significant, although Cruise America have a main depot in Phoenix AZ and often have one way special deals, as they need to move their fleet around the country. I would agree with US93 but there are other camping options before Ely.

[glc]

If you take US-93, note that gas stations are pretty sparse between Las Vegas and I-84. There is NO gas between Las Vegas and Alamo, NO gas between Pioche and Ely, NO gas between Ely and I-80.

[landmariner]

If time/days are not pressing and you are willing to add a couple hundred miles, another option would be traveling via Flagstaff, AZ to Page, AZ via US 89, continuing on US 89 to I-15 in Southern Utah, continuing to Salt Lake City on I-15. Continue on I-15 to northern Utah (around Logan) where you would catch I-84 all the way to Portland, OR. You can use Google Maps (or another mapping program). Plenty of gas (it appears and I have personally traveled many of those roads) and RV camping (although you may need to make some reservations in advance).

[glc]

If you do that, I'd recommend using UT-20 to get from US-89 to I-15.