Route 40 Cross-Country

[Sonya Sombreuil]

Hi,

Three of us are driving back to college from winter break, Santa Cruz, California to Amherst, Massechussetts. We are planning on taking route 40 to avoid too much snow and mountains. We have 7-8 days to get back there and I'm feeling a little insecure. Any ideas on how to break up the trip? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Sonya

[Robert Schaller]

You didn't say exactly when you'd be leaving. There will be winter driving conditions across northern Arizona and New Mexico over the next couple of days -- I don't know how bad it will get at this point, the storms are just starting. You'll need to keep an eye on that just in case they get nasty. If the roads are good, it'll take you about 5 days plus a few hours to make the trip. There are motorist services at regular (even short) intervals all along the route, so no problems there (you don't need to worry too much about where to stop -- when you get ready to quit, no doubt you'll be within 50 miles of lodging no matter where you're at on this route).

If it were me though, I'd probably just take I-80 all the way across. Bob

[Sonya Sombreuil]

Hey,

We'll be leaving january 16 and need to be in massechusettes on january 23. What we really want to avoid is driving in to much snow over mountains, which is why we intend to avoid the Rockys. I'm nervous about time and weather conditions, but so excited.

I would absolutly avoid Route 70 in mid January. The roads around Vail (really any point on 70 in Colorado, west of Denver is going to be dangerous). Yeah, Route 40 is your best bet. I hope Arkansas has finally fixed Route 40, it seemed like there was road construction all the way across. Tennessee was really good as far as road condition goes. If you go through Knoxville, you may end up on Route 81 going north through Virginia. Again, very pretty, but high altitude roads make for some dangerous driving. The trick to doing something like this isn't the rate of speed you go at to achieve your goal, it's all a matter of deligating your time. Whatever you do, keep moving and don't spend too much time whenever you stop. I drove from San Diego To Baltimore once and it only took me 2 1/2 days.

[Robert Schaller]

Interstate routes are very well-maintained. For example, if you look right now at the <a href = "http://www.cotrip.org/atis/web.ZoomboxMarshal?device=CCTV&Zoombox=0">webcams< a/> mounted all across the I-70 route west of Denver (there are quite a number) including one mounted near the Eisenhower Tunnel), you'll see that the roadways are CLEAR. It's been snowing up there for a day or two now. There are times the roadways will be snowpacked and icy -- but much of the time travel on them is not only possible, but safe as well. Even when it does snow, especially on I-70, the road crews get them plowed quickly. As I always say, check the road conditions just before you go -- you have good odds of finding good conditions at ANY time of year -- even across the Rockies.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I am not sure, from reading David's post, that he has ever driven I-70 in the winter -- but my personal experience with extensive driving on both routes would always urge I-70, if only because the Colorado highway department is one of the best in the country.

Mark

[Bonnie]

Hi, I want to travel from Georgia to California during the weekend of January 20th-January-24. I hope to travel along I-40 west the entire trip. Does anyone know if I will have any problems with winter weather. Any information would be much appreciated. Thank You!

[MelissaCA]

i would absolutly avoid route 70 in mid january. The roads around vail (really any point on 70 in colorado, west of denver is going to be dangerous). Yeah, route 40 is your best bet. I hope arkansas has finally fixed route 40, it seemed like there was road construction all the way across. Tennessee was really good as far as road condition goes. If you go through knoxville, you may end up on route 81 going north through virginia. Again, very pretty, but high altitude roads make for some dangerous driving. The trick to doing something like this isn't the rate of speed you go at to achieve your goal, it's all a matter of deligating your time. Whatever you do, keep moving and don't spend too much time whenever you stop. I drove from san diego to baltimore once and it only took me 2 1/2 days.

hello! I am driving from baltimore to phoenix, and i wanted to ask you if you took interstate 40 or a different interstate, and if you liked the drive. I am looking to drive on the most scenic/nature interstate from baltimore to san diego and intertstate 40, interstate 20, and interstate 10 are all options... Can you advise? Thank you!

[glc]

Are you going to Phoenix or are you going to San Diego? What time of year?

As a note, I doubt you are going to get any responses from the original posters, this thread is over 4 years old.