From Austin, Texas to San Francisco, CA

[Layla Parast]

Hello! I was wondering if anyone had some advice for traveling from austin, texas to the bay area. I actually just made the trip a month ago in a UHAUL and we went the I-10 route to LA and then I-5 from there. I would really like to try a different route, possibly through Colorado, Utah and/or Nevada because I have never been in those states. However, I do need to be able to do it in 3 days and with the cost of gas I don't want to go too many crazy miles out of the way (but I do realize it may be quite a few more). Any suggestions would be much appreciated! :)

Layla

[PNW Judy]

Welcome to the forum!

Gosh, there are tons of different routes you can take...from those which stay on interstates, to back-country roads, and many other combinations. Of course, most of these routes will be additional miles (and gas).

Per MS Streets & Trips, the route you just did is about 1800 miles. If you went north to Denver and west across Colorado, Utah, and Nevada to San Francisco, you would be going through some beautiful country but you would also be adding about 500 miles to your trip for a total of 2300 miles. This would take a minimum of about 40 hours to drive. Most of us here would agree that this is too many miles to cover in 3 days, especially if you expect to explore anything along the way.

Maybe if you give us an idea of what you like to see and do along the way, someone can come up with some specific suggestions that would fit better into a 3-day trip.