Minneapolis ---> Vancouver (US Route 2)

[csrima]

My wife and I (and our two dogs) are driving out to Vancouver BC. I have family there and in Seattle and have driven there using both I-90 and I-94. Both are fine, but I want something different and I am okay with some added time. I'm thinking of taking US-2. Has anybody done this drive or a portion of it?

Anything to look out for?

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

While I haven't driven all of US-2 from Minnesota to the west coast, I have driven parts of it and other similar roads in the area such as MT-200. You actually shouldn't "lose" more than a day following the older two-lane road as it is uncrowded on the plains with relatively high speed limits and few towns. There are exceptions, of course, such as Grand Forks and Minot; and it will be considerably slower in the mountains. But if you are interested in taking this route, then I suspect that speed isn't your paramount concern. So, just some things to keep in mind. Towns can get pretty few and far between west of Minot, so keep an eye on the gas guage. It's not that there are stretches of hundreds of miles without any gas (or food) available, it's just that there might be gaps in the 30-50 mile range so don't let your tank get too low. And it's worth the effort to fill up in 'large' to medium size towns where there's at leas some competition to keep the price down.

US-2 can get quite scenic through the badlands of Montana and especially when it's traversing the Rockies through Glacier National Park. After that, one alternative you might want to look at is to take US-93 north into British Columbia and take the Crowsnest Highway, BC-3, which can be spectacular.

AZBuck

[Lifemagician]

200 from I-15 to western Idaho is a wonderful and scenic drive, and passes close by the National Bison Ranch - a wonderful place, definitely worth a visit.

Along US2 you have the centre of North America in Rugby ND. If you have time stop in small town America along the way, you will see some real gems of the area.

Lifey