Central Missouri to Pueblo, Colorado

[landmariner]

I have done some searches and often have read "One basic, but very scenic, route... is to take I-70 out of Kansas City through Denver and on to Utah." Is I-70 across Kansas really that scenic?

For now my routing is to drive SW on I-44 to Springfield, then on Rt 96 to US 400 to Wichita. One question is whether for branch NW from Wichita on Rt. 96 to US 50W, or to take US 400 which eventually merges with US 50.

Advantages/disadvantages to the I-70W route over either of the routes via Wichita?

[DonnaR57]

No, I-70 across Kansas isn't particularly "scenic", though it has rolling hills, cornfields and wheat fields ("gold is just a windy Kansas wheatfield, blue is just a Kansas summer sky"). I-70 west of Denver and into Utah is VERY scenic, though.

US-50 through MO and KS has some interesting little towns, if you want to get off the slabs and onto the older highways. Pick it up at Jeff City or Sedalia (depending on where in Central MO you are located) and head west.

The distinct advantages of Interstates: they are the last to be closed, first to be maintained, and first to open in the event of inclement weather. You will not have to stop at every small town unless you want to do so. They are built to maintain speed and therefore, the route of choice if you have to get somewhere fairly quickly.


Donna

[AZBuck]

Is this a segment of the trip you posted about earlier?

The advantage of I-70 is that it is faster. As far as scenery goes, all roads across the central plains 'see' the same thing: fields of wheat, corn, soy, etc. yielding to grazing land as you enter the high plains. Not terribly scenic in the normal sense, but with a beauty all its own. On the other hand, it's also true as you work your way westward across the plains that the roads get straighter and the towns get farther apart, negating some of that speed advantage. Pretty much anywhere you start from in 'central Missouri', and pretty much whichever route you end up taking, this drive is going to take you about a day and a half. Especially if you can bypass Kansas City, the difference between any of the several routes available to you is going to be about an hour or two at most. Over a day and a half, that's not terribly significant unless you're really tight on time.

The way I would probably go, and have gone in the past when driving west in this general area, is to first get from wherever, exactly, you're starting from to US-54 and follow that west to Wichita. Use I-35 and US-400 (freeway quality through Wichita) through Kansas to the Colorado state line and from there US-50 to Pueblo. The advantage of such a route is that it is physically a little shorter than first heading north up to I-70, and the fact that you will need to navigate a town every so often will help to keep you alert and give you something to look at other than fields.

AzBuck

[landmariner]

Thanks for the input. Looks like a toss up driving the I-70 routing vs. the southern approach via Wichita. I might want to spare myself some interstate traffic. I also imagine the I-70 has more tractor trailers (and more gas stations).

Yes, I did comment on the cited thread, AZBuck, with regards to weather, fires and smoke. The timing of the question appeared to do more with the fires than the weather for this time of year. Even though fires usually won't threaten the interstates sometimes they do. More concerning is the high concentration of smoke. Sections of I-95 in FL have been known to shut down because of fires and/or smoke.

[glc]

For now my routing is to drive SW on I-44 to Springfield, then on Rt 96 to US 400 to Wichita. One question is whether for branch NW from Wichita on Rt. 96 to US 50W, or to take US 400 which eventually merges with US 50.

Get off I-44 onto MO-96 at Exit 57, go through Carthage and onto MO-171. Stay on MO-171 through Webb City to Kansas and US-400. Take US-400 to the end, then US-50 to Pueblo.