Best Route

[A Wing and a Prayer]

Hi,

I'm going to be taking off soon from Florida to the West. No definite destination but I've never been west before. I don't like driving on express ways, especially when towing a trailer. Is it possible to get past the rockies without going on an express way?  What would be the easiest route to take?

 

[CautionToTheWind]

What part of West are we talking?

 

[Almost There]

Play with the trip planner that's available on Freecampsites.net.

You can tell it no toll roads or interstates and how far off the route you are willing to go to find a campsite. Then all you  have to do is figure out for yourself how far you're willing to drive each day, keeping in mind that on the back highways you'll probably average less than 50 miles per hour in distance travelled.

You can also drag the routing to another location if you wish and it will repopulate the camping info.

I like to do it in short stretches rather than letting it try to plan the whole cross country trip.

For the rockies you probably do want to be on an interstate - they are graded much better than some of the other roads so it's an easier drive. The further south you are the less of an elevation difference you're going to find

 

[A Wing and a Prayer]

Play with the trip planner that's available on Freecampsites.net.

For the rockies you probably do want to be on an interstate - they are graded much better than some of the other roads so it's an easier drive. The further south you are the less of an elevation difference you're going to find

Thanks Almost There, that helps a lot. I was afraid of that, the Interstate is the only way to get past the Rockies.

 

[highdesertranger]

it's not the only way to get over the Rockies but it is by far the easiest. highdesertranger

 

[wagoneer]

Depending on the trailer weight, you will experience much steeper downgrades/climbing on secondary roads. If you think 8000 ft. is high 10-12K is not unusual. Tioga/Yosemite is close to 10K Monitor pass the same further north Wyoming Montana steeper

 

[TrainChaser]

Taking the interstates or going over the Rockies, the trick is to just take it easy.

Stay in the right lane, leave lots of room between yourself and the vehicle ahead of you. I think the minimum speed for interstates is 60 or 65 mph. Just because everyone else is doing 80 doesn't mean you have to.

Advantage of the interstates in the Rockies is that they're usually maintained better, the curves aren't so tight and there are multiple lanes, so if you stay right, the speed demons can go around you.

 

[mspriusV]

I had to cover the mountains in my Prius v wagon completely loaded front to back and side to side and money wise drove slower on purpose for better gas mileage. So yeah, you will be fine going slower, if you want and need to do so for whatever reason - so long as no turtle speed and safe and good driving.

Don't forget to also use Cost2drive and gas buddy. I used them to fill up at the cheaper stations in the cheaper cities almost completely.

Thanks for that camping link.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[GypsySpirit]

The West is a pretty big place. If you are coming from Florida and worried about the Rockies, you can take I-10 (the Southern route). Just avoid the big cities at rush hour and you should do fine.