(I don’t know if this belongs in GQ or IMHO; mods, please move it if it needs to be moved.)
I will be driving from Kansas City to the LA (Riverside) area in the middle of March, 2020. I know everything depends on the weather and snowfall amounts, but, in general, is I-70 generally open from eastern Colorado through Utah that time of year? Does traffic slow to a crawl in the winter?
Also, assuming that I-70 is clear, when I get into Utah and head south at Salina on I-70/US-89, is going through Fishlake National Forest to Sulphurdale a reasonable route, or should I continue south on US-89 before heading west to I-15 south of Fishlake National Forest?
The plan is to make the drive from KC to LA in two days of 12-15 hours per day.
A huge amount is going to depend on weather, but I’m sure you know that. Not much you can do about a blizzard and white out conditions on Vail Pass. Additionally, Colorado has a new chain law which covers all vehicles. For code 15 all cars must have either M+S tires (snow tires, not just all season) or four/all wheel drive. For code 16 all cars are required to have chains or snow socks. I’m not sure what creates a code 15 or 16, but to put in into perspective, the next step past code 16 is closing the highway.
Aside from weather, try and avoid ski traffic on I-70 west of Denver. So that is westbound I-70 on Saturday, Sunday, or holiday early mornings (and to a lesser extent Friday evenings). Then again eastbound I-70 on Saturday and Sunday evenings. The traffic can easily be bad enough to turn a 1 hour trip into 3 hours. So, if you plan to avoid Denver’s rush hour by crossing on the weekend, you might find yourself stuck in completely different traffic.
I-70 will be fine unless it isn’t There is no way to tell in advance if they will shut it down west of Denver at least not more than 72 hours in advance.
I’ve done the Denver to LA drive clost of 100 times and it’s best to stay on I-70 to the 15. It’ll take about 14 hours for that drive and you should be able to go 80 until you hit Vegas. I’d focus on timing your trip to miss as much of the LA -Vegas traffic as you can so don’t hit Vegas on Sunday after noon or so unless its after 8 pm. I prefer to do the drive leaving Denver about 6 pm on Friday afternoon that way even the cops are asleep and you can cruise a little faster. With a two day drive I’d try and duck out of your hotel as early as possible aiming for a 3 am departure or so nothing would suck worse then sitting in LA traffic dropping down into Rancho Cucamonga.
We will be driving I-70 to Vegas again towards the end of March. We’ve made the trip several times, and even in July we had snow over Vail pass. Unless there’s a storm, the roads are good and the speed limit in Utah has been raised to 80 in most spots on 70 and 15. I just set the cruise and go with the flow. I’ll be checking the weather more closely the week before we leave to make any changes if needed.
Why not take 35 down to Oklahoma City and then 40 from there to L.A.? Your route has the advantage that you miss most of Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle, but it seems like staying on the interstate would be faster.
That’s the route I’d take if I was in a hurry in the winter. Well, it would be KC - I.35 - OKC - I.40 - Barstow - I.15 - Riverside. This southern route is more temperate and less mountainous than the I.70 - I.15 route and yes, the food’s better. Any fast route involves about 24 highway hours; a relief driver is a good idea. Or stock up on chocolate-coated roasted espresso beans - safer than whites and fewer piss stops than java.
Personal preference. By taking the off-highway path I will see parts of the country which others will miss. Your path works too, no doubt, but the one thing I like about my route is that the largest city you hit before California is Albuquerque… and having been in Breaking Bad land during rush hour, timing is not a concern.
I recommend I-40 regardless of weather, which shouldn’t be a problem by March. NOTE: It ends at Barstow, where you have to merge onto I-15 South, which somebody else mentioned.
I-40 is straighter and simpler than I-70. The only mountain is Flagstaff (AZ), which is relatively easy. Google Maps just said that I-40 is only one minute longer than I-70.
Let me tell ya a little story. In one March my son decided to drive from Denver to LA. I told him to take the southern route - I25 south to I40 and hang a right. As usual he chose to ignore me and used I70 to I15 and since he made it out there ok he thought he was a genius and I was an idiot … until he got snowed in in the Rockies for 2 days trying to backtrack his route.
Thank you, all, for your recommendations. We did the I-40 route through Tucumcari when we moved from LA to KC back in 1992, but we were driving a huge Ryder truck.
Omar, we have seen the big ball of twine. Truly, one of the most spectacular things to see in the state of Kansas, with the possible exception of the Kansas City Chiefs!
Any fast route involves about 24 highway hours; a relief driver is a good idea. Or stock up on chocolate-coated roasted espresso beans - safer than whites and fewer piss stops than java.