Reasoning appreciated!
- 10
- 40
- 50
- 60
- 70
- 80
- 90
- You left out this one!
0 voters
So I drove cross country 3 times in my 20s. I have to go with Rt80 being the nicest and most scenic. Though Pennsy often sucks, still scenic but always under construction and Penn State Troopers might be the worst in the US.
Rt 10 is awful and 40 isn’t much better.
What the heck are 50 & 60? I thought they just never happened?
I’ve never been up on Rt 90.
I picked 80, because I’ve kayaked beneath it (Allegheny River near Emlenton) and I’ve driven over the river on this bridge. I’ve also been on the river in a kayak when a floatplane landed. I skedaddled over to the bank with my gf. After the plane landed we paddled over and the pilot thanked us.
I didn’t think so either but I saw this image and trusted it. Doh!
Since you allowed us to vote for multiple options, I picked two, 70 and 80. I really think it’s a toss up between the two.
70 passes through Glenwood Canyon, which is widely considered to be the most scenic stretch of Interstate overall, but it doesn’t go any farther west than Utah.
80 passes through the Sierra Nevadas and Donner Pass. Scenic in the summer months, and can be “interesting” in a different way in the winter.
If I could I’d say combine the two and take 80 from San Fransisco to Salt Lake City, then head south and pick up I-70 through eastern Utah and Colorado. That would more or less take you on the same route as Amtrak’s famed California Zephyr. But I assume that’s considered cheating.
It depends on what you want to see. I DON’T want to see endless miles of flat farmland in places like Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, etc. I do want to see the northern states and the Pacific northwest, so 90 would be best for me.
I’ve driven most or all of 90, 80, 70, as well as 94 and lots of other segments. Of the ones in the poll, I think 80 was the most enjoyable. However, 70 through Colorado and 90 through Washington are wonderful drives.
I-90/I-94: The scenery on this route is hard to beat, since it goes through WA, northern ID, part of MT. Then 90 comes to a wye and you can take 94 through the rest of MT and across ND into MN, or you can cut south on 90 through WY and SD. Lots to see along those routes in the way of national parks, mountains, rivers and the like.
I-10 is 1,000 miles of swamp followed by 1,000 miles of desert (or vice versa). No thanks.
I’m going to have to go with I-8, as it’s the only one that I’ve driven for it’s entire east-west length. I’ve seen some interesting military aircraft along this route.
I’ve driven the entire length of I-80 a few times. I’ve also driven the entire length of I-10 once. I’ve driven the west end of I-40, OKC to Barstow a few times.
I voted for I-70.
I’ve driven small stretches of I-70:
from the west end, east to Denver exactly 3x, once by car and and 2x by motorcycle
across Kansas and Missouri maybe 3x
Across KS and MO it’s boring. Mildly rolling hills, fairly straight in MO. More boring in KS.
But the west end is beautiful. Through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado is the most beautiful many-miles stretch of interstate I’ve ever seen. And then it goes past Vail CO, then up and through the Eisenhower Tunnel and through the Rockies to Denver.
I haven’t driven on I-70 east of STL MO, but based on what I have driven my vote is for I-70.
I-8 is a good one. I’ve driven most of it, from Gila Bend AZ to the west end. It’s interesting how close it follows the US-MEX border, and then the mountains west of Ocotillo CA and the stretch from there west to San Diego are nice.
Good call, I-8.
Definitely not I-70. It was so boring, I drove Highway 50, which is flat and straight, too, but at least it passes through towns.
Interstate 66 is nice, it runs through the mountains.
In Colorado it is gorgeous, I-70. Well, between Grand Junction and Denver.
I-64 only goes halfway across the country (Norfolk to St. Louis) but in that half it’s a far more scenic drive than either I-40 or I-70.
Fun fact, I-50 and I-60 were on the drawing board at some point, but because U.S. 50 and U.S. 60 also run across the middle of the country, the highway folks decided there might be confusion and decided not to use those numbers.
I voted for 40 but I should have also included 10. Now, 10 has a lot of spots that have nothing at all, but it also has the Texas hill country, the Las Cruces rest stop which provides nice views of the city at night, and the Texas Canyon Rest stop
Whereas 40 does have generally more beautiful terrain, and also has a good view of a Malpais
70 and 80 have some good parts, specifically, Donner Pass on 80, but nothing that could make up for their interminable slog across the prairie.
I’ve only driven 90 from Chicagoland on east, so I can’t speak to its interest from points west, but through the Rust Belt it is a dull drive which is at its best a serene drive through woods or farmland with nothing much to recommend nor detract from it, but at its worst it is a crowded trek through ugly suburbs and inner cities where the odd building that is actually interesting goes by too fast for you to appreciate. The coastal roads that parallel it on the Lake Erie side are more interesting, even though a lot slower, because you do have a lake view a lot of the time, and you have time to appreciate the varied terrain and buildings.