Best route from Bismarck ND to El Paso TX
We are traveling from Biamarck ND to El Paso TX in May. Has anyone done that? Is it better to go on I29 south or go the western route or US 83?
Forum Discussion
I don't know what is "best" or "better" for you. If I were in a hurry, had no places I wanted to stop to visit, I would probably take US-85 down to Cheyenne, then I-25 to El Paso. You basically have to cross the Rockies to get to El Paso from the Great Plains. The best north-south route for that is I-25 because it follows the Front Range until it finally has to cross the mountains, then runs down through the valley of the Rio Grande to do that. The drive along the Front Range is really pretty, but I-25 tends to get congested in places because most of the population of Colorado lives near this Interstate, spread out from Fort Collins to Pueblo. Gotta live where we can see the mountains, but not have to deal with living in the mountains.
If you want to stay out of the mountains, you can take US-83 south to north Texas, then south of Perryton take SR-70 down to Pampa, US-60 into Amarillo, I-27 to Lubbock, US-62 to US-385, then 385 into Odessa. That puts you on I-20 to I-10 to cross the Rockies into El Paso on the most gradual climbs and at the lowest elevations. Most people crossing the Rocky Mountains in West Texas have difficulty convincing themselves the mountains were really there.
These rural US-highways through Nebraska, Kansas and Texas are really good roads. I use them quite a bit. They are not "back roads" though people from places where the Interstate network is dense tend to call them that. I am accustomed to travel as fast on these highways as I do on the Interstates (sight lines are often 1-3 miles) and most stretches on the Great Plains are fairly lightly traveled.
I used to regularly drive from NE Oklahoma and SE Kansas into the Texas Panhandle, and down to Odessa. I got comfortable with these roads, they saved me a lot of time, because getting to and from the Interstate system added enough miles to make that the long way around, to say nothing of hitting suburban and urban traffic where the Interstates double as commuter expressways.
Just slow down for the small towns, and watch out for slow moving agricultural equipment, oil field service vehicles and equipment, and wind generator parts; these are the roads that get used to move stuff too big for travel on the Interstates.
If you want to stay out of the mountains, you can take US-83 south to north Texas, then south of Perryton take SR-70 down to Pampa, US-60 into Amarillo, I-27 to Lubbock, US-62 to US-385, then 385 into Odessa. That puts you on I-20 to I-10 to cross the Rockies into El Paso on the most gradual climbs and at the lowest elevations. Most people crossing the Rocky Mountains in West Texas have difficulty convincing themselves the mountains were really there.
These rural US-highways through Nebraska, Kansas and Texas are really good roads. I use them quite a bit. They are not "back roads" though people from places where the Interstate network is dense tend to call them that. I am accustomed to travel as fast on these highways as I do on the Interstates (sight lines are often 1-3 miles) and most stretches on the Great Plains are fairly lightly traveled.
I used to regularly drive from NE Oklahoma and SE Kansas into the Texas Panhandle, and down to Odessa. I got comfortable with these roads, they saved me a lot of time, because getting to and from the Interstate system added enough miles to make that the long way around, to say nothing of hitting suburban and urban traffic where the Interstates double as commuter expressways.
Just slow down for the small towns, and watch out for slow moving agricultural equipment, oil field service vehicles and equipment, and wind generator parts; these are the roads that get used to move stuff too big for travel on the Interstates.
