Best way to stay off Interstates. From FL to Rapid City, SD

I hope you have lots of time and patience to drive that far and not take an interstate.
We, on the other hand, want to get there asap and use the interstates as the fastest most level and safest way to get there especially in the mountains.

Since you are a Good Sam member, they have a trip planner on their website. Google maps also allows you to select different routs to a destination. As said before the avoid highways on gps will work, but it could send you on a very long detour to get from point a to b. Best to get a good interstate map like the Truckers map and plan your own trip. We like to get off the highway as soon as possible, but generally have to take the highway for some part of our trip.

How broad is your definition of 'interstates'? Just the ones designated with an 'I'? How about 'US' and state numbered roads that are divided (4 lane) without or without limited access? How about bypasses around towns?

What makes a route 'safe'. Statistically limited access divided highways are the safest. Many accidents are the result of cross traffic, and passing traffic. And shoulders are broader and less cluttered in case you 'decide' to deviate from your designated lane. :)

But if you just want to take your time and see the farms and towns, there are many choices. You don't have to stick with one route number. Just be ware that in states like Iowa, most roads run EW or NW. There are few diagonals to 'cut off the corners'.

My advice if taking an Interstate through a metro area is to try and time it so it is not during rush hours. The Interstates are often used for commuting so can be a real pain during those times.

If you can manage to do it early Sunday morning it will probably be a breeze. :)



Mike

Jim Shoe wrote:
I spent several hours trying to get through St. Louis, MO/IL. and I won't do it again.

I might be biased a tiny bit 'cause I've driven a LOT in St. Louis but......that is one of the places where you just about HAVE to take a major interstate and unless there is an accident or is at rush hour, it shouldn't be too bad. There is no real comparison to Chicago and Atlanta, for instance.

If you DON'T take the freeways, it will take you HOURS to get through on the secondary streets and roads.

For starters, there must be hundreds of routes starting from "Somewhere" in Florida to Rapid City,SD even avoiding St. Louis, MO and E. St. Louis, IL. and Kansas City, KS. and Kansas City, MO. And I don't blame you for wanting to avoid them. I try to avoid any city or town that sits on the border of two states. I spent several hours trying to get through St. Louis, MO/IL. and I won't do it again.

I would start by avoiding I-75 in Florida too.

I set my GPS for "no highways" on a recent trip from Ocala to Tallagega and it picked a good route; mostly 4 lane roads, not a LOT of little towns and very little traffic.

If you have a GPS try it and see where it wants you to go.
You can do that with things like Mapquest and GoogleMaps too where it is easier to see the whole route.

Only two situations where that is not good, in my opinion:
BIG towns. Not taking an Interstate is a big mistake and can take FOREVER.
MOUNTAINS. Not taking an Interstate can put you in a bad situation with an RV. Steep grades, narrow winding roads are not fun in an RV.

And lastly, sometimes an Interstate is the only good choice......like going N/S through Missouri and Iowa. IF the Interstate is not a part of a major route across multiple states (like many of the E-W ones are) the traffic shouldn't be nearly as bad.