First time from Michigan to Sierra Vista, az.. best route?

We've traveled to Mesa AZ in January for multiple years. We take I94 W to I69S to I70 To 57 S To 55 S To I40W to I30 W to I20 W to I10 W.

We got this route from Rvers who have traveled this for years.

I 69 and I57 and I55 are easy roads. Most difficult areas are getting through the cities Dallas Ft. Worth and El Paso. We breathe a big sigh of relief when we reach the 1st rest area in New Mexico which is also a very nice visitor center with hot coffee and a big parking lot with picnic shelters.

I am researching trying to avoid Dallas FT Worth by taking Hwy 380 off of I30 outside of Greenville TX to past FT. Worth-Decatur or Bridgeport then dropping south to I20. If anyone has advice about this possibility please advise.

If you need help with campgrounds I can tell you where we stayed.

thanks tatest! sound advice for sure. the weather will be defining factor in our leaving, and so far route is I-94 to I-57 to I-55 to I-20 to I-10. but ill have backup plan too. all we need is 4-5 days decent weather,, thanks for the reply

Pay attention to where the winter storms are when you leave, you have lots of options for getting south, and it is usually better to be behind a storm system where it will be clear for a few days, than trying to run through it, or being caught in it.

From about I-70 south to I-20, winter storms can be freezing rain mixed with snow, or just freezing rain, in areas less well equipped to deal with it than the snowbelt in northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.

Been making December - January trips for Christmas with family since 1980, a lot of them under my belt. Most winters, direct route on I-55/I-44, or longer I-69/I-70/i-44, were clear and dry. Both sometimes they are not, and a backup plan is in order.

Routes I've used include over to Chicago and down I-55 or I-57, down I-69 and I-65 to Louisville then over to I-55 on 24 and 155, or down to Nashville and over on I-40. I've also used I-75 to I-71 to Louisville, when both Indiana and Illinois were buried under winter weather and western Ohio was still clear. My destination wouldn't take me south of I-40, but I would go south to I-30 and come back north later, to get around really bad winter storms.

It is about watching the Weather Channel, going around the storms, behind the storms, or sitting them out. Sometimes leaving a day early, sometimes a day late. Any given spot, winter storm conditions are one or two days, and storms are a week or more apart, getting through the middle of the country in winter is thus a matter of being flexible about route and schedule.

Going out to southern Arizona, I agree with the get to a southern route fast approach, because I-40 might be clear most of the way, most of the time, but it is a long way, and if a storm comes through during your travel period, it is going to catch you on 40 somewhere between Memphis (or Nashville) and Flagstaff.

But that doesn't mean I-30 or I-20 will be all clear. That route carries its own, lesser, winter storm risks. You don't want to be caught in a winter storm in the I-30/I-20 corridors in Louisiana or Texas. The ice and snow conditions are so rare that highway departments don't have the equipment to clean it up fast, so there is a wait until it melts approach to winter road conditions.

Got caught along 20 west of Dallas one Christmas, Texas DOT was waiting for Oklahoma to finish clearing the turnpikes so turnpike authority could loan the the plows, help arrived about the time warmer weather took cate of it, 3-4 days later.

In our winter travels, we can often winterize/dewinterize around Corbin, Ky. I know that once we went all the way down to Georgia. We look at Corbin as a day's travel south of Detroit.
This depends on the weather. I would aim to be south of the freezing line before you turn west, and that varies from day to day during the winter.

thanks again, Dona. sound advice !

sch911 wrote:

Jim Shoe wrote:
That time of year, I'd take I-65S to I-20W to I-10W. That will keep you out of the Appalachian Mountains. Even then I'd check weather reports for the major cities between (Wherever) Michigan and the Alabama border before you leave. Stick with the interstates until you're out of the snow belt.

Were talking Michigan to Arizona not Alabama here....

For the OP: For me it would be I69 > I70 > I44 > US277 > I20 > I10

I'd head south as fast as possible, and would try to avoid I40.

We take the route listed here, but in October not January. We also would head to I-10 then west in January. Never I-40.
Happy travelling, Dona

thanks to all who responded. I think the routes you suggested sounds like the best for us, and have heard from several travelers who state go south as fast as you can, then west. thanks again. and we'll need the good luck!

Another one here advising you to head directly south to I-10 and then head west. The other interstates west can have very bad storms in winter. Safe travels!

No matter which route south you choose I’d came across NM and into southern AZ on I-10. You’ll only be about 25 miles NO Sierra Vista that way. From about mid-November on you can get some pretty bad winter storms at the higher elevations on I-40. My son was stranded in Cline’s Corners, NM for 4 days on one trip. And I’ve driven 40 solo in late November after a storm and it was a dicey trip with vehicles on both sides of the road off in the ditches. You could always watch the weather reports and see if they predict any storms along 40. I'm a bit of a cynic and think my guess is as good as there's.:)

Jim Shoe wrote:
That time of year, I'd take I-65S to I-20W to I-10W. That will keep you out of the Appalachian Mountains. Even then I'd check weather reports for the major cities between (Wherever) Michigan and the Alabama border before you leave. Stick with the interstates until you're out of the snow belt.

Were talking Michigan to Arizona not Alabama here....

For the OP: For me it would be I69 > I70 > I44 > US277 > I20 > I10

I'd head south as fast as possible, and would try to avoid I40.