Ft. Collins, CO to Elkhart, IN.

mittshel wrote:
Want to go from Fort Collins to Elkhart and not go on 80 or 70. Any ideas? Thank you. Betsy.

I've done that trip more than a few times (actually to Stroh/Big Turkey Lake, IN) and prefer NOT to use I-80 or 70.

From Fort Collins, go down to Loveland and take US 34 east through Greeley, stay on US 34 to where it joins up with I-76 (briefly), to Brush and then continue on US 34 east. I usually drop down on US 385 to US 36 and then take that all the way across Kansas and in to Missouri. Good 2-lane road in Kansas, not a lot of traffic; good 4 lane road all the way through Missouri.

At Hannibal, MO I take I-72 east across Illinois to Champaign, then north on I-57 toward Chicago. I get off on US 24 at Gilman, IL and take that east into Indiana and stay on it all the way to Fort Wayne, IN. In your case, you don't want to go that far east, so you could take US 31 north (east of Logansport, IN) up to South Bend.

For me, this is a much better way to go, avoids major cities all the way (I hate driving around Chicagoland area), and you can make decent time this way. It can be done in 2 days of solid driving, or 3 days of more relaxing driving. I've done it both ways and prefer 3 days.