Route other than IH 35 from Texas to Northeast Minnesota

I have taken 281 and 69 up thru Oklahoma several times as far as Big Cabin where I get on the Turner Turnpike. I do it so I don't have to go thru Ok City and Tulsa. 281 in Texas a decent road, 69 in Ok a little rougher but doable. Lots of good places to stay along the way. My favorite is at Durant, Ok at Choctaw casino. Its a KOA, but it is one of the nicest campground that I have ever stayed at. 69 is 4 lane all the way but you go thru a lot of towns along the way. Cant help you after the Turner Turnpike. Also if you go up 281 and across you will bypass Ft Worth and that alone is worth doing.

Since there aren't any mountains along the way, you could take any paved road - a federal number, state roads, and even county (though those might be gravel). It's only when you get to Duluth that you are constrained to one road.

Few weeks ago, I started in Longview, then Paris, Hugo, McAlester, Muskogee, Big Cabin, Joplin, Kansas City, Des Moines, but turned East on I-80 to Davenport. It wasn't the shortest/most direct route, but I didn't want any weather challenges, so I stayed on major roads. My Austin to Longview route has always been on US79 and 155.

Traindriver1 thank you! That is exactly the info I was looking for on the route. The plan right now is to go up 281, but I was wondering how the roads were in Oklahoma and which ones to avoid. Years ago coming out of the Texas panhandle I went through Oklahoma the road was so rough I had to slow down to 30 mph. Yes, definitely plan to avoid the Ft Worth/Dallas area.

1971duster340, I use US 79 usually when I am headed East towards Arkansas. Thanks for sharing how you went up to Des Moines. I may cross over on 82 over to 69 and go up to Kansas City and Des Moines that way.

We take 281 north of San Antonio to I20, east to Weatherford and then north on TX 51 to Gainesville. From there we take I35 north. This route avoids the construction and congestion on I35 through Texas.

If you are like me and don't drive over 65 mph while towing, a US highway works as well as an interstate. So, if I were doing your trip, I would take US 281 all the way to I-90 in South Dakota.

We have traveled nearly all of that route and it is good road with 60-65 mph speed limits. You will not have any major cities, difficult terrain, or toll roads to traverse. That route avoids not only the D-FW area, but the OKC, Wichita, and KC-Lincoln-Omaha areas. The biggest cities you will go through are Wichita Falls, TX, Lawton, OK, Grand Island, NE, and Sioux Falls, SD.

Most of the route is in the greener, tall-grass prairie portion of the Great Plains, not the really dry, brown part. A couple of not-to-miss places along US 281 are the Willa Cather House and Museum in Red Cloud, NE, and the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. I also enjoyed the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island and the Hastings Museum, but I am interested in history, trains and cars, and fossils, so they may not be of interest to everyone.

Have fun, no matter which route you take!

Fanrgs, thank you! This is the info I have been looking for on an alternative route. I think we will do your route on the way home. I think I will go with the eastern route on the way up.

I've taken US-69/US-75 all the way from Dallas to Omaha. That is 75 out of Dallas to where 69 joins it, 69 to the Indiana Nation Turnpike connecting back to 75, then north on 75 through Tulsa and Topeka to Nebraska. You can cross into Iowa at Nebraska City, get on I-29, figure out something to take you where you want to go in Minnesota, because I-29 is going to Fargo and Grand Forks.

Actually, I-80 across to Des Moines then up I-35 looks like the best route from Omaha, but if you really want to avoid I-35 in Minnesota you go on up to Grand Forks and cross on US-10. Probably about 100-150 extra miles.

Coming out of San Antonio, I use 281 to Wichita Falls (had family in both places) then the Oklahoma turnpikes to OKC and Tulsa. North of Wichita Falls 281 swings further west, my destinations are more to the northeast.

tatest wrote:
69 to the Indiana Nation Turnpike connecting back to 75, then north on 75 through Tulsa and Topeka to Nebraska. . . . Actually, I-80 across to Des Moines then up I-35 looks like the best route from Omaha, but if you really want to avoid I-35 in Minnesota you go on up to Grand Forks and cross on US-10. Probably about 100-150 extra miles.

Coming out of San Antonio, I use 281 to Wichita Falls . . . then the Oklahoma turnpikes to OKC and Tulsa.

I personally never use toll roads when towing my 5th wheel. The extra diesel cost for a 50-mile detour to avoid a toll is normally less than the a 4-axle toll on most toll roads I am familiar with.

I avoid the entire D-FW metro area like the plague even though I grew up there. The only worse traffic I have encountered with my RV has been on I-80 through Chicago and a construction zone on I-40 in Memphis. I also miss the Lincoln-Omaha section of I-80 by leaving I-80 at the Missouri River and taking US 30 to Grand Forks. I have also used I-29 in Missouri and Iowa to avoid I-35 through Des Moines and the Twin Cities.