Route with the least mountains
Friends, I will be making a trip in June from So Cal near LA to first Nashville TN then on to Pittsburgh PA. Out of the LA area what would be the least amount of mountains or steep climbs for me goin...
Forum Discussion
I'll try to summarize the 'mountains/grades' that you will encounter. This is basic USA geography. A good map should also show roughly where there are mountains, rivers and such. Maybe it just shows National Forests - those always cover mountains.
If you are a LA resident they you should be familiar with the surrounding mountains. You can't get out of the basin without passing through some sort of pass. I10 out past Palm Springs has got to be the lowest pass out.
Its all desert, relatively flat to the Colorado River (CA/AZ border). I10 to Phoenix remains flat. I40 climbs to Kingman. Around Flagstaff is the highest part of I40. I17 south to Phoenix has a good drop around Sedona.
The Continental Divide lies roughly along the AZ/NM border. That means there some gentle uplands on I10 east of Tucson. I40 remains high till Gallup.
The next low point is the Rio Grande valley, running NS across the middle of NM. I40 has something of a climb east of Albuquerque, from this valley to the high plains of eastern NM. I don't think there's much of any climbing on I10 across southern NM and west Texas.
I10 west of San Antonio pass through the Texas Hill Country.
Everything slopes gradually toward the Mississippi. There are some hills in Arkansas (Ozarks) but I don't think they affect freeway travel.
Go to Google maps, turn on Terrain mode, and scan the possible routes. Zoom in as much as you want. It starts showing shade relief. With more zoom you'll see contours. Zoom far enough and you get Streetview, which shows you the guard rails along the highways.
In sum, you have two main highpoints - the mountains around LA, and the Continental Divide. And three low river crossings, Colorado, Rio Grande and Mississippi.
If you are a LA resident they you should be familiar with the surrounding mountains. You can't get out of the basin without passing through some sort of pass. I10 out past Palm Springs has got to be the lowest pass out.
Its all desert, relatively flat to the Colorado River (CA/AZ border). I10 to Phoenix remains flat. I40 climbs to Kingman. Around Flagstaff is the highest part of I40. I17 south to Phoenix has a good drop around Sedona.
The Continental Divide lies roughly along the AZ/NM border. That means there some gentle uplands on I10 east of Tucson. I40 remains high till Gallup.
The next low point is the Rio Grande valley, running NS across the middle of NM. I40 has something of a climb east of Albuquerque, from this valley to the high plains of eastern NM. I don't think there's much of any climbing on I10 across southern NM and west Texas.
I10 west of San Antonio pass through the Texas Hill Country.
Everything slopes gradually toward the Mississippi. There are some hills in Arkansas (Ozarks) but I don't think they affect freeway travel.
Go to Google maps, turn on Terrain mode, and scan the possible routes. Zoom in as much as you want. It starts showing shade relief. With more zoom you'll see contours. Zoom far enough and you get Streetview, which shows you the guard rails along the highways.
In sum, you have two main highpoints - the mountains around LA, and the Continental Divide. And three low river crossings, Colorado, Rio Grande and Mississippi.
