TRAVEL ADVISE FROM NJ TO UTAH ON I80

Thanks for all the information, now i believe we will leave the week before the 4th.
I am checking to see if better to go I 80 or I 70

Be careful with the wind in Wyoming on I-80. We crossed Wyoming once on I-80 headed to Ogden, Ut and the wind was terrible and blowing directly into us. Can be dangerous.

K, you must be the kind of driver us Jerseyites cuss out all the time :) :)

Don't forget, we gained an hour that day on the time zone change. Our average speed was about 53mph, if I remember.

Hell, you should have been with us the day we drove from Columbia, MO to Beckley, WV. Again, we were on a time constraint to get home the next day. It all depends - sometimes, the journey is NOT the destination...the destination is.

Jim, you must drive like a Jerseyite. :) Wayyy faster than we do. (We also don't drive more than 8 hours a day at the outside; 6 is our usual maximum.)

kknowlton wrote:

Second day probably mid-Iowa. Third day eastern Wyoming.

Holy cow, that's quite some driving! Nebraska is 465 miles across on I-80, and Iowa is over 300. Mid-Iowa to eastern Wyoming, we're talking a good 550-600 miles in a day. (Nebraska is worth spending at least a night or two in - especially in the area between Grand Island and North Platte - due to pioneer sites.

It wasn't really all that bad - we left Atlantic, Iowa on Sunday morning about 7:30, hit Omaha around 9:30 or 10ish, stopped at the Great River Road welcome center for a bit, then buzzed across the rest of the state, even allowing for some off-interstate driving trying to burn up a tank of crappy E85. We hit the Pine Bluff Wyoming welcome center around 5PM, stopped at the I-80/Lincoln Highway rest stop place for an hour or two, and had a nice dinner in Laramie around 7PM. We were on a schedule to get to SLC, so we weren't sight-seeing.

Here's the day as presented on my website.

We also prefer heading South to I-70 from Southern New Jersey. As said you can head North to I-80 on I-74 and bypass the Chicago area. We prefer taking I-79 South from I-68 to I-64 rather than going North to I-70. The past couple of years the sections of I-70 in Indiana that we have traveled have been pretty rough. I-64 has been in pretty good shape and less traffic. You can pick up I-70 near Saint Louis.

We prefer US-50 to I-70, but we are not on a schedule. US-50 to US-160 to US-491 would let you see Southern Colorado and Mesa Verde if you are headed to Moab.

JimFromJersey wrote:
We did this in 2012, but from southern Jersey it's far easier to take the southern route. You're only about 15 miles north of us. I-95 south to I-695, around the horn to I-70, then I-68 across northern Maryland, then I-79 up to Washington, PA to pick up I-70 again. One days journey gets you to about mid-Ohio. Second day probably mid-Iowa. Third day eastern Wyoming. Then most of the fourth day to SLC. We picked up I-80 at Quad Cities. If you do this route, you'll hit traffic around Baltimore (it's heavy any time, so pre-Fourth will probably be brutal) but then, to tell the truth, we didn't really have any traffic volume issues the rest of the way to SLC. Indianapolis on a Saturday AM was no big deal, and Omaha on Sunday AM was deserted. Then nothing but wind, windmills, and oil derricks all the way to Evanston. PM me if you'd like more detail, I have a travelogue on my website with day by day experiences.

I would go this was too. The timinimg is right to. I can be in western Iowa in two long days. If I leave the night before and get four hours in I can be there by afternoon. Traffic will be tough around Baltimore but you might slow in Indy depending on the time you hit it. The rest of the way us no problem. I have driven on all the major holidays that route without issue. 80 has many more bottlenecks at the toll plazas especially on holidays.

Second day probably mid-Iowa. Third day eastern Wyoming.

Holy cow, that's quite some driving! Nebraska is 465 miles across on I-80, and Iowa is over 300. Mid-Iowa to eastern Wyoming, we're talking a good 550-600 miles in a day. (Nebraska is worth spending at least a night or two in - especially in the area between Grand Island and North Platte - due to pioneer sites.

We did this in 2012, but from southern Jersey it's far easier to take the southern route. You're only about 15 miles north of us. I-95 south to I-695, around the horn to I-70, then I-68 across northern Maryland, then I-79 up to Washington, PA to pick up I-70 again. One days journey gets you to about mid-Ohio. Second day probably mid-Iowa. Third day eastern Wyoming. Then most of the fourth day to SLC. We picked up I-80 at Quad Cities. If you do this route, you'll hit traffic around Baltimore (it's heavy any time, so pre-Fourth will probably be brutal) but then, to tell the truth, we didn't really have any traffic volume issues the rest of the way to SLC. Indianapolis on a Saturday AM was no big deal, and Omaha on Sunday AM was deserted. Then nothing but wind, windmills, and oil derricks all the way to Evanston. PM me if you'd like more detail, I have a travelogue on my website with day by day experiences.

We have found that 4th of July weekends tend to be busy all weekend. Everyone going somewhere for a family reunion, picnic, fair, etc.

BTW, any reason you're taking I-80? We have found I-70 to have fewer semis and a little less stressful to drive. If you're trying to avoid the mountains of CO on I-70, you can always cut up to I-80 from I-70 on I-74 or I-29.

And as kknowlton noted, reservations are a must on that weekend.