Utah to Idaho

Thanks for the info. It looks like my route through utah is mostly on 191/6 and doesn't hit 15 until about Provo. And then 84 from there into Idaho.

First trip out and it's a big one. Trying to be safe.

What do you watch for wind weather? Something better than just the weather channel app?

jgb750 wrote:
Hello everyone,

New to RV'ing and have some questions about routes this time of year.

We are supposed to leave Nashville, TN on 10/10 and be in Indian Valley Idaho on 10/16. The route is doable at around 350 miles a day. Have RV Trip wizard and going through I-40 and New Mexico and then straight up through Utah as Wyoming is already shut down due to weather.

However i saw, 40 tractor trailers blow over this week in Utah. Is this trip just stupid with an RV this time of year?

Looking for any advice from seasoned travlers.

Pulling a 30' 6100# trailer with a 2500 suburban.

Thanks,

Jerrod

No one can tell you what you are going to be comfortable with - I've driven to Colorado in every month of the year - and when in Colorado have driven to SLC/Southern Utah/Nevada/Las Vegas in every month of the year -........................

So not sure I see an issue with just going as direct and as Scenic a route as possible - Meaning just head to Denver and then on across to Utah and Up to Idaho. If it snows in October it will melt - IMHO September and October are the Two BEST months to be in the Rockies.

Best trip we ever had to Yellowstone was end of October first week of November - Beautiful weather and Great time to Visit.

We just drove back and went just north of Nashville into Kentucky - we are headed out in a day or two on I-70 to RT 36 to Buena Vista.

IMHO, I'm in the if you don't like the weather in the West - Just Wait - It Will Change!

Hope this is of some help, it would be a shame to drive all that way and not see those Beautiful areas in COlorado.

JMHO,

The winds you saw hit a lot of the West pretty hard. That said I've been through both States a few times and you really need to pay attention to the weather reports for the area you are driving. We live in WA State and the Columbia River Gorge between OR & WA gets a lot of winds. My wife checks each of the areas along the route so we know what we're driving into.

We saw truckers and RV's taking the exits to park in under passes or rest stops when the winds picked up. Just be smart and know before you go.

I do agree with Dave, 15 is a better route IMHO. You might take 40 then grab 89 out of Flagstaff and to Kanab then 389 to 59 to 15. We drove that last section to Kanab and it was pretty good road the whole way.

In my opinion, the 15 north through Utah to Idaho is much safer than the 80 through Wyoming. Wyoming can be brutal and surprising. Plus trucks drive fast through that state, so when things go wrong, they go very very wrong.

Our kids went to school there and the weather was predictably unpredictable.

Last year right about this same time we got caught in heavy winds in Wyoming coming west from South Dakota. We stopped and pulled off the 80 when the winds got too bad, but then we got back on the road when we saw the truck traffic return fully. We stopped for fuel somewhere between Rawlins and Evanston and my wife went back into the fiver to use the bathroom and noticed it was really cold in there. It turned out that the heavy wind had blown our bedroom window out. It wasn't just broken, it was GONE. These windows are designed to be driven down the road at highway speeds, but the wind was just too much. We had to finish our trip with plastic and duct tape over the window, which wasn't so fun when the wind turned into snow.

I could be wrong, but I think the troopers and other drivers in Utah keep the speeds safer and don't drive as aggressively as in Wyoming. Maybe they aren't in as much of a hurry to get out of there.