best route, West to East?

[freewayrandy]

Headed to Illinois in July from NorCal and wondering which route would have the least grades to climb the Rockies, I-80 or I-70?

[valhalla360]

Horsedoc wrote:
80 : From Salt Lake City to Rock Springs will be the most mountains you deal with on 80. More trucks on 80 and pretty boring ride - long stretches of barren countryside. I get nervous when fuel starts getting below a half tank.

70: Don't know how you will get from NorCal to 70 because it starts at I-15. Much more mountains from there until you get through Denver. THat is another PIA for me.
Personally, I would run 80 even if it might be more boring and fewer potential fuel stops.

Another vote for I-80 over I-70 for an easier on the drivetrain route. I-70 is prettier but that's because it's got more mountains, which make for the tougher climbs. Doable but tougher but really not a huge difference.

Maybe save 150miles of relatively boring drive in eastern Wyoming (really just relative to coming out of the mountains down into hills) but once you get to either Nebraska state line or Denver (roughly same longitude) either route is a lot of ranch/farm land.

We did I-80 WB 2 yrs ago and never had any worry about fuel. Does your RV have a particularly short range?

[time2roll]

freewayrandy wrote:
leaving from Placerville, would do US-50 thru Nevada then 70.

Same for me. Although I think OP wants I80.

[rk911]

and if you want to avoid the long EB pull on I-80 east of SLC up and thru Parley's Canyon you might consider an alternate that's not nearly as steep. Go north on I-15 from I-80 to I-84. follow that east back to I-80. a bit longer but much easier. our rig was a 40' gasser towing a jeep SUV. we made it but I found that climb far more difficult than Donner Peak in CA or any of the pulls in WY.

[Blazing_Zippers]

Old OTR driver here. Also very familiar with Placerville and the sierras. Head East over 50, then up to I-80 would be my sugestion.
I-80 is a pretty good choice overall for East/West travel. Salt Lake City is a bear for traffic, but we time it for early or late in the day.
Now, for an ODD stop to streatch your legs-stop at Dix NB-Exit 29 on I-80 and walk to the active missle silo on the South side of the exit. Yep, I've stopped there twice to realize how small my problems are. Don't touch the fence or do anything stupid cause you're on camera, but what you see there is the reason the U.S. is a world power.
Don't forget the original Cabela's in Sidney NB. They have RV parking.
Safe travels-----------------

[rk911]

freewayrandy wrote:

rk911 wrote:
I-70 thru Denver has the Eisenhower Tunnel climb and descent. I-80 has the EB climb over Donner Pass and the EB climb over Parley Summit east of Salt Lake City. all are very doable and there is a much easier bypass around Parley Summit.

we headed back to Chicago from San Jose in August of '21 using I-80 in our 40' class A gasser towing our Jeep SUV. the EB climb up Donner Pass was a lot easier than the WB descent a few months earlier. the RV's cruise control actually held a steady speed going up. and the EB descent from the summit was a total non-event. but in hindsight I should've taken the I-15 bypass for Parley Summit. we made it to the top but at a crawl.

a lot will depend on the weather, road conditions (construction delays, etc).what you're driving and your experience driving that vehicle. you might want to get a copy of the Mountain Driving Directory https://mountaindirectory.com/.

I have that book and it seems that there are afew more grades to climb on 70 than 80. Thoughts are US50 to Fallon then 95 to 80.

there are. i forgot about Vail Pass (west of Eisenhower @10,600') and a 5-mi descent into Mt. Vernon canyon (7800') east of Eisenhower.

the first time we drove east on I-70 from CA was in the mid 80's in a 25' class A. wife was driving in those days. she took it thru the tunnel and down the mountain. it was September and bright sunshine on the west side of the mountain but as we exited the tunnel it waa snowing and, further down, raining. she did a great job getting us down safely but it was nerve racking for a pair of Illinois flatlanders. in those days we were young and stupid. our motto was...how hard could this possibly be? lolol

[paulj]

If you are ok with US50 over the Sierras (that's your backyard?), any of the freeway crossings of the Rockies should be a piece of cake. Roughly speaking US80 has a climb into Wy, and then stays relatively flat across the state (but the winds are notorious). I70 stays a long the Colorado River for quite a ways in Colorado, and then climbs over the Rockies. So that's a delayed, but higher climb. And a steeper drop to Denver. But it is heavily used by Denver residents for ski and other mountain rec.

[freewayrandy]

rk911 wrote:
I-70 thru Denver has the Eisenhower Tunnel climb and descent. I-80 has the EB climb over Donner Pass and the EB climb over Parley Summit east of Salt Lake City. all are very doable and there is a much easier bypass around Parley Summit.

we headed back to Chicago from San Jose in August of '21 using I-80 in our 40' class A gasser towing our Jeep SUV. the EB climb up Donner Pass was a lot easier than the WB descent a few months earlier. the RV's cruise control actually held a steady speed going up. and the EB descent from the summit was a total non-event. but in hindsight I should've taken the I-15 bypass for Parley Summit. we made it to the top but at a crawl.

a lot will depend on the weather, road conditions (construction delays, etc).what you're driving and your experience driving that vehicle. you might want to get a copy of the Mountain Driving Directory https://mountaindirectory.com/.

I have that book and it seems that there are afew more grades to climb on 70 than 80. Thoughts are US50 to Fallon then 95 to 80.

[freewayrandy]

Horsedoc wrote:
80 : From Salt Lake City to Rock Springs will be the most mountains you deal with on 80. More trucks on 80 and pretty boring ride - long stretches of barren countryside. I get nervous when fuel starts getting below a half tank.

70: Don't know how you will get from NorCal to 70 because it starts at I-15. Much more mountains from there until you get through Denver. THat is another PIA for me.
Personally, I would run 80 even if it might be more boring and fewer potential fuel stops.

leaving from Placerville, would do US-50 thru Nevada then 70.

[freewayrandy]

Tom/Barb wrote:

freewayrandy wrote:
Headed to Illinois in July from NorCal and wondering which route would have the least grades to climb the Rockies, I-80 or I-70?

where in Northern Ca.

Placerville

[dedmiston]

I-80 is going to be the most simple route, but I'm not a fan of that route through Wyoming. There's so much to see and do in WY, but you don't see any of it from the 80 unless you're really into meth. The rest of the trip is pretty nice.

Good luck.

[Tom_Barb]

freewayrandy wrote:
Headed to Illinois in July from NorCal and wondering which route would have the least grades to climb the Rockies, I-80 or I-70?

where in Northern Ca.

[rk911]

I-70 thru Denver has the Eisenhower Tunnel climb and descent. I-80 has the EB climb over Donner Pass and the EB climb over Parley Summit east of Salt Lake City. all are very doable and there is a much easier bypass around Parley Summit.

we headed back to Chicago from San Jose in August of '21 using I-80 in our 40' class A gasser towing our Jeep SUV. the EB climb up Donner Pass was a lot easier than the WB descent a few months earlier. the RV's cruise control actually held a steady speed going up. and the EB descent from the summit was a total non-event. but in hindsight I should've taken the I-15 bypass for Parley Summit. we made it to the top but at a crawl.

a lot will depend on the weather, road conditions (construction delays, etc).what you're driving and your experience driving that vehicle. you might want to get a copy of the Mountain Driving Directory https://mountaindirectory.com/.

[Second_Chance]

In Utah on I-80, you'll encounter Parley's Summit east of Salt Lake City. There are long (6 mile) stretches of 6% grades. Vail Pass on I-70 in Colorado is a bit more severe with stretches of 7 miles of 7% grades.

Rob

[Horsedoc]

80 : From Salt Lake City to Rock Springs will be the most mountains you deal with on 80. More trucks on 80 and pretty boring ride - long stretches of barren countryside. I get nervous when fuel starts getting below a half tank.

70: Don't know how you will get from NorCal to 70 because it starts at I-15. Much more mountains from there until you get through Denver. THat is another PIA for me.
Personally, I would run 80 even if it might be more boring and fewer potential fuel stops.