Forum Discussion

Don_and_Eileen's avatar
Nov 21, 2014

Salt Lake City to Port Aransas, TX in February

Can folks help with some winter routing? We’ll be in our motorhome and towing leaving the Salt Lake City area and heading to Port Aransas, TX in February. Normally, we opt for the scenic route (unless we’re pressed for time.) We’ve driven through some of the areas, in the suggested routes below, during the warmer weather, but we have no idea what to expect during the winter. We want to avoid, as much as possible, driving through areas most prone to snow or ice, especially those pesky mountainous roads.
Thank you!
Here are the suggested routes from Google Maps.
1,457 miles
From I-15 in Utah, take US-6 E, US-191 S through Moab into Monticello, US-491 S into Shiprock, 64 into Farmington, US-550 S into Bernalillo, I-25 to Albuquerque, I-40 to US 285, US 380 to Brownfield, 137, 87 through San Angelo, 83 to I-10.

1,456 miles
From I-15 in Utah, take US-6 E, US-191 S through Moab into Monticello, US-491 S into Shiprock 64 into Farmington, US-550 S into Bernalillo, I-25 to Albuquerque, I-40 to US 84 through Lubbock to Sweetwater, 70/153 to Winters, 83 to I-10

1,566 miles
From I-15 in Utah, take US-6 E, US-191 S through Moab into Monticello, US-491 S into Gallup, I-40 to just before Alburquerque, 6 to I-25 to I-10.
  • Van Horn, TX to San Antonio by way of I-90 is 430 miles and should take about 6 hours of driving if you do the speed limit which is 80 mph in West Texas.

    Van Horn to SA by US 90 is 460 miles and should take 7 hours of driving if you do the speed limit which I believe is 70 mph on the open road..... towns are small and widely spaced. You may hit a few stop lights and stop signs in the few towns you go thru that might increase the time a bit more.

    Just thought of this...... if you are going to Port A (are you?) why would you want to go thru SA?
  • Do not mean to highjack this but US 90 I-10 to San Antonio how good is that road & how much time do you lose?
  • In the winter the scenic route or the shortest route is not really the best route. I have found that you can change your departure date if bad weather is forecast, but once on the road you can run into a problem based on unforseen or unpredicted weather.

    My suggestion is long but safer. Go due south as quickly as possible at the lowestest elevation. I would consider I-15 to Las Vegas, then US 93 to Phoenix and then route I-10 east thru El Paso, then US 90 East (which is more interesting than I-10).
  • Route #1 would be my choice but only because we've traveled it several times but as always weather dictates and state DOT websites give road conditions and trouble spots.
  • You can't make that determination now. Your Route #1 is the way I've gone. But US6 out of Provo is one of the sections completely subject to weather. Plenty of snow over that pass. Gallup, Albuquerque, etc also subject to nasty weather at times.

    All you can do is watch the weather channel and the state highway condition websites, and choose the route with the least nasty weather.