Long trips, how long would the drive take you?

[Padlin]

Didn't want to hijack Desert Captain's thread on long distance trip costs so I'm starting another on duration. Looking to drive from Ma. to Yellowstone next summer/fall and am wondering how long those of you who are in no hurry would take for the drive, figure on one way. Thinking about going up through Niagara Falls and Sault Ste. Marie to make it more interesting, about 2300 miles one way. I just retired so have no need to do long days on the road, do you add in layover days?

[rk911]

eabc5454 wrote:
We did Virginia to California in three days for a job. Longest day was 1200 miles. One of us was driving the station wagon with the kids, dog and cat while the other drove the biggest UHaul moving truck they had. I'm not sure which had the better end of that stick. I DO NOT recommend this! We were a lot younger and not so smart. Not to mention we had younger, less cranky joints. Got to CA with $600 left and no place to stay.

Now, we try to limit it to 300 - 350 miles. We went 600 in one day and it was too much for us. If time isn't a factor, which seems to be the case, take a lot of side trips and eat like the locals. You'll have more fun on the road less traveled.

longest drive we ever did was before we had the RV and were doing the motel thing. started the day at 6am in sacramento, ca. the wife was driving and I was planning the day's drive with the map. I soon realized that there was no way we were going to be back in Chicago in time for us to get back to work on time. we ended up driving all the way to des moines, iowa without stopping, food and fuel excepted. we pulled in to des moines at 6pm the following day...36-hours in a mustang! and the next day we had an 8-hr+ driving day from there back to Chicago. the day after that it was back to work. we were a lot younger then and you can do surprising things when you have to.

[sail2liv]

I have driven to CA in 3 day and also have taken 3 months....now which was more fun...hmmmmm.....if I have to drive more than 100-200 miles per day....I find some place closer to go....for me one day drive 2 days off or more....I always have long distance destination based on weather window....but hardly ever make it that far as find tooooo many fun spots before I get there....course this is me....plus everyone passes me when I am on the road.....and I seem to catch them in the rest area or pass them while they are changing a tire....course if you are type A going fast may be the fun in life instead of camping and seeing what is around .....

[Bobbo]

If in no hurry, I would limit to 6 to 8 hours per day. When in a hurry, I have done 14 hours.

[DougE]

This is such an individual thing that no one answer is good. I've done as little as 100 miles or as much as 850 miles. The trick is to determine your planned stops first - parks, entertainment, or other. Then pick out comfortable driving distances in between them. If I'm just driving for distance I may go 300 to 500 miles in a day. Then for planning purposes I'll locate a park less than 400 miles, one near 400 miles and one beyond 400 miles. That way I'll have some adjustment built in depending on how my day's travel has been going.

[hershey]

The comfortable driving limit will for the most part, be different for vacationers vs fulltimers. We fulltime and use the 222@10 method.
200 miles by 2:00 pm for 2 days @ 10 a nite.
Of course that formula is a bit outdated...you just can't find $10 a nite camping anymore 🙂

[eabc5454]

We did Virginia to California in three days for a job. Longest day was 1200 miles. One of us was driving the station wagon with the kids, dog and cat while the other drove the biggest UHaul moving truck they had. I'm not sure which had the better end of that stick. I DO NOT recommend this! We were a lot younger and not so smart. Not to mention we had younger, less cranky joints. Got to CA with $600 left and no place to stay.

Now, we try to limit it to 300 - 350 miles. We went 600 in one day and it was too much for us. If time isn't a factor, which seems to be the case, take a lot of side trips and eat like the locals. You'll have more fun on the road less traveled.

[DaveG39]

When we visit to Massachusetts, we generally take 4 to 5 weeks each way. There is so much to see. On drive days we like to start out about 10:00 and stop by 3:00. When we do a layover, depending on what we choose to see, we plan 3 to 5 nights. If we are just driving, we like to do 1 night then 2 nights. I would consider the Michigan UP as well as the Soo. Also lakes region of Minnesota, House on the rocks and Taliesin in Wisconsin, Teddy Roosevelt Park in ND, Black hills in SD.

[Desert_Captain]

On our trip I was limited by my right knee that I am still rehabbing. After 2 hours I had to get out and hobble around as it would stiffen up from the lack of motion. Anything over 5 hours a day was a serious pain, literally. As the trip and my knee progressed we did some longer days but 250 to 360 (our longest day and only once), became doable. :C

[69_Avion]

RoyB wrote:
When I was younger we would jump in the truck and go until we see the camp ground sign of where we was heading for.

Now we tend to start out early and drive until around 4PM each day and setup somewhere along the way for the night. Takes longer but we always get a fresh start each day on the trip. Six to eight hours on the road each day is enough for us now...

Even get to smell some roses along the way now...

Roy Ken

That sounds like what I used to do. I could make it from Arizona to northern Montana in about 22 hours straight. Now I take two days with a car and three days with an RV. I like to start real early and put my longest leg of the trip on my first day of traveling. If you are in no hurry, take your time and enjoy the trip.

To the OP, when you are going to Yellowstone be sure to stop by Cody Wyoming and check out the Buffalo Bill museum.

[doxiemom11]

We do anywhere from 50 miles to 250 miles a day. Just depends on how we feel and how far away the next campsite is. We have drive 71 miles to a stop just to knock that mileage off to get to the next location so we only had 215 the next day instead of almost 300. If we like a place we may decide to stay a week instead of just overnight. It took us a month to travel from Michigan to the gulf coast in Mississippi. We were also taking our time to avoid hurricane season.

[PamfromVA]

I can't wait to retire so we can take our time. Our trip to Yellowstone last month had us driving about 700 miles a day. That gets old fast...

[lvnrdream]

We try to stay around 250 miles depending on traffic. We hit the road about 10:00 and like to be parked by 4:00. Don't want to be late for happy hour. Many times we stop find something interesting and end up staying 2 or 3 days. Our motto, get up went you want, leave when your ready, stop when your tired of driving. Retirement is great. :B
Enjoy

[crickeydog]

Padlin wrote:
Looking to drive from Ma. to Yellowstone next summer/fall and am wondering how long those of you who are in no hurry would take for the drive one way.

Four+ weeks each way.

Happy camping!!! See y'all down the road!!!:) 🙂

[rk911]

Padlin wrote:
Didn't want to hijack Desert Captain's thread on long distance trip costs so I'm starting another on duration. Looking to drive from Ma. to Yellowstone next summer/fall and am wondering how long those of you who are in no hurry would take for the drive, figure on one way. Thinking about going up through Niagara Falls and Sault Ste. Marie to make it more interesting, about 2300 miles one way. I just retired so have no need to do long days on the road, do you add in layover days?

when we travel, assuming time is not a factor and it virtually never is, we limit our driving day to about 4-hrs plus and hour for lunch, fuel, etc. we're usually out on the road between 9 and 10, lunch around noon and off the road, set-up and relaxing between 3 and 4.

[tkcas01]

I typically assume an average speed of 50mph to account for traffic, stops, etc. And about 6 hours of traveling is about my limit before it starts becoming a grind. So when not in a hurry, between 250 and 350 miles is about right for me.

Leaves plenty of time to do some shopping, find a campsite and get setup, relax, have a nice meal, plan the next day, etc.

My most extreme was just this year when I drove 1600 miles over 2 days. Not fun, but I wanted to get halfway across the country in a weekend.