North America Travel Forum

I am driving from north Jersey (Ramsey area)to Las vegas, and was wondering what are the pros and cons of going on the northern (Rt.80) route versus the centrl (Rt.70) route to Denver? The mileage seems to be about 50 miles shorter via the norther (Rt. 80) route.

Depends on the season. I like the 40 route accessing through DC. You get Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock and Albuquerque

Hmmm.... there are some pros and cons with both directions....

I-70
Kansas is flat and there really isn't a whole lot there to keep you occupied and entertained whilst driving it. You go get to go through St. Louis and the Ozarks which is nice. Also, Indianapolis can be interesting.

I-80
Iowa? See my comments about Kansas. The northern route will have a few more hills and you can check out Chicago and Cleveland enroute. Nebraska is fairly desolate as well, but it is more visually appealing than the endless corn, wheat and soy fields of both Iowa and Kansas.

Personally, I would just check out the forecasts for the areas and choose the one projected to have the best weather during your trip. Neither route has any decisive factors. Well, Chicago has a rougher rush hour than St. Louis does, but that is a very small part of the trip and you can pretty easily avoid that.

The cities you'll come across while traveling I-80 are more interesting. Unfortunately, they're also more crowded and thus more likely to give traffic jams. I've driven the parts of I-80/76 between Chicago and Denver many times, and can assure you there's nothing really worth stopping for between the two cities. I've also drive most of I-70, and feel the same about that road west of Missouri (some would even insist Kansas City is a drag, but I disagree).

If you're only worried about fast and cheap, I-70 would be my choice. If there's some other criteria you're interesting in knowing about, let us know and we can give you info that will be a LOT more useful to you.

my 2-cents worth:
Take I-80 through into Wyoming.
Drop down to Denver and take I-70 through the Rockies.

If you have a little more time and want to see the beautiful desolation of desert mountains, continue on I-70 into Nevada to Ely, then drop straight south to Vegas.

The mountains on I-70 are much better in my opinion than those of the high Wyoming plains and into eastern Utah.

I prefer to take I-70. It is a bit quicker, but of course it depends what you are doing. Did you want to stop along the way or go straight through. I also like to take 44 from St. Louis to 40, and stop in Albuquerque and then maybe stay a night in the Grand Canyon, and hit Vegas from there. The petrified forest, and a Pueblo is along the way as well.