Charleston, WV to Cincinnati-Best drive among the options
 

Hi,
We'll be driving from Charleston, WV to Cincinnati in April. Google shows me 3 driving options that basically take the same amount of time. Which would be the nicest drive? The furthest North path is highway 35 to 71 and goes roughly thru Jackson, Chillicothe, Washington court House, Octa, Port William and Oregonia. The middle route goes on 124 and 32 roughly thru Jackson, Beaver, Piketon Peebles, Winchester, Bardwell, Batavia...And the furthest South route goes on highway 10 and 9 thur Kentucky via Grayson and Maysville.
Thank you in advance for any help you can give!

What is your definition of "the nicest drive"?
Are you wanting the most efficient straight-through route? A more "scenic" drive? The ability to make stops/sight-see along the way?

I've driven all of these routes multiple times.
Rt 35 to Rt 32 (the middle route) is likely your best bet. Simple route, 4-lane roads the entire way, adequate services (food/gas), a few opportunities to "sight-see".
The northern route may be similar time-wise, but it adds 20+ miles to your drive. I wouldn't go this way unless you prefer to travel on large highways/interstates.
The southern route is more rural. Primarily 2-lane roads. Better if you want a slower-paced drive.

I drove this part of your dirve many times when going to visit daughter at Miami U. I took the scenic route along the ohio river which when plotting it takes a bit less than 4 hours. It is 4 lane road most of the way--you start out on 64 to Huntington and then take route 52. I always enjoyed it.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Char...39.1031182!3e0

I've been this way and it would be my least recommended route.
I wouldn't suggest it unless the OP is interested in spending extra time to drive through a bunch of old/depressed Ohio river towns.
It includes a lot of 2-lane roads and the state troopers/local cops are also really bad on the OH side of the river (in case you don't always strictly follow the speed limit).

If the OP is interested in the river, I would use their southern route, with a slight change to drive through Maysville and Augusta.

I agree with all you say about driving through a depressed part of the Ohio River valley--and the police. But it is is an easy and interesting drive IMO. And it works very well.

Thank you
 

Thank you all so much! You have been a huge help.

I'm from Ohio, I wouldn't call that route scenic in the whole. I don't understand how you came up with your first route, going way far north like that. If you were going up to Chillicothe, at least you'd then go west on route 50, you wouldn't keep going northwest to Wash Ct House.

Interestingly, Google doesn't show me that route so maybe it was time of day. Bizarrely, they do show it for returning but not going.

When I opened this thread I was totally amazed that the OP was asking about the routes he had googled--and not even have mine on Route 52 which I will STILL say is the easiest.
I returned yesterday from driving part of two of them. Route 35 is a VERY pretty rural drive with almost zero traffic and good speed limits. I was coming from near Dayton so that was a no brainer.
GoingTO Dayton we drove a portion along Route 52 along the river. It also was an easy and pretty (to me) drive.
For me I just would not go that far north (to 35) to get to Cincinnatti.

There is a reason none of the mapping services recommend Route 52.
It's fine if you want a slow, leisurely drive through rundown river towns, with a fair amount of 2-lane roads, and having to cross over the river 4 times.
One bonus to this route is you can visit long-forgotten chain restaurants that haven't existed anywhere else in the US since the 1980's...Rax Roast Beef, Ponderosa, Mr. Gatti's, GD Ritzy.

The "easiest" route would be Rt 35 to Jackson, then Rt 32 towards Cincinnati.
This keeps you on 4 lane highways the entire time and minimizes total distance and time driven.