Kazak

Dear Travelers:

We will be driving from Seattle via I-90 to North Carolina. We know that initially we will stay on I-90 and visit different sites in Montana, Wyoming and Sourth Dakota along the way. We love outdoors, natural wonders, and high-tech things (like aircrafts, telescopes, etc). So, for the first part of the trip, we'll include Grant-Kohrs Ranch, Beartooth highway, Devil’s tower, Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, Minuteman Missile, and Badlands. But after that we do not know what will be the most interesting way to go. Should we continue on I-90 until Chicago or is it better to turn on I-29 to I-70- I-64? We are not interested in big cities, and we have seen Chicago before. Maybe you can suggest the route, so that we could see something interesting along the way without diverting too much? We'll have about a week for this portion of the trip.
If there are no hiking places or natural attractions in these areas, which states are more picturesque for driving through? Can you name a couple of places to see along the way?

This is the cross-country trip we were dreaming about. By the way, we are not interested in going through West Virginia or Virginia- we travelled it already.

Thank you for your help.

boom_boom

Unless you want to stay on Interstates as much as possible, I'd detour off I-90, esp if you plan a Yellowstone visit. Take the East raod out of Yellostone to Cody. Great hiking just outside the park, nice museums in Cody. Then take one of three routes Alt 14, 14 or 16 across the Bighorns and reconnect to 90. You can then detour back to the Little Bighorn Battlefield or continue on to the Black Hills. After Mt. Rushmore turn south across the grasslands consider Scottsbluff and then take some non Interstates across Nebraska, swing south across Missouri and cross the Mississippi at ssome place like Cape Girardeau, through the southern tip of Indiana, into Kentucky, then Tennessee and N.C.
If you wanna stick to interstaste, I'd take 29 tio 70 to 64 rather than the mass traffic jams around Chicago.

PaulRabe

From the fact that you're visiting sites in Montana, I'm going to presume you'll be traveling in summer. If so, then just about any "natural wonder" will most likely be of interest to you, and it should be open to visitors.

If you "are not interested in big cities" and "have seen Chicago before," then I see absolutely no reason to fight the traffic there. It would indeed be better to go I-90 to I-29 to I-80 to I-74 to I-57. This way you will also bypass Kansas City and Saint Louis.

Since you are also no interested in either West Virginia or Virginia, then following I-64 to I-81 to Shenandoah NP is off my list of suggestions. This leaves me to recommend Great Smokey Mountains NP, which you would get by I-57 to I-24 to I-40 to GSMNP. Since it's on the border between TN and NC, it will be pretty much on your way. There's a fair amount of hiking and outdoor beauty, and is a good lead-in to western NC.

Orcas

Ohmygosh. I didn't hear you say you are going to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons....Visit these parks. The rest is insignificant, except maybe visit Wall Drugs in S. Dakota. .

galaxygrrl200

KY has a mammoth national park which is nice. I thought Graceland was so worth going to and TN has nice parks and rivers.

starrs

Do you have a week for the portion from the Dakotas to NC or the entire drive?

If you have the time, I'd definitely head south to CO and spend as much time there as possible (most of the week) and then scoot over via St.Louis to Nashville and on into NC.

Gretchen

I agree with Starrs. Work your way south to I70 at some point. The arch is worth a look--it is really fun to see comingin from the east.
Get to I40 in nashville. Where in NC are you coming to? If it is below I40, you may want to take I26 at Asheville to Route 74 and take this toward Charlotte.

Kazak

Thank you very much for advice.
We'll not go to Glacier, Yellowstone, Tetones, Colorado or Graceland because we have visited them already. We have one full week from South Dakota to NC.

We'll follow the detours recommended by boom_boom for the Montana-Wyoming, we'll also make sure to visit Wall Drug.

We would love to visit Scotts Bluff, but we are restricted in our route (we have to visit friends who live on the crossroads of I-90 and I-29, and Scotts Bluff is too far from that point.

Here is the route from I-90xI-29 (please critique)

1. Beginning from intersection of I-90 and I-29, we will go south along I-29( follow advice not to stay on interstate I-29). Does it make any difference whether to go along I-90 on the eastern side (are we going to see the grasslands of Nebraska there?) or along the western side (in Iowa)? Any attractions there?

2. In Missouri I-70--> I-73 to Cape Giradreau. Is there anything you recommend to see in Missouri?

3. Visit Mammoth Cave Park in Kentukki. Anything else in Kentukki?

We appreciate your advice. Please keep writing...

Ackislander

My big piece of advice is to get off the interstate. You won't see anything except Cracker Barrel from the Interstate.

Get a Rand McNally Road Atlas and as far as possible, follow the routes with dots next to the highway. Use the interstates only to get around big cities. Then get back on the highway.

Visit America's disappearing small towns and villages. Eat in the local cafes. It usually tells you outside town where the Rotary Club eats, but just see where all the cars are parked for lunch.

Kazak

Thank you Ackislander!