crossustraveller

Hello All!

This trip was last minute and I need some advice from anyone who has done this or can recommend some great things to see... I am near Buffalo right now and am headed to San Diego! As well, I am interested in the Red Woods and BC. Would like to see the Grand Canyon... and can't do it at all as I need to plot the shortest and best route for gas consumption, but can make a few quick stops for interesting places to visit.

What hwys are best for this kind of long distance driving from Buffalo to San Diego? Any recommendations for conserving gas (1994 mini van)? Any great campgrounds or places to stay on the way which are CHEAP? As well, do you know of any neat places to visit? I hope to get the best out of this but it is last minute for me and I have to go! Thanks friends : )

Any great threads on the subject as well?

rkkwan

I can tell you the fastest, flattest and easiest route, which should also mean the least gas:

I-90/71/70/44/40/15

Grand Canyon is a short detour from Flagstaff, but you won't see any red woods. If BC means British Columbia, then that's way out of the way too.

sylvia3

How about working south to I70 and go through the mountains in Colorado? TAke 90 from Buffalo, hit I80 and cross the Mississippi, through Nebraska (nice country), 76 down to Denver and I70, then go west to Utah, drop down to the Canyon, take 17 down through Phoenix, pick up 10 to San Diego. AAA does wonderful triptiks.

bbqboy

Follow the Great Lakes to Chicago, take 55 to St Louis, 70 west thru KC to Denver, head south on 25 to Santa Fe/Albq, west on 40 to GC, then 40 west and down.
You've got food, history and sights to see.

virginia

sylvia's route sounds pretty efficient to me. but you could take route 66 part of the way. check out the "turn by turn route description" part of www.historic66.com to see if any of it fits into your plans. there are numerous odd/interesting things to see on this road.

NorthwestMale

This answer is anybody's guess and anybody's preference.

If you're shooting out of the gate tomorrow then maybe you can withstand a northerly route, if you get lucky, but if you delay even a short while you should expect to be disenchanted by the northern weather.

It would probably be best for you to be making the last leg of your trip from Texas to Southern California so as to avoid the threat of really bad weather in the more northern reaches of the Rockies.

For other details, just sit down and plot a couple of spots between Buffalo and West Texas that YOU have always wanted to visit, and pass them on your way.

Hope it works well for you.

happytourist

You can also save a lot of money on gas by just slowing down. Go 60 mph, enjoy and scenery, reduce your stress and watch your mileage improve!

rkkwan

The I-70 route that sylvia3 suggested has excellent scenery in Colorado and Utah; and you can easily visit the several excellent national parks there. You can also visit the N. Rim of the Grand Canyon, but it's not the right route to the more popular S. Rim.

bbqboy

Well, My favorite route is to take US Hwy 50 from KC west through the Southern Rockies, cruising past(near Crested Butte), the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and on to Grand Junction, where you could connect through the 4 corners South to I40.
I like the food better on I70, mmm BBQ, than I80. You could also take I35 at KC to Wichita, then head SW on US54 which runs into I40 in New Mexico. You could head up the short distance on I25 to experience Santa Fe's charms, or keep headin' West til you reach Flagstaff and investigate the Grand Canyon. You'll cruise thru high desert
and skirt the south side of the Hopi and Navajo Reservations.
Make sure to take extra water, flashlight, blanket, and chains if you have them. In general, the further south you head on your Mountain crossing, the better the weather will be, but the scenery will lessen also. I have taken 80 70 40 and 10 at various times traveling between the Midwest and Phoenix and the hwy 50 route numerous times.
If you really want to see the Giant Sequoias, you could detour up that way when you hit California. Your coastal Redwoods are 400 miles to the North.
Once you hit the west, they be camping in National Forests and Parks.

utahtea

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon was suggested but it is CLOSED until Mid May 2006 so if you are going now, don't plan on stopping there. The South Rim is always open.

It would help to know when you are leaving. If it's soon, then the southern route would probably be better for camping. Once you decide on the route, I'll try and help with campgrounds.

Utahtea