If you were going to drive from St. Louis, MO to Ft. Collins, CO...

[VAfamily1998]

According to Googlemaps it will take 14.5 hours along the 70 (mostly going through Kansas) and just under 15 hours along the 80 (mostly going through Nebraska)....so not too much of a time difference--it's mostly going to depend on which drive will be more interesting/things to do or see/etc.

With a drive that long, we will probably need to stop overnight along the way...Which would you do?

TIA

 

[katrina1122]

Can't help with the drive, but say Hi to my Mom and Sister/family when you get to Fort Collins! Love that town.

 

[golfgal]

Not sure what there is to do in Kansas but Omaha has a wonderful Zoo. It's roughly 7 hours from St. Louis so a nice half way point.

 

[NotUrsula]

We've got family pretty much on both ends of that drive (Denver rather than Ft. Collins), and I've never known anyone to go all the way up to I-80 unless they were trying to go around an ice storm. I-70 between Missouri and Colorado is an almost perfectly straight road, while I-80 between Iowa and Colorado is not; it curves a fair amount, which lengthens the distance.

Realize that there is no main highway straight north out of St. Louis into Iowa. It requires back roads, and it is very slow going if you want to drive straight from St. Louis north to Iowa City. (Google Maps will tell you that it is 4.5 hours, but IME, it takes closer to 7 hours because of stoplights and slow traffic through small towns.) Normally if someone is intending to head that far west via I-80 from St. Louis, the usual route is to go as far as Kansas City on I-70 and then swing north on I-29, picking up I-80 in Omaha.

PS: Just FYI, in the Midwest no one says "the 80", it's "I-80" or "Interstate 80" or just "80" as long as you put the word take or on in front of it, as in "I'm on 80 just west of Omaha", or "take 80 until you get to the 29 interchange and go south". If you refer to a highway number with "the" in front of it, you are going to get some chuckles, if not confusion.

 

[golfgal]

We've got family pretty much on both ends of that drive (Denver rather than Ft. Collins), and I've never known anyone to go all the way up to I-80 unless they were trying to go around an ice storm. I-70 between Missouri and Colorado is an almost perfectly straight road, while I-80 between Iowa and Colorado is not; it curves a fair amount, which lengthens the distance.

Realize that there is no main highway straight north out of St. Louis into Iowa. It requires back roads, and it is very slow going if you want to drive straight from St. Louis north to Iowa City. (Google Maps will tell you that it is 4.5 hours, but IME, it takes closer to 7 hours because of stoplights and slow traffic through small towns.) Normally if someone is intending to head that far west via I-80 from St. Louis, the usual route is to go as far as Kansas City on I-70 and then swing north on I-29, picking up I-80 in Omaha.

That is not true at all. We drive from MN to St. Louis several times/year and as recently as a week ago and the trip through Iowa is 4 lanes all the way from Minneapolis to St. Louis. It took us 3 1/2 hours to go from a western suburb of St. Louis to Iowa City (Corallsville Mall to be exact) just last week. There is a slight slow down in Hannibal but otherwise the posted speed limits are 65 to 70 the entire way. I-80 is then 70 MPH. When I googled going from St. Louis to Omaha, it took me across on I-70, which is not a bad drive at all and up I-29 to Omaha-again posted speed limits of 70.

 

[Sal]

Golfgal is correct. Several years ago, The Avenue of the Saints was completed, connecting St Paul MN to St Louis MO.

Just FYI, not saying I80 is the better choice.

 

[CrazyMe]

I do believe that the speed limit is now 75 in Kansas! If that helps any...

In July I took a trip from Denver to Kansas City, MO and back home again... I went with my dad and he was surprised to see that the speed limit had been changed to 75 on all the signs. So we set the cruz at 77 and made pretty good time. We were traveling with my grandparents so coming home we left KS and drove all the way to Oakley, KS and stayed the night there. The drive wasn't to bad.

Hope that helps you some... it is defiantly a long drive.

 

[trip]

Take one route going and the other coming home since there is not really much difference. Then you'll know which way you like better for your next trip.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

DH said he would do...

61 to 218 to 34 at Mt Pleasant IA to US 34 west, US 63 North, Iowa 163 west which takes you to Des Moines.

He says it cuts off 30 miles, all 4 four lanes, nice scenery, no semis.

He just drove his mom to Iowa a few weeks ago and they loved it.

Then from Des Moines take I80 thru Nebraska.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Take one route going and the other coming home since there is not really much difference. Then you'll know which way you like better for your next trip.

Well, St. Louis to Ft. Collins is actually just one leg of the trip...the whole trip is Northern VA to Yellowstone National Park!

So the "one route going" was going to include St. Louis (just staying 1 day, mostly to see the arch) and maybe a couple days in the Rockies....then maybe 5-7 days at Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, then the "other way coming home" we were going to do what Googlemaps recommends, which will take us through North Dakota and Minnesota--then possibly taking a little detour crossing into Canada and Michigan, then down through Ohio/Pennsylvania.

 

[RitaE]

We used to do that drive all the time (lived near Boulder and had relatives in Illinois) and I can soundly assure that there wasn't all that much to see in either Nebraska or Kansas except .... fields.

 

[golfgal]

Well, St. Louis to Ft. Collins is actually just one leg of the trip...the whole trip is Northern VA to Yellowstone National Park!

So the "one route going" was going to include St. Louis (just staying 1 day, mostly to see the arch) and maybe a couple days in the Rockies....then maybe 5-7 days at Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, then the "other way coming home" we were going to do what Googlemaps recommends, which will take us through North Dakota and Minnesota--then possibly taking a little detour crossing into Canada and Michigan, then down through Ohio/Pennsylvania.

The outside of the arch is worth seeing just to say you did-I wouldn't waste your time going UP in the arch-ride up in a clothes dryer, get out, look out a dozen little windows, ride back down. There is a cool museum that is free under the arch though. I WOULD HIGHLY recommend going to the City Museum if you have kids along--WELL worth your time to go. It really isn't a museum, more of a huge indoor/outdoor playground type thing. TOTAL BLAST for the kids. If no kids, go to Grant's Farm--the Clydesdales are there and they give out free beer

 

[cristit14]

Going from Denver we always did the 70 route. I80 takes us too far north. We have driven I80 going to visit the inlaws. I find Nebraska much more boring ride than Kansas. Of course that could have something to do with the fact that going to Nebraska we are seeing his family and going through Kansas to Kentucky we are going to see mine.

 

[FINFAN]

we just drove it from Naperville (west burb of Chicago) . Took us 15 hours and 15 minutes, mapquest was saying 17+. We stayed in Loveland the first few nights (so same as Ft Collins) We stayed on 80 and went up north to Cheyenne WY, saved us a good hour at least vs heading into Denver.I would say 80 was the going/average rate for the speed limit..to keep up with traffic. Not much to stop for except for gas, lol. As far as *interesting* things to see in Nebraska, a few wind turbines maybe? There was some road construction where they are widening the highway..if that is done your time will be even shorter. It is such an easy drive, pack a cooler with sandwiches and hit the road. We left at 4 a.m. and it was so nice to pull in to Loveland during daylight. This time of year it is darker sooner, but still nice to not pull it at midnight. I will say once we got on 25 in Colorodo ,going 85 was the only way to not be tailgated!

 

[jsmith]

Okay since this is my neck of the woods-it does not make sense to come out I -80 at all if you are going to Ft Collins and then North to Yellowstone-it is a absolutely straight shot from St Louis across Kansas to Denver-then north on 25 to Ft collins. Going north to Des Moines and across, then south from Cheyenne to Ft Collins and then back north to Cheyenne just doesnt make sense and would actually probaby add miles to your drive. I would either make a straight shot out 70 OR unless you have a specific reason to go to Ft Collins-the better choice is come out 80 to Cheyenne-make that rather than Ft Collins your stopping point. You then have the choice of going Cheyenne/Casper/Shoshoni/Cody Yellowstone via I-25 to Casper, Us 20 to Shoshoni and Cody. Or 80 to Rocksprings and North to Pinedale and Jackson.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Thank you everyone for the replies!

I am trying to plan a trip to Yellowstone for next summer. My husband is kind of resistant to it, so I'm hoping if I can develop the plan/route/etc. to show him, he will be more enthusiastic!

I appreciate everyone's imput!

 

[NHdisneylover]

We used to do that drive all the time (lived near Boulder and had relatives in Illinois) and I can soundly assure that there wasn't all that much to see in either Nebraska or Kansas except .... fields.

Not true at all--once in a great while you see some cows or a tumbleweed

 

[NotUrsula]

OK, I stand corrected about Avenue of the Saints; I haven't had much reason in the past few years to go up as far as the Iowa line, and so I was unaware that the road through the rural areas up there had been widened and made limited-access. My apologies.

As to what to see near I-70 in Kansas/Missouri, there are a few things you might like. You can visit a number of excellent wineries in the Hermann, MO area about 70 miles west of St. Louis, and there is a zipline attraction near there as well. You can also see a large section of the Berlin Wall that has been installed as a memorial on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton, MO. http://www.churchillmemorial.org/highlights/Pages/Breakthrough.aspx
(Not many people realize this, but Fulton was where Churchill actually delivered the famous line about the Iron Curtain in a 1946 speech.)

Kansas City of course has some serious barbeque worth investigating, but there are also the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum http://www.nelson-atkins.org/, and the National WWI Museum (which is outstanding!)http://www.theworldwar.org/s/110/new/index_community.aspx. The biggest special event of the year in KC is the American Royal in the Fall, it is one of the largest livestock, horse show and rodeo events in the US, and stretches out over about 8 weeks of special performances and shows. Several big name country artists do concerts as well.

There are also a couple of large waterparks, a Nascar track if you enjoy races, and of course, there are major football, baseball and hockey franchises in KC and St. Louis if you would like to attend a game, depending on the season.

BTW, if you are wondering what kind of scenery a particular highway in the US will let you see, there is a website that has lots of highway driving photos from all over: www.aaroads.com

 

[FINFAN]

OK, I stand corrected about Avenue of the Saints; I haven't had much reason in the past few years to go up as far as the Iowa line, and so I was unaware that the road through the rural areas up there had been widened and made limited-access. My apologies.

As to what to see near I-70 in Kansas/Missouri, there are a few things you might like. You can visit a number of excellent wineries in the Hermann, MO area about 70 miles west of St. Louis, and there is a zipline attraction near there as well. You can also see a large section of the Berlin Wall that has been installed as a memorial on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton, MO. http://www.churchillmemorial.org/highlights/Pages/Breakthrough.aspx
(Not many people realize this, but Fulton was where Churchill actually delivered the famous line about the Iron Curtain in a 1946 speech.)

Kansas City of course has some serious barbeque worth investigating, but there are also the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum http://www.nelson-atkins.org/, and the National WWI Museum (which is outstanding!)http://www.theworldwar.org/s/110/new/index_community.aspx. The biggest special event of the year in KC is the American Royal in the Fall, it is one of the largest livestock, horse show and rodeo events in the US, and stretches out over about 8 weeks of special performances and shows. Several big name country artists do concerts as well.

There are also a couple of large waterparks, a Nascar track if you enjoy races, and of course, there are major football, baseball and hockey franchises in KC and St. Louis if you would like to attend a game, depending on the season.

BTW, if you are wondering what kind of scenery a particular highway in the US will let you see, there is a website that has lots of highway driving photos from all over: www.aaroads.com

ok. that site is awesome! Thanks for posting it!