LA to Ohio with no/little interstate

619 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by kwthom, Feb 27, 2009

rfm1992

Discussion Starter · Feb 23, 2009

Late May I'll be riding from LA to Ohio. I'd like to do as little interstate as possible. When riding to Ohio from La we will take US 36 to Denver then down thur Utah to Vegas, I'd like a different route back. Any suggestions? I can take 5 or 6 days if need be.

Rick

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Dr2

· #2 · Feb 23, 2009

Sounds like my kind of trip. I went to the East coast from CO by way of the smallest roads I could find. I had to cheat and get on a freeway to get from Manassas, VA to Danbury, CT on my way to Maine, but that's only because I really, really didn't want to be downtown New Jersey.

If you haven't ridden through SW CO yet, then I'd suggest a little more southern route back. Hit the red rock area of AZ (Prescott/Sedona), then up to Grand Canyon. Then go through the 4-corners to Durango, CO. Monument valley (north of Kayenta AZ) is also cool, but you might have seen this on your way west depending on how far south you went in Utah. Take 550 north from Durango to Montrose and then east on 50 if you're in a hurry...

If you have time to spare, ride the north rim of the Black Canyon near Montrose or head a little further north to Aspen and go over Independence Pass. ...or Hwy 141, or anything in that area. It's all good.

My favorite off-freeway route from the mountains through KS is Hwy 24. You'll need to find an alternate path from Limon, CO to Colby KS, and there's not much out there. It's not as populated as 36 so finding gas and food might not be easy.... but at Colby you can go straight East on 24 and it's about the most interesting bit of KS I've found so far.

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kwthom

· #3 · Feb 24, 2009

rfm1992 said:
When coming to LA from Ohio I did US 36 to Denver then down thru Utah to Vegas, I'd like a different route back. Any suggestions? I can take 5 or 6 days if need be.

Without being more specific on your routing from Denver to LA (via Vegas), I'm not sure I could suggest an alternate. You could ride north through California to Reno (multitude of ways to get there...), then cut east across US-50 to central Utah. Of course, you then have a multitude of paths to finish crossing the Rockies. SoCal to central Ohio is about 2200 miles, or 33 travel hours, accorting to Google - obviously, this is by interstates; it seems you're looking for an extra two or three days of travel, right?

You also have the choice of a more southern route via southern Colorado, or northern Arizona & New Mexico; again, we could have you wandering the region for days.

A little more detail could be helpful.

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rfm1992

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 24, 2009

I've rode much of Colorado and would love to take my wife to that area, but she wants to see Utah. I haven't been there either. we intend to stay in Moab for a few days and then down to Monument Valley, over to Bryce then Zion and on to Vegas. We may even try to make it to Death Valley. Palm Springs is the final stop.
Like I said I've be thur Colorado (and loved it.) I'd like to see some new (to me) sites/roads.

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JR&JR

· #5 · Feb 24, 2009

On the way back drop down and pickup I 60, you'll have some interstate, but what I like about 60 you can by pass most of the big citys. When you get to Az you can get off 60 and onto 260 and head to Payson, Cottonwood , Jerome, Prescott, get on 89 go south to Congress and pickup 60 west of Wickenburg, you'll come in to I 10 just east of the river.

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DBohrer

· #6 · Feb 27, 2009

Rick, I sent you a pm.

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rfm1992

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 27, 2009

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look then over.:thumbup:

I'm also thinking about trying to follow old 66 back to Ohio, or as close as it comes. Any links or info on 66 would be helpful.

Rick

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kwthom

· #8 · Feb 27, 2009

rfm1992 said:
I'm also thinking about trying to follow old 66 back to Ohio, or as close as it comes. Any links or info on 66 would be helpful.

Here's a start...www.historic66.com and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_66

One of the longer stretches is a state highway in northern AZ, I believe...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Route_66_(Arizona)

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