U Haul aross America!

Hello Jamie,

Thanks for all the great information on your site. I had never considered US-50 as a cross-country route before reading your description of it, but now I'm itching to check it out.

I'm hoping you help me decide if US-50 will work for a trip I'm planning. At the end of summer I will be renting a moving truck (and bringing a friend along as copilot) and driving from New York to San Francisco. Unfortunately, because I'm moving for work, I'm on a pretty tight schedule and have only eight days in which to do the drive. This will not be my first cross-country trip, nor my last, so I don't feel any pressure to "see everything" – but I'd much prefer to take an enjoyable, scenic route (possibly with some camping along the way) rather than I-80, especially since I'll have to keep my speed low in the truck anyway.

We were thinking of making some time at the beginning by heading straight from New York to St. Louis, and picking up US-50 there. I figure we can make it to St. Louis in a one-day marathon drive, and then have a week for the rest of the trip. Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Are there any alternative routes you would recommend for our timeframe? Any advice you could give would be appreciated. Thanks!


All best,

Jim

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Hello Jim --

Many thanks for writing in to Road trip USA, and sorry it took me forever to write back to you.

If you haven't yet made the trip, I can strongly recommend US50 as a route -- even if you follow the Interstates all the way west to the Rocky Mountains, the ride across Colorado and Utah and Nevada on US50 is much more enjoyable than I-80, for sure. Or if you take I-80 all the way to Salt Lake, consider the detour across Nevada via US93 and US50 -- 100x more visually appealing than the long haul into Reno.

And while a U-Haul is not exactly ideal for crossing mountains and exploring national parks, the roadside scenery (and food!) is a lot more appetizing along the "Loneliest Road".

Hope this belated note helps a little, and hope you have (had?) a safe and fun move west.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
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Road Trip USA