Highway Travel Advice - please

[TMB]

So, after 2 long years we are getting in the car once again and driving south to Arizona for some winter break time.

We are located in the BC Interior and normally head over to Vancouver, spend a night with our daughter then head south on I5, cut over to Reno from Mt. Shasta and then down through LAs Vegas and into Phoenix.

This year we can't go to Vancouver as the major highways between here and Vancouver were destroyed in a storm in November and are now travel restricted. So we are planning to cross the border at Oroville, Wa and then down through Kennewick, Wa over to Twin Falls, ID and then take highway 93 down through Ely, Nv to las Vegas.

It has been years since we did the trip going over from Kennewick and then we went all the way over to Utah and took I15.

I have never used the road down through Ely in winter and wondering if anyone here knows it or has wisdom regarding its suitability for winter travel.

Another option would be to cross into Oregon south of Yakima and then take highway 97 down through Bend, and eventually get to Susanville, CA but no idea what highway 395 would be like in winter either.

Any good thoughts??


All of this assumes that the borders don't slam shut again in the next week and a half and make all this moot.

[spopepro]

Safest route will be to take the extra distance and do 84 all the way to 15. 93 *should* be clear, but if there’s substantial snowfall parts of it won’t get done quickly. The problem is that heavy snowfall is rare in the basin so they don’t have all the infrastructure, but can happen. 395 is beautiful, but crosses 4 or so major passes, gets as high as 8000ft, and sometimes closes. Last Sunday they completely closed the section north of Reno, which I personally hadn’t experienced before.

So, if the weather is clear, 93 is probably good. If not, go the long way to 15. Since you’re in the Okanangan you are probably familiar with what happens when storms coming in from the southwest make it past the first set of mountains and how to handle it.

[TMB]

Thank you.

We'll try for 93 - I want to avoid going through the mess that is I15 around SLC if possible.

We normally take I5 out of Vancouver but that November storm took out BC Highways 1, 8, 5 and 3.

% has been re-opened to commercial traffic only on a pilot car basis and highway 3 is open to pleasure use again but as a commercial driver told me, after 4 weeks of 3,000 trucks a day - it is worse than a forest service road. Said there was no way he would take his car on it. so .....

[bking]

I've done that that very drive a few times in the past few years from Vegas to Idaho, not in winter though. I actually like the drive on 93, its all high desert that has it's own beauty. If they've not had snow in a few days and weather is good for the travel date I'd go that route, no question.

[bigbill]

I've driven through SLC on 15 a few times this year and it wasn't that bad. I-15 is mostly an 80mph speed limit all the way to Cedar City. Be careful around Kingman, I've heard things... If you haven't been on 93 from I-40 to Wickenburg in two years, you're in for a semi-pleasant surprise. They have completed much of the I-11 upgrade except for the "death section" through the Joshua tree section. It still sucks.

If you want to avoid Vegas, you can get off I-15 at Hurricane and go through Colorado City (polygamy capital), Kanab, and Page to drop down into Flagstaff from the North. It's actually shorter. We drove it last weekend and it is a beautiful route.

[TMB]

I've driven through SLC on 15 a few times this year and it wasn't that bad. I-15 is mostly an 80mph speed limit all the way to Cedar City. Be careful around Kingman, I've heard things... If you haven't been on 93 from I-40 to Wickenburg in two years, you're in for a semi-pleasant surprise. They have completed much of the I-11 upgrade except for the "death section" through the Joshua tree section. It still sucks.

If you want to avoid Vegas, you can get off I-15 at Hurricane and go through Colorado City (polygamy capital), Kanab, and Page to drop down into Flagstaff from the North. It's actually shorter. We drove it last weekend and it is a beautiful route.

Funny, I would never have guessed that the Kanab-Page section was shorter. We did that drive a number of years ago. Stopped to get gas in Kanab then got on the road again, a few miles down the road daughter #2 suddenly announces she needs the facilities ( the ones everyone else just used in Kanab!), so we spy this very sketchy looking boat repair place on the side of the highway, pull in and say to her "well, you're the one that needs to go, go find out where it is" ... and off she marches ...we still kid her that to this day it's a miracle we still have her as we were taking bets on whether she would ever come back from the sketchy looking place ....


Good news is she thinks it's funny.

A trip through Colorado City could be quite entertaining in a sort of Stepford Wives kind of way ....

[bigbill]

Funny, I would never have guessed that the Kanab-Page section was shorter. We did that drive a number of years ago. Stopped to get gas in Kanab then got on the road again, a few miles down the road daughter #2 suddenly announces she needs the facilities ( the ones everyone else just used in Kanab!), so we spy this very sketchy looking boat repair place on the side of the highway, pull in and say to her "well, you're the one that needs to go, go find out where it is" ... and off she marches ...we still kid her that to this day it's a miracle we still have her as we were taking bets on whether she would ever come back from the sketchy looking place ....


Good news is she thinks it's funny.

A trip through Colorado City could be quite entertaining in a sort of Stepford Wives kind of way ....

Colorado City is pretty creepy. It's in the same county as me but you have to drive through Nevada and Utah to get to it. If you find yourself approaching Kingman and need to stop, we have a great guest bedroom setup and a fenced yard.

[vertical_doug]

Colorado City is pretty creepy. It's in the same county as me but you have to drive through Nevada and Utah to get to it. If you find yourself approaching Kingman and need to stop, we have a great guest bedroom setup and a fenced yard.

I guess you closed the Bates Motel and now have a clandestine Airbnb.

93 is a weird drive just because it feels so desolate in places. If you haven't driven in a while, you might be surprised to see the 15 miles of wind turbines south of the Dam when you enter Arizona (white hills).

The monsoons were heavy in August, so the Joshua Trees along the Joshua Tree Parkway section of 93 between Wickieup and Wickenburg were awesome this fall.

[bigbill]

The monsoons were heavy in August, so the Joshua Trees along the Joshua Tree Parkway section of 93 between Wickieup and Wickenburg were awesome this fall.

We just refer to it as the "death section" with pretty trees. A wreck shuts the whole thing down. A few years ago, my wife was heading to Scottsdale with a horse trailer when a fatal head-on collision occurred about a mile in front of her. There was no way to turn around so she and two horses were stuck for several hours. The widening of that section can't happen soon enough.

But it's all true, the desert is very green this year. After two years of poor monsoon seasons, we made it all up this summer.

[TMB]

We just refer to it as the "death section" with pretty trees. A wreck shuts the whole thing down. A few years ago, my wife was heading to Scottsdale with a horse trailer when a fatal head-on collision occurred about a mile in front of her. There was no way to turn around so she and two horses were stuck for several hours. The widening of that section can't happen soon enough.

But it's all true, the desert is very green this year. After two years of poor monsoon seasons, we made it all up this summer.

When the world shut down in March 2020 we packed up and headed home, along 93. Us and about a million other vehicles heading north; WA, OR, BC, AB, SK …etc. A pickmeup hauling a travel trailer lost it on one of the right hand sweepers and went off into the ditch. Fortunately, we were fairly close and only waited about 30 minutes or so to get through there. I can’t imagine how long some people waited on that road that day.

We stopped Vegas that night which was weird, everything was shut down. Drove down the strip, not a soul in sight and police cars posted at every driveway and intersection.

Next morning we took the road up to Reno, so lost all the traffic, until we re-joined I5 …..

We had no idea how long this would all last and had briefly thought about hunkering down in AZ and riding it out, until we realized that we would, no way, be able to extend our travel medical, so home we headed.

Apart from our jaunt up to Prince Rupert this summer this is the first time since then that we have loaded the car and headed out.

[bigbill]

When the world shut down in March 2020 we packed up and headed home, along 93. Us and about a million other vehicles heading north; WA, OR, BC, AB, SK …etc. A pickmeup hauling a travel trailer lost it on one of the right hand sweepers and went off into the ditch. Fortunately, we were fairly close and only waited about 30 minutes or so to get through there. I can’t imagine how long some people waited on that road that day.

We stopped Vegas that night which was weird, everything was shut down. Drove down the strip, not a soul in sight and police cars posted at every driveway and intersection.

Next morning we took the road up to Reno, so lost all the traffic, until we re-joined I5 …..

We had no idea how long this would all last and had briefly thought about hunkering down in AZ and riding it out, until we realized that we would, no way, be able to extend our travel medical, so home we headed.

Apart from our jaunt up to Prince Rupert this summer this is the first time since then that we have loaded the car and headed out.

We have property in Wyoming where we will build our retirement villa next summer. It's a 14 hour drive from Kingman or a quick and cheap flight from Vegas to Billings. We'll venture out from there when the mood hits us or it gets really cold for a spell. We will get an RV after the house is done and we sell the AZ house. I am already looking forward to winter trips to the RV park at WeKoPa.

[bking]

We just refer to it as the "death section" with pretty trees. A wreck shuts the whole thing down. A few years ago, my wife was heading to Scottsdale with a horse trailer when a fatal head-on collision occurred about a mile in front of her. There was no way to turn around so she and two horses were stuck for several hours. The widening of that section can't happen soon enough.

But it's all true, the desert is very green this year. After two years of poor monsoon seasons, we made it all up this summer.

Last August my wife and I headed to Phx from Vegas for a dinner my sister had for us as we prepared to depart for Spain for 18 months. At the exit off 40 to the 93 east of Kingman the road was shut down, a head on collision south of Wikiup shut down the 93 that day for some time. So, we headed towards Flagstaff and the 17 to Phoenix. About 20 miles later where the 40 weaves in and out of the hills we were delayed about an hour with a jacknifed semi. As we headed down to Phx now on the 17 we got word they'd shut down the 17 due to a brush fire south of Bloody Basin. We back tracked through Prescott over the 89 (windy little road) and back to the 93 again through Wickenburg. 8 hours for a 4 and a half hour drive. We were only an hour late for dinner in east Mesa.
A huge thread drift, sorry. But to the authors purpose, if there is weather when you get down, I'd avoid the route through Kanab and Flagstaff. Weather and roads can be harsh going over the mountain in Flagstaff in winter. If you do decide you want to go through Kanab, Flagstaff to save some time and avoid freeways, don't wait till Hurricane, south of Beaver Utah take the 20 east to the 89. It's a quicker and easier connection to the 89.
Good luck!

[bigbill]

Last August my wife and I headed to Phx from Vegas for a dinner my sister had for us as we prepared to depart for Spain for 18 months. At the exit off 40 to the 93 east of Kingman the road was shut down, a head on collision south of Wikiup shut down the 93 that day for some time. So, we headed towards Flagstaff and the 17 to Phoenix. About 20 miles later where the 40 weaves in and out of the hills we were delayed about an hour with a jacknifed semi. As we headed down to Phx now on the 17 we got word they'd shut down the 17 due to a brush fire south of Bloody Basin. We back tracked through Prescott over the 89 (windy little road) and back to the 93 again through Wickenburg. 8 hours for a 4 and a half hour drive. We were only an hour late for dinner in east Mesa.
A huge thread drift, sorry. But to the authors purpose, if there is weather when you get down, I'd avoid the route through Kanab and Flagstaff. Weather and roads can be harsh going over the mountain in Flagstaff in winter. If you do decide you want to go through Kanab, Flagstaff to save some time and avoid freeways, don't wait till Hurricane, south of Beaver Utah take the 20 east to the 89. It's a quicker and easier connection to the 89.
Good luck!

Don't forget the model of traffic flow engineering that is the 93/I-40 interchange entering Kingman from Vegas. We live our lives around the Google map app showing traffic slowdowns. About half the time when returning from Vegas, we end up getting off at Golden Valley and taking Aztec/Shinarump to I-40 to avoid traffic backed up the hill. We're moving to Wyoming within 18 months, sometimes half a dozen or more cars are backed up at the traffic light in town.