First trip West

[Sandlapper56]

My wife and i are planning our first trip out west in 2021, we are leaving from S. Carolina traveling to West Yellowstone. I have read several post about traveling I-26 to I-40 through the mountains and most agree that this is the best route, my question is if you can plan to get through Atlanta in the wee hours of the mourning when the traffic is not as bad would this be a better route. Any advise would be appreciated.

[mpsgolf]

Sorry can’t help - haven’t been to Atlanta in years.

However, I will note that more and more my wife and I avoid major interstates and take US highways and state highways. The crowds and “get there itis’ of the big cities and highways is to be avoided for us. We are retired so can avoid to go the semi-backroads and take our time. We ALWAYS avoid big cities at or near rush hour.

[brad1]

Early morning traffic is much reduced compared to morning rush hour, normal business hours, lunch hour, and afternoon commute. However, when we say early morning, we mean real early morning. Like dawn. Check an almanac to see precisely when that is on the dates you'll be traveling through. Be ready to go the night before, then set an alarm and, before the first coffee, hit the road.


If you miss the dawn session, the period after morning commute but before lunch time traffic picks up can be a lot less stressful than other times of the day. But that only holds true if there are no accidents or road work traffic restrictions.


But don't despair. I had to blaze through at a bare walking pace for two solid hours during one rainy afternoon commute. I stayed in the number 2 lane when there were three and in the number 3 lane when there were four. It makes it easier for commuters to get on and off the freeway and it eliminates the possibility that you'll get stuck in an exit-only lane. Atlanta may be the south, but their hospitality doesn't extend to helping you make a last minute lane change.

[Mollysdad]

The best way through Atlanta is straight through on 75 at midnight; or as far from rush hour as possible. I gave up on 285.
When I head west, I go from Atlanta to Chattanooga to Nashville, to St. Louis (bypass north) to KC. Once there, decide to go north on 29 or west on 70. For Yellowstone, I'd stay more north. I-80.

[Sandlapper56]

Thanks for the advice Molly's dad, the plan is to stop in Deadwood for a couple of days, then on to Little Bighorn B/F for a couple of days then head west to west yellowstone.

[SeaLevel]

Early on a Sunday morning has worked well for us going straight through Atlanta on I75.

[Piggy Bank]

Molly's Dad has the right idea.

I will offer you these places to look at for your route
Middle of Missouri in Columbia--Cottonwoods RV Park. Nice family run park 5 minutes north of I-70 in Columbia MO (right in the center of the state).

In Kansas there is a just perfectly fine KOA in Salina, then go north up to Nebraska.

In Nebraska you can stay at Cabella's in Sidney. OR if you decide to head north from KC you might want to stay at Kearney RV park. A nice family-run RV park right off I-80.

In Wyoming we prefer the route through the Wind River, staying at the KOA in Dubois right on the Wind River. Lovely.

[Rich W]

We do like Sealevel, Sunday mornings, traffic is light. If you overnight near Atlanta you can use their DOT traffic cameras to check on traffic flow before you head out. Going south, around Christmas/New Years, we stay in Marietta and watch the traffic cams. Sometimes we have to spend an extra night. In our experience the big problem has been where I-285 joins I-75 with the construction. We haven't gone that way in a few years so it may have changed.

Going north we haven't had many problems. There have been slow downs but we've always made it through, just try to be between 10AM and 3PM.

[Joyman]

We live near Atlanta, Definitely Sunday Morning. is the time to go thru. im talking 8 am. after 10 am it will really pick up especially if the weather is nice. also look out for weekend road construction. especially on the interstates.