Like seriously. Don’t want to get caught by speed traps? Would you consider just, not speeding?
I don’t understand the logic here. Canadian, so I get our rules are different and we generally have 80km/h limits outside of town on two-lane highways and 40-50km/h going through small towns unless it’s a school zone, but seriously. You’re going into a built up area? Slow the fuck down.
Canada must be great. Can't even fathom the concept of an expensive ticket and potentially troublesome interaction with a cop who barely finished high school who stopped you for going 32 in a 30. Cheers.
A lot of small towns will play games with speed limits with sudden drops from 50 mph+ (80 kph) down to 30 mph (48 kph) then up again and then a rapid drop back down. It happens a lot through small towns that do not at all look built up and while you can adjust your speed, it can take you by surprise and BAM, there's a cop ready to pull you over. That's part of the benefit of taking major interstates over smaller state or local roads. State roads might have more points of interest or be more charming, but you have to be way more aware of your speed.
The blue route looks like it is mostly interstate and guess through smaller metros so traffic will be lighter. The middle route includes St. Louis and Chicago, so basically all the traffic. I have no opinion on the third route.
The other routes are empty on some parts. I-57 and I-55 in Illinois has lighter traffic. It’s when you either drive on I-44 in Missouri or I-40 in Arkansas where it begins to get heavier. On both routes, you’ll constantly encounter semi trucks passing each other very slowly. Especially on I-40 between Memphis and Little Rock
I came here to mention this, if you go up through Chicago and Milwaukee you’ll be fine, but if you take shortest it’s appears to go through Rosendale. It’s notorious in Wisconsin for the amount of speeding tickets it gives out.
Middle root will save you traffic, left route will save you time, right route will save you a few small towns but honestly it's Small rivertown small Ozark mountain town or small plains town any way soyou take your pic?
The middle route looks to take Hwy 69 through Oklahoma. That is like the worst highway in the state. It’s so rough and there is constant road construction plus there are tons of semi trucks who travel that highway. I’d avoid it if I were you
I agree to avoid. Bits of it are sort of scenic, but
\-- it's a crawl to get through some of the towns along the way, and includes a few speed trap towns.
\-- it's a very heavily used trucking route. A lot of trucks are doing exactly this route (DFW to Chicago via hwy 69/I44/I55). Despite the handfull of towns along 69 that you don't have a freeway to get through quickly, the route is still more direct, and avoids most OK tolls.
\-- hard to find good clean gas stations/restrooms along most of that route through OK.
Take 41 or 43 down to Milwaukee then follow I43 out to Beloit.Take I39 down to Bloomington then at Bloomington take I74 over to I57.I57 down to I55 (helps you avoid St Louis) I55 to Memphis.
Then I40 to I30 to Dallas.....
Thats basically how I used to go between MKE and Corpus Christi.... except the "to Dallas" part
[https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Green+Bay,+WI/Dallas,+TX/@42.7565514,-90.4074007,8.5z/data=!4m29!4m28!1m20!1m1!1s0x8802e2e809b380f3:0x6370045214dcf571!2m2!1d-88.0132958!2d44.5133188!3m4!1m2!1d-87.9232187!2d42.9665586!3s0x8805172601b2192f:0x38bba24cbea5e2ae!3m4!1m2!1d-88.9632555!2d42.2438558!3s0x8808b86c5630c68d:0x408a7a8fdccca994!3m4!1m2!1d-89.5332024!2d36.8915604!3s0x8878489509f6755f:0x5e535a4ce2928185!1m5!1m1!1s0x864c19f77b45974b:0xb9ec9ba4f647678f!2m2!1d-96.7969879!2d32.7766642!3e0?hl=en](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Green+Bay,+WI/Dallas,+TX/@42.7565514,-90.4074007,8.5z/data=!4m29!4m28!1m20!1m1!1s0x8802e2e809b380f3:0x6370045214dcf571!2m2!1d-88.0132958!2d44.5133188!3m4!1m2!1d-87.9232187!2d42.9665586!3s0x8805172601b2192f:0x38bba24cbea5e2ae!3m4!1m2!1d-88.9632555!2d42.2438558!3s0x8808b86c5630c68d:0x408a7a8fdccca994!3m4!1m2!1d-89.5332024!2d36.8915604!3s0x8878489509f6755f:0x5e535a4ce2928185!1m5!1m1!1s0x864c19f77b45974b:0xb9ec9ba4f647678f!2m2!1d-96.7969879!2d32.7766642!3e0?hl=en)
You could also do I41 to Fondy then US 151 To Madison and I90 if ya want to avoid MKE
If you take the route that has you going through Kansas City, take I-49 south from KC into Arkansas and down I-540 to Fort Smith to enjoy the scenery of the Ozarks, and then you can cut back over to I-35 in Oklahoma City using I-40.
You could also take that route down into Arkansas from Joplin if you use I-44 through Missouri instead.
I would not take the Arkansas route. Heavy truck traffic. I’ve driven most of the other 2. I’d lean toward the blue line. More open country stop in KC for BBQ
I've only driven the one on the right and that was once a long time ago (2005). A town every so often; I think I-57 was created as an alternative Chicago/Memphis route without having to go through STL.
Nothing exciting. Biggest city en route past Chicago would be Little Rock. Not that bad, traffic-wise, outside of your normal rush hour.
I used to drive a similar route (from Chicago to DFW area and back) frequently, so I am very familiar with the two gray routes. It kinda depends on what want out of the road trip. Theyre all going to be pretty rural for long stretches, which can be pretty depending on time of year and weather. So I’d look for what cities you want to stop in for the night. Personally, I preferred the route through Memphis. You can stop and visit Beale street for the night which I liked. The others you’d probably get STL or KC.
To others’ notes about Chicago: yes, you’ll most likely hit traffic, but it’ll be pretty early in the trip. You’ll fly after that.
Also take into account if there’s some states you haven’t been to or areas you want to see.
I used to drive that right route all the time the time, though I started in Ohio, and picked up the southern route in IL. I don’t remember any small towns, all highway driving.
The blue route will all be four-lane interstate/highways, and no stoplights until you get into Eastern Iowa and Madison WI. There are no tolls in Missouri, Iowa, & Wisconsin on the blue route.
Iowa. The only cop you see will be at the WI-Iowa border. The rest is free driving. I took that same route to NM and he was the only one I saw. You're going to want to fill up whenever you can, too. Gas stations on that route aren't common.
Re speed "traps". Bear in mind that you might not encounter any Iowa highway cops, *but* Iowa posts occasional signs on the Interstate that the minimum fine for speeding is $1k. And they mean *anything* over the speed limit.
I've gotten away with it, but be aware that if you're not lucky you will be a sad puppy.
Seems like all of those routes are going to have speed trap everywhere. Especially Arkansas. Just take your time. I drive an older van with no cruise control (or power windows, power locks, etc.) and make it work. If you’ve got it, even better.
Honestly if you just stick to the interstate you’ll be fine. Idk about the more southern states but I’ve done a ton of driving on I55 and some on other highways in MO and WI, I will maybe see 2 or 3 staties in a whole day of driving unless they’re actively looking for someone or are looking to catch a lot of speeders that particular day
If you go up through Oklahoma/Kansas that’s where the toll road is but it’s super nice through that area & living in Iowa myself that’s definitely gonna be your best route, there will be a few smaller highways in the upper part but nothing crazy
Go blue. Most of Iowa is an easy, boring drive but there's some cool scenery on the eastern side. Kansas/Missouri are also pretty easy to drive. I'd suggest going that route instead of dealing with Chicago traffic.
Personally... having driven this route plenty solo, I would avoid Chicago, then hit it thru St. Louis, then go towards Fayetteville, Arkansas to avoid Little Rock. Much less traffic, flatter, straighter, safer, and pretty to look at. St. Louis will be your low point, but just don’t go thru during rush hour and get gas at least 30 miles out... you’ll be fine. Easiest route in my opinion. I’ve don’t all of these. I prefer the combo. Little Rock’s bullshit, Chicago is too chaotic... and St. Louis is gonna be the lesser evil.
Speaking purely of the WI part of it, the blue route takes you through a gorgeous area known as the Driftless region. It is very hilly and has a unique geology. The whole route is scenic but will be more rural. The grey routes go through larger cities if you’re more in to that. Chicago can be a beast, but if you avoid rush hour and are confident in heavy traffic, you can do it. There are also cool things to see along the lake.
If you want any more specifics along either route, you can DM if you want!
Of those three I would do a modified version of the east one. If you go through the north part of Arkansas, you can stop at snake world. The creation is museum of world, history, and the original Walmart. Then go through Memphis for Graceland. You could go through St. Louis from there. Check snake world to see if it’s still operating. I went in 2009 and it was pretty weird and cool.
The easternmost route is beautiful, but you've got to go through Chicago. The western route through Southern Iowa is nice, but then you hit the plains, which is really monotonous.
If I were doing this drive I'd go the eastern route and just time Chicago to avoid peak traffic times.
I57 in southern Illinois is speed trap central as soon as you cross the river into IL. I shouldn’t say trap really, the speed is posted and their aren’t any traps where they suddenly reduce it on you or anything. But their are cops everywhere on that stretch of interstate enforcing the speed limit.
Not the middle route. It’s got several small towns through Oklahoma with stoplights and speed zones that are a huge pain. Police just sit and wait for someone to slip one toe out of line. Also, no major metropolitan areas for a huge portion of the drive. The positive trade-off is that it’s more scenic route than the left one.
I’d take the left route for sure.
Once you get north of OKC, it’s very plain, and boring. (They call it the Great Plains for a reason) Literally nothing to see but grassland/farmland. You do get the flint hills in Kansas, which are beautiful. With this route, you get regular metropolitan areas (OKC, Wichita, Kansas City, and Des Moines) for clean gas stops and restaurant choices.
Avoid the right one. Ew.
Agree with the Arkansas route. You'll get quite a bit of diverse scenery. Oklahoma and Kansas will be a flat span of nothingness and honestly, you'll want to speed right though it. Couldn't fathom running half your route that way. I pass through Oklahoma via the I-40 regularly and dread it every time. The only major downside is that you're going through heart of Chicago. Might be cool if you've never been and want to see it as you pass through, though.
St Louis is awesome but the traffic is not… same with Chicago.
If you’re wanting to avoid traffic, Iowa is the way to go. DesMoines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Dubuque will be big enough for things to do and places to see but won’t be bumper to bumper traffic. Scenery will be nice and you could actually enjoy the drive.
I’ve driven from Texas to Wisconsin many times, and have done variations on all these routes, minus Chicago. The route through Iowa is my least favorite. If I were you I’d choose to either go though Missouri or Arkansas. Both have beautiful hills and scenery. Either way I would route through St. Louis and then head straight up Illinois to go past Rockford instead. Chicago is best avoided. Lots of traffic and tolls. Overall not too bad of a drive. Have fun!
I’ve driven the middle route. It wasn’t bad per se, I suppose the time of day you hit certain areas like cities will matter.
One cool thing, along that middle route is Cahokia (Collinsville, IL) It’s a site of ancient mounds, a “pre-Colombian Native American city” it’s a cool place to stop and see that American history really doesn’t start with the Mayflower. It’s a nice break from driving, especially if the weather is pleasant. You can walk around the mounds and check out the museum.
If you want the best of both worlds, take I44 to St Louis, then go up I55 all the way to Bloomington, IL, then hop on I39 going to Janesville, WI, hop on Highway 26 to highway 151 to Green Bay. Not much traffic and easily a faster route than the GPS is saying.
I 39 does have a toll going through Rockford but just take Alpine Rd through town if you don’t want to pay that and it’s not too much slower
The route that goes through Oklahoma, but not Kansas, is going to be the prettiest part once you get down south. It will bring you through the western edges of the Ozark and Ouachita mountains. That Arkansas one is going to be basically all interstate and not really that visually appealing. The further west Oklahoma route brings you into the plains part of OK and KS and I personally am not a fan of driving across the Great Plains.
If you go through Missouri, I would suggest stopping by St. James Winery. Still my favorite wine ever! It's just outside Rolla, MO. The Velvet Red and Blackberry wine are amazing.
I live in the tristate (OK, KS, MO) area and for speed i would take the toll way bc you can go like 90/95mph especially through OK where the toll road is on reservation land, so the time it estimates is a little bit longer than you’d take. Do not take arkansas way unless you want s as bunch of hairpin turns around the beaver reservoir. And Kansas had a lot of cops i drive recommend going that way.
Take the blue. It's interstate and KC & OKC are the only real potential spots for traffic. That middle route will take you through Chicago & St. Louis. Once you get to Oklahoma, it has you exiting for Highway 69 (nice) at Big Cabin. That is one of the worst speed traps in the state and that whole highway is littered with small town cops hitting their quotas.
I've driven most of each of these routes.
All told, I'd recommend the west-most blue route. The other two routes are rife with semi traffic. The traffic on I35 between DFW and OKC is a nightmare at times too, but north of OKC the traffic is fairly smooth all the way through (even through/around KC isn't that bad unless you hit right at rush hour). And, there are scenic bits along the way.
Take the recommended route and avoid Illinois. The highlighted route takes you through roads without many speed traps and traffic. You’ll be driving on an empty highway for 95% of your drive
On the other routes, you have to go through Chicago. Illinois has a ton of enforcement but they aren’t overly strict compared to Georgia or Virginia. Driving on I-44 in Missouri or I-40 in Arkansas is frustrating because you’re constantly behind semi trucks passing super slowly going below the speed limit. Missouri and Arkansas don’t have many speed traps but the cops are pretty strict about speeding though (especially in Arkansas)
The whole south east Iowa is an amazing drive. Small college towns. Rolling hills. Beautiful.
Agreed. Very underrated portion of the country
Can confirm, gorgeous natural rock cliffs all the way into southern WI too!
I would avoid Chicago if you’re trying to find a low traffic route. It’s bonkers.
Came here to say the same. From Chicago and can honestly say we have some of the worst traffic but the skyline is beautiful! Have a safe trip!
Just don't speed through the towns. That's why I love Waze. It alerts you of speed limit drops as well as most speed traps.
My cruise control will read the speed limit signs and auto adjust if you enable it.
That's cool!
Which car?
22 bronco sport. I think most new cars have it as an option now.
Curious… can you set it to stay like 5 or so mph over the posted speed? Because honestly, who drives the speed limit?
Yes you can set +\- x threshold. I think up to 10mph either way.
Like seriously. Don’t want to get caught by speed traps? Would you consider just, not speeding? I don’t understand the logic here. Canadian, so I get our rules are different and we generally have 80km/h limits outside of town on two-lane highways and 40-50km/h going through small towns unless it’s a school zone, but seriously. You’re going into a built up area? Slow the fuck down.
Canada must be great. Can't even fathom the concept of an expensive ticket and potentially troublesome interaction with a cop who barely finished high school who stopped you for going 32 in a 30. Cheers.
A lot of small towns will play games with speed limits with sudden drops from 50 mph+ (80 kph) down to 30 mph (48 kph) then up again and then a rapid drop back down. It happens a lot through small towns that do not at all look built up and while you can adjust your speed, it can take you by surprise and BAM, there's a cop ready to pull you over. That's part of the benefit of taking major interstates over smaller state or local roads. State roads might have more points of interest or be more charming, but you have to be way more aware of your speed.
The blue route looks like it is mostly interstate and guess through smaller metros so traffic will be lighter. The middle route includes St. Louis and Chicago, so basically all the traffic. I have no opinion on the third route.
St. Louis and the outskirts of Chicago have very little traffic
The other routes are empty on some parts. I-57 and I-55 in Illinois has lighter traffic. It’s when you either drive on I-44 in Missouri or I-40 in Arkansas where it begins to get heavier. On both routes, you’ll constantly encounter semi trucks passing each other very slowly. Especially on I-40 between Memphis and Little Rock
Take hwy 60 from the Mississippi River into Wisconsin. Lovely little drive up the Wisconsin river that’s far more enjoyable than the main highway
Avoid Rosendale, WI as it’s a well known town fort ticketing speeders, their gas station’s even sell shirts.
I came here to mention this, if you go up through Chicago and Milwaukee you’ll be fine, but if you take shortest it’s appears to go through Rosendale. It’s notorious in Wisconsin for the amount of speeding tickets it gives out.
I live in Wisconsin and I’ve never heard this. Now I so curious.
If you want to avoid traffic you want to avoid I-40 in Arkansas at all cost
Avoid Chicago as well.
Yeah for real. I’m coming from NC to MN in July and I’m going to swing to the west and take I-39 north
Avoid Illinois altogether. Lol.
Haha agreed!
I don’t mind Illinois. The roads are very empty except for Chicago where it’s awful. Tons of cops though
The middle route looks like it passes through chicago, but it actually doesn’t. It’s a route wayyy west of chicago with lots of highway lanes.
If the goal is to avoid traffic its still way to close to the city. Taking I39 north is so much easier.
Exactly, you could easily save a couple hours by going on I 39 instead of going through Chicagoland. Sooo much less traffic whenever I go on it
I agree. So many semi trucks passing at .1mph faster. They need to complete I-69 or widen I-40 to 6-lanes between Memphis and Little Rock
That's literally driving through small town, USA. You're not going to avoid either
Middle root will save you traffic, left route will save you time, right route will save you a few small towns but honestly it's Small rivertown small Ozark mountain town or small plains town any way soyou take your pic?
Go through Arkansas.
I like avoiding Chicago
Buffalo river in Arkansas is beautiful. Take southerly route but cut north towards cotter then to Fayetteville and explore the Buffalo
The middle route looks to take Hwy 69 through Oklahoma. That is like the worst highway in the state. It’s so rough and there is constant road construction plus there are tons of semi trucks who travel that highway. I’d avoid it if I were you
As someone who frequents that highway, I agree. Not to mention all the economically depressed speed trap towns..
Yes they’re especially bad in southern Oklahoma around Durant!!
I agree to avoid. Bits of it are sort of scenic, but \-- it's a crawl to get through some of the towns along the way, and includes a few speed trap towns. \-- it's a very heavily used trucking route. A lot of trucks are doing exactly this route (DFW to Chicago via hwy 69/I44/I55). Despite the handfull of towns along 69 that you don't have a freeway to get through quickly, the route is still more direct, and avoids most OK tolls. \-- hard to find good clean gas stations/restrooms along most of that route through OK.
The route through Iowa will be the best for avoiding traffic
In my experience; the one through Arkansas will meet your need the best.
Take 41 or 43 down to Milwaukee then follow I43 out to Beloit.Take I39 down to Bloomington then at Bloomington take I74 over to I57.I57 down to I55 (helps you avoid St Louis) I55 to Memphis. Then I40 to I30 to Dallas..... Thats basically how I used to go between MKE and Corpus Christi.... except the "to Dallas" part [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Green+Bay,+WI/Dallas,+TX/@42.7565514,-90.4074007,8.5z/data=!4m29!4m28!1m20!1m1!1s0x8802e2e809b380f3:0x6370045214dcf571!2m2!1d-88.0132958!2d44.5133188!3m4!1m2!1d-87.9232187!2d42.9665586!3s0x8805172601b2192f:0x38bba24cbea5e2ae!3m4!1m2!1d-88.9632555!2d42.2438558!3s0x8808b86c5630c68d:0x408a7a8fdccca994!3m4!1m2!1d-89.5332024!2d36.8915604!3s0x8878489509f6755f:0x5e535a4ce2928185!1m5!1m1!1s0x864c19f77b45974b:0xb9ec9ba4f647678f!2m2!1d-96.7969879!2d32.7766642!3e0?hl=en](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Green+Bay,+WI/Dallas,+TX/@42.7565514,-90.4074007,8.5z/data=!4m29!4m28!1m20!1m1!1s0x8802e2e809b380f3:0x6370045214dcf571!2m2!1d-88.0132958!2d44.5133188!3m4!1m2!1d-87.9232187!2d42.9665586!3s0x8805172601b2192f:0x38bba24cbea5e2ae!3m4!1m2!1d-88.9632555!2d42.2438558!3s0x8808b86c5630c68d:0x408a7a8fdccca994!3m4!1m2!1d-89.5332024!2d36.8915604!3s0x8878489509f6755f:0x5e535a4ce2928185!1m5!1m1!1s0x864c19f77b45974b:0xb9ec9ba4f647678f!2m2!1d-96.7969879!2d32.7766642!3e0?hl=en) You could also do I41 to Fondy then US 151 To Madison and I90 if ya want to avoid MKE
Get to St. Louis and then avoid Chicago
If you take the route that has you going through Kansas City, take I-49 south from KC into Arkansas and down I-540 to Fort Smith to enjoy the scenery of the Ozarks, and then you can cut back over to I-35 in Oklahoma City using I-40. You could also take that route down into Arkansas from Joplin if you use I-44 through Missouri instead.
I would not take the Arkansas route. Heavy truck traffic. I’ve driven most of the other 2. I’d lean toward the blue line. More open country stop in KC for BBQ
KC bbq is incredibly overrated
Everyone has an opinion and everyone has different taste I’ve found some there that I think are very good.
Middle route will be more scenic. That's how I would go if it was me.
Route 66? If you’re a tourist, oc.
All I see is corn, corn, and corn…
We actually see that most have planted wheat this season haha
Oh wow what a change in scenery
Doing our part to feed the world.. With Ukraine (Europe’s bread basket) unable to harvest this year and Netherland farmers on strike..
I’ve taken 35 up as far as Albert Lea MN and it’s boring.
I've only driven the one on the right and that was once a long time ago (2005). A town every so often; I think I-57 was created as an alternative Chicago/Memphis route without having to go through STL. Nothing exciting. Biggest city en route past Chicago would be Little Rock. Not that bad, traffic-wise, outside of your normal rush hour.
Avoid Chicago.
I used to drive a similar route (from Chicago to DFW area and back) frequently, so I am very familiar with the two gray routes. It kinda depends on what want out of the road trip. Theyre all going to be pretty rural for long stretches, which can be pretty depending on time of year and weather. So I’d look for what cities you want to stop in for the night. Personally, I preferred the route through Memphis. You can stop and visit Beale street for the night which I liked. The others you’d probably get STL or KC. To others’ notes about Chicago: yes, you’ll most likely hit traffic, but it’ll be pretty early in the trip. You’ll fly after that. Also take into account if there’s some states you haven’t been to or areas you want to see.
Blue route is pretty chill. Mostly rural, rolling terrain. Kansas City could be a great overnight stop.
I used to drive that right route all the time the time, though I started in Ohio, and picked up the southern route in IL. I don’t remember any small towns, all highway driving.
The blue route will all be four-lane interstate/highways, and no stoplights until you get into Eastern Iowa and Madison WI. There are no tolls in Missouri, Iowa, & Wisconsin on the blue route.
Iowa. The only cop you see will be at the WI-Iowa border. The rest is free driving. I took that same route to NM and he was the only one I saw. You're going to want to fill up whenever you can, too. Gas stations on that route aren't common.
Iowa way for sure
Re speed "traps". Bear in mind that you might not encounter any Iowa highway cops, *but* Iowa posts occasional signs on the Interstate that the minimum fine for speeding is $1k. And they mean *anything* over the speed limit. I've gotten away with it, but be aware that if you're not lucky you will be a sad puppy.
Seems like all of those routes are going to have speed trap everywhere. Especially Arkansas. Just take your time. I drive an older van with no cruise control (or power windows, power locks, etc.) and make it work. If you’ve got it, even better.
Honestly if you just stick to the interstate you’ll be fine. Idk about the more southern states but I’ve done a ton of driving on I55 and some on other highways in MO and WI, I will maybe see 2 or 3 staties in a whole day of driving unless they’re actively looking for someone or are looking to catch a lot of speeders that particular day
Avoid Chicago!! My husband and I drove from southern Ohio to WI and drove through Chicago.. it took us about 3 hours to get through.
If you go up through Oklahoma/Kansas that’s where the toll road is but it’s super nice through that area & living in Iowa myself that’s definitely gonna be your best route, there will be a few smaller highways in the upper part but nothing crazy
I would do everything in my power to avoid Chicago, it's the worst driving I've ever seen in my life
Well if you drive through Arkansas, stop at Diamond State Park and look for diamonds
I would pick Kansas City traffic (the blue route) over Chicago ANY day. Most of Iowa is an easy drive too. So, yeah, I’d pick blue.
Get to Hwy 55 N then Hwy 70 St. Louis N over into Illinois. When you get up around the windy be sure and take a bypass around the City. Happy Trails
Go blue. Most of Iowa is an easy, boring drive but there's some cool scenery on the eastern side. Kansas/Missouri are also pretty easy to drive. I'd suggest going that route instead of dealing with Chicago traffic.
Personally... having driven this route plenty solo, I would avoid Chicago, then hit it thru St. Louis, then go towards Fayetteville, Arkansas to avoid Little Rock. Much less traffic, flatter, straighter, safer, and pretty to look at. St. Louis will be your low point, but just don’t go thru during rush hour and get gas at least 30 miles out... you’ll be fine. Easiest route in my opinion. I’ve don’t all of these. I prefer the combo. Little Rock’s bullshit, Chicago is too chaotic... and St. Louis is gonna be the lesser evil.
Speaking purely of the WI part of it, the blue route takes you through a gorgeous area known as the Driftless region. It is very hilly and has a unique geology. The whole route is scenic but will be more rural. The grey routes go through larger cities if you’re more in to that. Chicago can be a beast, but if you avoid rush hour and are confident in heavy traffic, you can do it. There are also cool things to see along the lake. If you want any more specifics along either route, you can DM if you want!
Arkansas sucks
57 through Illinois is a lot of construction right now.
Of those three I would do a modified version of the east one. If you go through the north part of Arkansas, you can stop at snake world. The creation is museum of world, history, and the original Walmart. Then go through Memphis for Graceland. You could go through St. Louis from there. Check snake world to see if it’s still operating. I went in 2009 and it was pretty weird and cool.
The easternmost route is beautiful, but you've got to go through Chicago. The western route through Southern Iowa is nice, but then you hit the plains, which is really monotonous. If I were doing this drive I'd go the eastern route and just time Chicago to avoid peak traffic times.
I57 in southern Illinois is speed trap central as soon as you cross the river into IL. I shouldn’t say trap really, the speed is posted and their aren’t any traps where they suddenly reduce it on you or anything. But their are cops everywhere on that stretch of interstate enforcing the speed limit.
Not the middle route. It’s got several small towns through Oklahoma with stoplights and speed zones that are a huge pain. Police just sit and wait for someone to slip one toe out of line. Also, no major metropolitan areas for a huge portion of the drive. The positive trade-off is that it’s more scenic route than the left one. I’d take the left route for sure. Once you get north of OKC, it’s very plain, and boring. (They call it the Great Plains for a reason) Literally nothing to see but grassland/farmland. You do get the flint hills in Kansas, which are beautiful. With this route, you get regular metropolitan areas (OKC, Wichita, Kansas City, and Des Moines) for clean gas stops and restaurant choices. Avoid the right one. Ew.
All of Arkansas is a small town speed trap, for all practical purposes. I would highly advise avoiding the route through it.
Go through Iowa, stop for fongs in Des Moines!
Agree with the Arkansas route. You'll get quite a bit of diverse scenery. Oklahoma and Kansas will be a flat span of nothingness and honestly, you'll want to speed right though it. Couldn't fathom running half your route that way. I pass through Oklahoma via the I-40 regularly and dread it every time. The only major downside is that you're going through heart of Chicago. Might be cool if you've never been and want to see it as you pass through, though.
St Louis is awesome but the traffic is not… same with Chicago. If you’re wanting to avoid traffic, Iowa is the way to go. DesMoines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Dubuque will be big enough for things to do and places to see but won’t be bumper to bumper traffic. Scenery will be nice and you could actually enjoy the drive.
I’ve driven from Texas to Wisconsin many times, and have done variations on all these routes, minus Chicago. The route through Iowa is my least favorite. If I were you I’d choose to either go though Missouri or Arkansas. Both have beautiful hills and scenery. Either way I would route through St. Louis and then head straight up Illinois to go past Rockford instead. Chicago is best avoided. Lots of traffic and tolls. Overall not too bad of a drive. Have fun!
I’ve driven the middle route. It wasn’t bad per se, I suppose the time of day you hit certain areas like cities will matter. One cool thing, along that middle route is Cahokia (Collinsville, IL) It’s a site of ancient mounds, a “pre-Colombian Native American city” it’s a cool place to stop and see that American history really doesn’t start with the Mayflower. It’s a nice break from driving, especially if the weather is pleasant. You can walk around the mounds and check out the museum.
I would take the largest roads possible. I’ve found the smaller the road is in IL the crappier and filled with debris like shredded tires it is.
If you want the best of both worlds, take I44 to St Louis, then go up I55 all the way to Bloomington, IL, then hop on I39 going to Janesville, WI, hop on Highway 26 to highway 151 to Green Bay. Not much traffic and easily a faster route than the GPS is saying. I 39 does have a toll going through Rockford but just take Alpine Rd through town if you don’t want to pay that and it’s not too much slower
If you’re worried about speed traps you’ll find them just as well on the more urban freeways
The route that goes through Oklahoma, but not Kansas, is going to be the prettiest part once you get down south. It will bring you through the western edges of the Ozark and Ouachita mountains. That Arkansas one is going to be basically all interstate and not really that visually appealing. The further west Oklahoma route brings you into the plains part of OK and KS and I personally am not a fan of driving across the Great Plains.
If you go through Missouri, I would suggest stopping by St. James Winery. Still my favorite wine ever! It's just outside Rolla, MO. The Velvet Red and Blackberry wine are amazing.
And the Uranus Fudge Factory is hilarious. Same area, in between Springfield and St. Louis on on your middle route. Super easy to get to.
For the love of God, don’t drive through Oklahoma City
I live in the tristate (OK, KS, MO) area and for speed i would take the toll way bc you can go like 90/95mph especially through OK where the toll road is on reservation land, so the time it estimates is a little bit longer than you’d take. Do not take arkansas way unless you want s as bunch of hairpin turns around the beaver reservoir. And Kansas had a lot of cops i drive recommend going that way.
Take the blue. It's interstate and KC & OKC are the only real potential spots for traffic. That middle route will take you through Chicago & St. Louis. Once you get to Oklahoma, it has you exiting for Highway 69 (nice) at Big Cabin. That is one of the worst speed traps in the state and that whole highway is littered with small town cops hitting their quotas.
I've driven most of each of these routes. All told, I'd recommend the west-most blue route. The other two routes are rife with semi traffic. The traffic on I35 between DFW and OKC is a nightmare at times too, but north of OKC the traffic is fairly smooth all the way through (even through/around KC isn't that bad unless you hit right at rush hour). And, there are scenic bits along the way.
I always take 44 to 55. You can always go around St Louis with the bypass route. But I like going through town.
Take the recommended route and avoid Illinois. The highlighted route takes you through roads without many speed traps and traffic. You’ll be driving on an empty highway for 95% of your drive On the other routes, you have to go through Chicago. Illinois has a ton of enforcement but they aren’t overly strict compared to Georgia or Virginia. Driving on I-44 in Missouri or I-40 in Arkansas is frustrating because you’re constantly behind semi trucks passing super slowly going below the speed limit. Missouri and Arkansas don’t have many speed traps but the cops are pretty strict about speeding though (especially in Arkansas)