Las Vegas to Port Huron, MI (I-80 vs I-40). Which is better for RV

[ADOR]

We will be heading to Montreal, Canada next month. Our initial planning is taking us to cross the border at Port Huron, MI. I am looking at driving from Vegas via I-15 to I-70, then a long drive using I-80.

We have a friend who is a truck driver who frequently drive from Montreal, Canada to Southern California. He suggested I-40, mainly because it is mostly FLAT. He doesn't mind the rad condition of I-40 (having lot of potholes). I have driven I-40 all the way to Oklahoma, on the way to New York back in 2018. I remember the road condition be be horrible.

For us RV owners, what is recommended Interstate Freeway heading to East Coast? I-80 or I-40???

Please share your recent driving experience. Thanks.

 

[Jimbo57]

Goggle shows 40 is flatter but 4hrs longer ,depends on how much time and are you taking your time or in a hurry

 

[16ACE27]

I have no experience with I40, but I80 in IL, In/Mi, and Oh is pretty good.

 

[ADOR]

Jimbo57, we are in a hurry as we only have short time for this travel/vacation.

16ACE27, thanks for that information. my co-worker told me that I-80 is a good drive. Are there lot of uphill driving? Lot of rest areas?

 

[16ACE27]

Rest areas:

Flat in the area I discussed.

 

[Jimbo57]

Vegas to Denver there is a steep climb as you go thru Rockies. Just a side bar how many miles a day do you drive on this 2000 mile trip

 

[ADOR]

Vegas to Denver there is a steep climb as you go thru Rockies. Just a side bar how many miles a day do you drive on this 2000 mile trip

I know it is not ideal, I will be driving between 400-450 miles per day.

 

[Jimbo57]

So there 5 days each way may not be ideal but it brings back memories. Drive safe

 

[ADOR]

So there 5 days each way may not be ideal but it brings back memories. Drive safe

Thanks Jimbo. We only have 24 days vacation from work. You are correct. 5 Days going to Montreal. Stay there for 4 days. A day drive to Quebec, with another 4 days to stay. Then drive back to Niagara Falls (Canada side) and stay another 4 days. Then start the drive back to Vegas. I have driven to Ontario/Toronto, Canada in 2018. But I was 7 years younger

 

[paulwadley]

Driving 400-450 miles per day is a tough one. You will be exhausted by time you arrive. Be careful while on the road. I usually drive 300-350 per day when we go California to Florida.

Paul

 

[RVwife]

Hope I'm not too late to help. We just returned from a RT northern Michigan to Utah and back. I-80 was a pretty easy drive as highways go. Not a ton of traffic or major cities to navigate. It's a bit hilly going through the Rockies, but otherwise relatively flat. Not terrible as far as pothole either. We normally do about 350 mi/day, but did do a few 400 milers on the way home. Some tiring, but doable if you have to make time.

A heads up, if it happens to work into your plan, the Amana (Iowa) RV park is a an easy stop for an overnight. The COE campground at Coralville Lake is also nice and both are reasonably priced with electric hookups.

Happy trails and safe travel.

 

[ADOR]

RVwife, thanks for your feedback. We are leaving next Saturday (06/21). We have decided to take the I-80 route. Just cancelled my 1 night reservation at Grand Junction KOA along I-70. Still figuring out where to stop for our first night on the road (as well as 2nd, 3rd and 4th night). We expect to be in Port Huron, Michigan on the 5th day of travel.

We would like to spend the night at campgrounds along the way, if we can find one. If not, Rest Area is option B. I will look at those 2 campgrounds you mentioned above.

We are looking at driving 15 North heading to SLC, then take the 215 beltway to get to I-80. How was the weather like on your way back to Utah?

 

[RVwife]

The 2 Iowa campgrounds are within 45 minutes to an hour of each other, so that is probably an either or choice, but both are good choices.

Indiana Dunes area outside Gary Indiana has 2 nice campgrounds as well. It can be a bit confusing as one is a state park the other a national park. We stayed at the national park CG a few years ago. It was very resonably priced when using our Golden Age (senior) pass. It does, however, not have hook ups. If you want electric, etc, I think the state park has those.

After Gary, I would part ways with I-80 and take I-94 into Michigan. By then I-80 will be the Indiana toll road.

As you enter southern Michigan, there are several decent state park campgrounds. Fort Custer, outside Battle Creek is one of them. It's about 3 hours or so to Port Huron from there.

I'd suggest picking up I-69 east of Battle Creek/Kalamazoo. Avoid the Detroit metro area. The roads are absolutely horrid, potholes big enough to swalow your RV. Much of southern Michigan has construction in places, but most of it is manageable if you allow a bit of extra time. We just keep in mind much overdue "short term pain for long term gain."

Your closest MI state park to Port Huron will probably be Metamora (less that 10 miles south of I-69, but still an hour+ to Port Huron). Have not been there, but in general MI state parks are pretty decent. Many have had a refresh in the last year or two from all that Covid funding. The MI DNR reservation site (https://midnrreservations.com/) is pretty easy to use; not nearly as glitchy as many others.

We actutally travelled from Michigan to Utah and back to Michigan. Once on I-80, the weather was no issue. Dry, no rain or snow on that segment. We spend a month touring the Utah Mighty 5 and other national parks along the Colorado/Utah border and 4 Corners area.

We did reroute on our return trip due to 8" of snow over the higher elevation pass across the Rockies as we had planned to head back toward Denver. That was very early May though. I can't speak for today. Coming from Vegas you aren't likely to be in that area (Black Canyon of the Gunnison) anyhow.

Once you cross from Port Huron into Canada, the QEW/401/403 is a pretty easy, even somewhat boring drive. It's been a while, but in my college days I made the Michigan to Boston trip on a regular basis. If you are Montreal bound, I don't know if you plan to cross back in to the US at all or not. If you do, be warned that for some reason the crossing at BuffaloNY was always slower with grumpier agents. I'd recomend the Queenston/Lewiston bridge crossing north of Niagra Falls. That one always seemed faster and smoother (except once, when it was Canada's Independence Day weekend, just before our 4th of July. Be forewarned and plan accordingly.)

Enjoy your trip.

 

[ADOR]

Thanks again for your feedback RVwife. Seems like you are very familiar with the area in Michigan. I would like to ask for a huge favor and let me know the best route to take for our travel plan, based on your previous travels around that area.

When we leave Vegas, the GPS is suggesting us to take I-15 North heading to Salt Lake City. When we are almost SLC area, we need to take the 215 Freeway heading to I-80. From there, we will just follow whatever the GPS tells us. For our night stops. I would like to spend the night at any campground NEAR the freeway. If we cannot find campground, our plan B is for the night stops will be Rest Areas. While State Park sounds nice, we will not have time to look around. We just need a place to rest and sleep for the night.

We plan on driving 400-450 miles a day. Not an ideal thing to do. But we have limited time for our trip.

We already have a reservation for 1 night at Port Huron KOA for our last stop before crossing the border to Canada.

Given our travel plan, which freeway is BETTER as far as avoiding Detroit area? Even with the alternate route to avoid that area, we need to still be at Port Huron KOA on our last night prior to crossing to Canada.

Coming back to the US, we will be crossing from our last stop in Canada (Niagara Falls). We have made the border crossing from that area back in 2016. I remember ending up driving on one Toll Road in that area (Canada). But there were no place to pay. I did not get any bill in the mail.

Thank you for your time and suggestion.

 

[GrandRover]

We would like to spend the night at campgrounds along the way, if we can find one. If not, Rest Area is option B.

Are we (wife and I) the only ones that use Cracker Barrels for overnight camping when traveling? We have to run the generator for the AC to work but Cracker Barrel does not mind.

Mike

 

[ADOR]

Are we (wife and I) the only ones that use Cracker Barrels for overnight camping when traveling? We have to run the generator for the AC to work but Cracker Barrel does not mind.

Mike

We have never used Cracker Barrel for overnight stops yet. We considered it. But most of the Cracker Barrel we have seen near the freeway have smaller parking lots, tighter turn radius. My fear is getting into their lot and not have enough space to turn. Our ACE is about 33 ft, plus tow bar and a Jeep Rubicon. I don't want to unhook the towed jeep if we make the wrong turn. We even considered Walmart at one time in Michigan. The manager told us we cannot stay overnight as they are not open 24 Hrs. We never open our slide when we rest overnight at Rest Areas. We just turn on generator and AC.

I will keep an eye out for Cracker Barrels near the freeways on this trip.

 

[GrandRover]

I will keep an eye out for Cracker Barrels near the freeways on this trip.

Most we have stopped at have plenty of designated RV spots behind the restaurant. I usually only see 2-3 others parking overnight and long rigs sometimes just pull across multiple car parking spots along a curb in the rear area. We put our slide out usually but there is plenty of room. They open at 7 am so we usually have breakfast before leaving or sometimes have dinner the night we stop (early bird prices are great). Our RV is only 25' long.

Mike

 

[RVwife]

Thanks again for your feedback RVwife. Seems like you are very familiar with the area in Michigan. I would like to ask for a huge favor and let me know the best route to take for our travel plan, based on your previous travels around that area.

When we leave Vegas, the GPS is suggesting us to take I-15 North heading to Salt Lake City. When we are almost SLC area, we need to take the 215 Freeway heading to I-80. From there, we will just follow whatever the GPS tells us. For our night stops. I would like to spend the night at any campground NEAR the freeway. If we cannot find campground, our plan B is for the night stops will be Rest Areas. While State Park sounds nice, we will not have time to look around. We just need a place to rest and sleep for the night.

We plan on driving 400-450 miles a day. Not an ideal thing to do. But we have limited time for our trip.

We already have a reservation for 1 night at Port Huron KOA for our last stop before crossing the border to Canada.

Given our travel plan, which freeway is BETTER as far as avoiding Detroit area? Even with the alternate route to avoid that area, we need to still be at Port Huron KOA on our last night prior to crossing to Canada.

Coming back to the US, we will be crossing from our last stop in Canada (Niagara Falls). We have made the border crossing from that area back in 2016. I remember ending up driving on one Toll Road in that area (Canada). But there were no place to pay. I did not get any bill in the mail.

Thank you for your time and suggestion.

I can't comment on the area around SLC as we travelled between Arches and Zion NP on our recent Utah trip. We have not been to the SLC area at all. We picke up I-80 near/east of Denver (heading east). As mentioned up thread, the 2 campgrounds in the Amana Iowa area were where we stayed (both on a trip to Amana in '24 and this more recent '25 trip). While neither are as close to the highway as a rest stop, they were easy to get to (the Amana RV Park CG being the easier).

You will have the "joy" of getting around Chicago. There is no good route in my mind (and even worse than Detriot, by a hair). We took slowere roads to the south as we were in no hurry and find them less stressful. If you choose the freeway route, I-80 (toll road at points) past Gary Indiana and I-94 are your best bets, as I also mentioned up thread.

The I-94 to I-69 route I also mention upthread IS the best way to avoid Detriot. It will route you outside of Lansing, which althought also a big city, is nowhere near as bad and hairy as Detroit. I-69 will take you all the way to Port Huron.

As far as rest areas in MI, I can't really advise you as we usually moochdock with various friends and family if we are instate. There ae regularly spaced, well marked stops, but some are currently under refurbishment. Best bet might be to check the MDOT website for current closures. Some rest areas may be posted, but I don't believe MI technically has a strict prohibition on overnighting.

You have driven the Canadian highways more recently than I. Most of my travels were in the 1970 thorugh 1990s. There aren't a lot of options but the one from Niagra Falls is what I always used and it was excellent, fast moving, and stress free. Niagra --> QEW to Burlington & around Hamilton --> 403 --> 401 --> 402 to Sarnia/Port Huron. Then I-69 from Port Huron, retracing your roads in reverse order home.

I don't recall any Canadian tolls, but there may have been for a bridge crossing or such or maybe around the Burlington area/Hamilton by-pass. The New York Truway from Bufffalo/Niagra IS a toll road, all the way to the east side of NY.

 

[SGilbert]

Are we (wife and I) the only ones that use Cracker Barrels for overnight camping when traveling? We have to run the generator for the AC to work but Cracker Barrel does not mind.

Mike

Almost always plan on Cracker Barrel stops while en route to a destination. I have only encountered one CB that did not have designated RV/Bus parking.

 

[16ACE27]

Almost always plan on Cracker Barrel stops while en route to a destination. I have only encountered one CB that did not have designated RV/Bus parking.

The problem with CB RV parking is the 4 wheelers that take up the space. On mere than one occasion we have pulled into a CB for a meal on the road only to loop around and head right back out due to no available parking for the RV.

But be have never had to unhook the TOAD or back out.