Route question...

The shortest way is to follow I 75 south to US 35 south or east through Ohio, into West Virginia, down the W. Va turnpike but there are a lot of hills, and the worst of 'em are in W. Va. Although the hills on the other side of the river from Ohio are steeper.( Kentucky) You could take I 80 East through Ohio into Pa on the I 76 but there are a few mountians in western Pa. you could take I 77 south or you can take I 75 south to pickup I 40 or I 29. There are less hills on I 77 at first but on the W. Va. pike the turns are tighter and grades are less then a lot of the northern roads. Overall you could take I 65 to I 40 and that woud be about the best route overall avoiding the steepest hills and not taking you far out of a direct route, I drove all these way and your going to hit some hills, if you avoid Pa and West Virginia those are the steepest hills. drive55cat

 

Its not the shortest, at least i dont think it is, but take 65S to Louisville, Ky. Take 64E to Lexington than 75S to Knoxville. Than take 40E to Asheville, N.C. where you will pick up 26E and take that all the way to Chuck-Town er, thats what some of us call it here in South Carolina, to Charleston. Most of the moutains will be between Asheville and Spartanburg S.C. Hope this helps

 

Streets and Trips says take 74 out of Indiannapolis to Cincinati than 75s through Lexington to Knoxville TN. Lemme know if this helps.

 

All of the routes given thus far include going over some very hilly territory.

If you really don't care about going out of the way to avoid a lot of hills, I'd say take I-65 all the way to Birmingham, then take I-20 thru Atlanta, all the way to Columbia, SC and then jump on I-26. Gonna be about 230 more miles, but a lot less hills.

 

I 65 South to Indianapolis
I 74 East to Cincinatti
I 75 South to Knoxville. There is one long hard pull at Jellico Mtn, Ky/Tn line. 4 to 5 miles uphill about 5% grade. One long downgrade just before Knoxville, 3 to 4 miles, about a 4% grade.
I 40 East to Ashville NC. Just as you come into NC you are in "the gorge".
About 25 miles, very curvy, 50mph for trucks, and a slight uphill pull most of the way.
I 26 East/South to Charleston. Just before the SC line is one long downgrade, 2 to 3 miles, about a 5/6% grade.
About 950 miles that way and only a few bad hills. If you are going during the winter you shouldn't have to worry about overheating on the pulls, but if the roads get bad Jellico and the gorge can get pretty crappy.
If you absolutely dont want to go through the mountains you can go south on I 65 to Birmingham and then take I 20 to Charleston. Its about 1150 miles that way. Good luck.

 

Be extremely careful right now boating in SC Most of our lakes are waaaaay---waaaaay down say as mush as 8 to 10 feet. I fish most all the lakes in SC and can tell you--When the lakes were originally flooder that trees were only topped in areas. Now tree trunks and tops lurk only a couple of inches from the waterline. Boating right now is VERY DANGEROUS!

Pappy

 

Hello, I need help with the route.

I'm in Spartanburg, SC and going to Detroit.

GPS telling me to take 26 to 40 to 75

My only concern with the above route is I see lots of curves and hills on i40 in Harmon Den area (Hartford)

Would it be better to take 26 to 81 to 40 to 75?

It will be extra 60 miles or so. I don't mind driving extra 60 miles to avoid steep hills.

Please help. Thanks.