Hi guys, heading out from Asheville, NC next month on a bucket list trip for a few weeks to ride Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. I plan to go north to Wisconsin and then west to Glacier NP. I'm looking for recommendations for a non-interstate route north from Tn to Wisconsin. Secondly I'm looking at taking US 2 west across Minnesota & N Dakota into Montana. Is there a better east west route I should consider. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

I've always wanted to take Hwy 61 from Minnesota to New Orleans. You could connect with it in Memphis TN. I've only done parts of it, the same with Hwy 2. I would like to travel the full length of both. Let us know what it was like.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/us-61/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_61

http://www.usends.com/mapguy/MapPgs/mapx61.htm

 

Highway 51 goes right up the middle of Illinois to Bloomington, North from there to Rockford it becomes Interstate 39. You can still take quite a bit of the old Highway 51, sections are numbered as 151, 251, 351. (traffic on Interstate 39 usually isn't too bad).
Not a very scenic route, traffic is usually light and it is just about as quick as taking either interstate (55 or 57). At Rockford the interstate going north traffic gets very heavy. You can follow 20 west out of Rockford all the way to Dubuque IA or head north into Wisconsin. The scenery improves in northern Illinois.

 

I just made the trip from Gatlingburg, TN to Appleton Wisconsin. Took 25E through Tennesee and then hooked onto 150 in London Kentucky. Only about 5 miles of interstate all the way up. Knowing what I know now consider going up the east side of Lake Michigan all the way to Mackinaw City and then go west. Awesome ride!

 

parts of 51 in Illinois is 4 lane and north of Bloomington it become I-39. That's probably not a bad thing and it's a good place to make some time. getting good northbound 2 lane inWisconsin is tough but hwy 12 follows I-94 all the way to Eau Claire. At Eau Claire hwy 53 is four lane all the way north to Superior

I would suggest I-40 to I-75 north up to Mt. Vernon and hwy 150. take that to Danville and then on to the Blue Grass parkway near Bardstown. Follow that to hwy 60 up past Fort Knox and over to Owensboro and Henderson where you cross intoEvansville Indiana and pick up hwy 41. Follow 41 north to Vincennes. At Vincennes pick up hwy 33 and cross over into Illinois and follow that up to Effingham. At Effingham take 32 north up to 16. go west on 16 through Shelbyville almost to Pana where you will get 51 north that will take you to Wisconsin. Another option as you head up towards Wisconsin is to get over to the Mississipi River and follow the Great River Road north.

You may want to opt for I-70 from Effingham to St..Louis and then north along 79in Missouri which takes you through Hannibal. The river going north is a nice ride in Missouri and then again as you get to the northern pasrt of Illinois. In Wisconsin the river road is very nice and you need to bounce back and forth between Wisconsin and Minnesota going up.

 

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the insight. I kinda want to go north to see Wisconsin, Minnesota and N Dakota as they are 3 of the 5 states I've never been to but is it worth the time to see them or would it be better to head to Colorado and go from there? Thanks again!

 

Personally I would go to Wisconsin, Minnesota and N. Dakota route. As far as Colorado it is one awesome state! But I only like it west of Denver. East of Denver is just open fields with not a lot of scenery.

 

Haywired, does the river road have a specific highway # or does it vary state to state? Thanks for the info.

 

The Great River Road switches back and forth in between Wisconsin WI 35 and MN 61. There are signs along the route marking it as the Great River Road. In Missouri we took 79 up to Hanibal and crossed into Illinois there. we bounced back and forth across the river between Iowa and Illinois. Further north in illinois we stuck to the Illinois side on 84 because my daughter was living in Galena at the time. From galena we went to Dubuque and then crossed into Wisconsin there. we stayed on the Wisconsin side all the way to LaCrosse and stayed on 61 in Minnesota all the way to Red Wing. if you w anting to get north to US 2 I would suggest taking 63 north from Red Wing and you can follow that to Spooner where you can catch 53 up to US 2 at Superior.
http://www.greatriverroad.com/

Hope this helps.

 

Another link: http://www.mnmississippiriver.com/