Within the next couple weeks, I may be going up to the Boise area. Just wondering if any of you have suggestions on the best route to go between the Flagstaff area and I-15 in Utah. Also, if I considered going on US 93 through most of Nevada, would that be better or worse than sticking with as much interstate highway as possible?
Assuming I use US 89 (and US 89A) to go north, I'm wondering how much 2 lane road I would be dealing with.
you're looking at two basic evils - either Vegas, or the Salt Lake general area, both of which have shitty freeways. Vegas is perpetually under construction and filled with drunken slot machine yahoos, and Salt Lake City has a construction zone with some narrow lanes and a surprisingly heavy amount of traffic.
so I'd split the difference and cross between the 15 and the 93 corridors on something like US-6/50, or UT-56/NV-319.
If you're willing to pay $10 (or have a national parks pass), you can bypass Vegas through Lake Mead NRA. And don't forget SR 318 from Crystal Springs to Ely.
I've done that drive probably 10 times (lived in Tucson from 2011-12, whole family is in Boise/McCall)- 93 is definitely at least an hour faster, and that's not considering the 89 closure. As NE2 said, make sure to use 318 as a shortcut. I've never had much trouble with Vegas traffic- just take 515 to 15 north and you're not even in town for very long. You'll probably not be doing it at rushhour time anyway. Then take 30 through Hagerman once you're in Idaho- don't go through Twin Falls. On second thought, there is a new Twin Falls bypass now, so that might be the fastest way at this point but I don't know it and don't vouch for it. When you had to go through town Twin Falls was the most frustrating part of the entire drive- so close to Boise and you get stuck stopping at all 20 of Twin Falls' finest stoplights.
Flagstaff to I-15 if you go that way- do 89A to 89 to UT-20 to I-15. I've done that probably three times- once when I was still figuring out the best route from southern AZ to Boise and then twice more when I moved from Tucson to Montana.
93 through Nevada is a really, really good road though. Speed limit 70, wide shoulders, and amazingly good sightlines. It's probably the easiest road in America to pass on, relative to its length. Except for a couple miles southeast of Ely, you can always see far enough to safely pass, and there's really not much traffic. To give an idea as to how good the sightlines are- even when the road is snow covered as it has been a couple times I've done it, I've only slowed from 75 to maybe 68 because you can see far enough ahead to come to a safe stop on ice at that speed, and I'm a reasonably conservative snow driver. There's big gorgeous mountains to the left and right of you, but except for a little bit right by Ely you never actually have to drive into them- you're just in a big ol' basin.
Don't forget that 318 is a cutoff for US 93. It has a good chance of coming up in every trivia.