South Jersey to Traverse City, MI

[bresdogsr]

Hello all,

Looking for the "best" route from Southern NJ to Traverse City, MI. We will be travelling the second week of August, driving in a 40'MH towing a Toad. My wife would prefer the flattest route as possible. I would prefer to avoid tolls as much as possible, but without going too far out of the way.

Thanks in advance,

John

[Hank_MI]

I live in Brighton, MI. North of Ann Arbor, south of Flint. Very close to US-23. Avoid it during rush hour, south bound in the morning and north bound in the evening. Seems half the people living in our area work in Ann Arbor. Then you can catch rush hour traffic in Flint and Saginaw. When we travel north/west we take I-96 west to Lansing. Then US-127 north. I-96 intersects US-23 in Brighton. I-75 can turn into a parking lot on a summer weekend. Never had that problem heading up US-127. It skirts the east side of Lansing, never had a problem with Lansing traffic.

[bresdogsr]

Thanks everyone!

[theoldwizard1]

You can pick up US-23 southwest of Toldeo from I-90. US-23 does get rather congested near Ann Arbor around rush hour, but rush hour does not last long. US-23 merges with I-75 near Flint which, as stated, takes you to M-72 at Grayling. You do go through both Grayling and Kalkaska. Grayling used to be the "big city" in Northern MI ! Not any more. There are some rolling hills west of Grayling on M-72.

I can't help you with the eastern part of your journey, but once you get into OH it is flat, same with most of MI. Traverse City is now the BIG CITY in northern MI and during the daytime, traffic does get a bit heavy.

[SidecarFlip]

So would I and once in Michigan, take US 23 (4 lane divided highway) north to Grayling and then west to Traverse City (on M72). Good casino north of Traverse City on Traverse bay. Has RV parking too.

80 is a bugger and so is 76. Toll roads are the best, smoothest and quickest.

[Mickeyfan0805]

I did the drive from NJ to WI a few times a year for 3 years while in grad school. I never encountered a reasonable option other than I-80 or I-76. Those who have done it more recently might be able to say more definitively, but my sense is that the turnpike will be a bit flatter (some tunnels lessen the vertical climb needed to traverse the mountains), and you have the advantage of easy on/off service plazas at fairly regular intervals along the way. On the flip side, I-80 would save you the tolls until you meet up with the Ohio Turnpike. In August, weather will not be the concern as it would in the winter.

I'd spend the money and stick to the turnpike from south Jersey, but that's just me.