A good days drive?

[ChiToones]

We like to keep to 300 miles or less a day and don't drive more than two hours at a time. Between stopping to stretch, fuel, and sight-see, we average about 50mph.

That being said, we're going to Houston (1,100 miles) again soon and will take 3 days - 400, 400, 300 mile days. The return trip though will be much more leisurely. We'll be leaving Houston for Natchez, Mississippi, along the Natchez Trace to Nashville, then back to Chicago, about 1,300 miles in 9 days.

[DocTin]

DocTin in Mesa, AZ

The answer is with a travel trailer, NO.
Just experience talking.

[RAurand]

When I drove big trucks, I always figured 50 miles per hour. No matter where I was going.
So if I was going 500 miles away, I could figure 10 hours. 300 miles, 6 hours. It always came very close. I still do it today when planning trips with my RV and it comes out close.

HOWEVER, Driving just my car or Expedition, I'll figure 55.

[YelloDuc]

Last trek we just took, included a stretch between Tucson Az, to Hawthorne Nv. 729 miles. Took us 13 hours, towing a 26' TT with my F250 crew cab. We left Tucson a little after 5am and got through Phoenix before 7am, beating rush hour. Made it through Vegas with light traffic, and from there on, traffic was super light. Actually traffic was pretty light the whole way. I mention this because where you are traveling through, and what times, can make a huge difference on how much time it takes to get through to your destination. Had we hit Phoenix during rush hour, it would've added an hour at minimum. Also, even with the hills and climbing, the drive is pretty much a straight shot. There were other legs of our trip that were much shorter mileage wise, but took just as much time, if not more time, because they were very twisty roads where our average speed was much much lower. Places where we couldn't really do more than 250 miles in a day. So, as said by many others above, mileage covered in a day depends on many different factors.

[BuckeyeHB]

The longest we go is 700 or 800. I like 500. Sounds good.

[Route 66 Traveler]

I was a commercial truck driver for 32 years. DOT rules limited my driving to 10 hours a day, with mandatory stops every two hours to check equipment and tires. Doing 500 miles a day was pushing it because traffic and other delays ate into my 10 hours. Even if I managed to run the 500 miles it pretty much tired me out for the next day. Schedules had to be met and so by the end of the week I was ready for my 2 days off.


Now I am not on any schedule and every day is Saturday, so when we take a trip it usually winds up being about 250-300 a day, depending on location and traffic. We also learned a long time ago not to make RV park reservations for the whole trip because 1 messed up day will screw up the whole week. Most RV parks have cancellation policies in their favor and you'll end up losing most or all of your deposit.


If your time is limited and you are rushed to get to a destination, perhaps you should consider rescheduling or flying. The longer the hours driving, the more unsafe the trip becomes....just my 2 cents.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Dmcall52

Hi! We are planning a trip to Chicago from Phoenix in a couple of weeks to see our kids. It appears that to do it in 3 nights and 1/2 day, it will require 500+ miles a day. Is this reasonable?
I am fine to drive for 9-10 hours. We will have Mom and her dog....
Already have reservations for the trip.

Any seasoned advice is appreciated.



Dennis
2017 Jayco Greyhawk 29ME

You're lucky you're from Phoenix you would have to quarantine for 14 days if you were from other states

[kluza2786]

IMHO 500 miles per day for multiple days is too much - especially traveling with a dog. While mom and other passengers can use the bathroom, etc. going down the road, the dog can't. By the time you drive for that amount of time - then get things set up for the night (water, sewer, electric) you've put in a VERY long day and nerves will get frazzled and probably things said that wouldn't happen otherwise. I'm retired so we can take a more leisurely approach to things, but I like to plan on no more than 400 miles per day. That makes for a departure by 9:00 AM, quick stops for fuel and lunch in a rest area, and arrival around 3:30 or 4:00 PM. That leaves enough time to get things set up during daylight and leaves a little cushion for unexpected delays for road construction, traffic issues, etc.

[Big1]

It's doable, we did a 500 mile a day going to Las Vegas last month coming from WA State which is about 1200 miles trip. It help if you have a naggings wife (JJ) but yeah I like to drive so driving 500 miles is not a problem for me and I'm almost 67 years old.

[GScott]

I don’t like traveling with constraints like having to be there in x number of days. I don’t like having reservations more than a day out. Yes I am old (70) but am a reformed long day driver. I have discovered the the journey is as important as the destination and if I focus on getting there I miss many opportunities to enjoy our world. Also it’s one thing to drive all day on a one day trip and entirely different to do it several days in a row. We drive 1,500 to AZ each year and find that if we are relaxed and wait until the hubbub subsides and hit the road around 9:00. Further I prefer no more than 5 or 6 hours in the rig so allowing for frequent pit stops to stretch etc we get 250 miles a day. If it is nice weather and something local worth exploring we often hold over an additional night just to break up the drudgery. To each their own but now that time is not an issue this is how we like to roll.

[joe w]

We, my wife and me, like to stick with the 300-350 daily. I suppose some of that has to do with age as I'm 77 however it's much more enjoyable a trip taking our time. Our last trip in Sep-Oct during which we covered 7700 miles I drove a couple of days approaching 500 miles just to beat out some approaching weather so I/we can, just not something we find necessary.

[thirdktm]

In a day, we can average 55 or so miles per hour, which includes stops. That's not MPH on the speedometer.
We have an RV, which means one of us can fix lunch while the other drives.
So, we make good time.
Of course, if you depart late and quit driving earlier, you cover less distance....

[Cincinnati Kid]

We do about 250 miles. We like to sightsee, stop for lunch, etc. We take smaller roads, usually National hwys, We might go farther if we have to get to warmer weather to dewinterize or something, but that would be rare. We drive slow, and pull over if we get a few cars stuck behind us. To us, it's the journey, not the destination.

[travelingjw]

We have a couple of hard and fast rules. We will drive maximum of 2 hours and then stop for a break. If we drive another 2 hour segment there must be a stop for a meal and 1/2 hour minimum rest. We try to never drive more than 6 hours a day. The worst day we ever had was when we missed a turn, GPS sent us on a different route and we ended up with an 11 hour traveling day, about 9 /12 hours of driving.

[Blackey]

I leave when I’m ready drive until I’m tired wake up when I’m ready find a place to eat and top off tank drive till I’m hungry find a Cracker Barrel or truck stop get something to eat hit the road for a few more hours and find a place to park or hookup that’s the nice thing about the Motorhome I never have to step out side just let the pit out on a line.

[msherw]

IMHO:

Drive only as fast and far as your body will let you. Most feel 65mph is max in a motorhome. But there are other issues to consider:

Wind whipping
Rain
Toad behavior
Sun in your eyes
Interior comfort
Food delivered to your driver's seat
Gas stops
Small city traffic or on the interstate
Need to walk the dogs
Finding a nearby RV overnight stop

Comfort is my main reason for limiting drive time and speed. If I am happy and the rig has gas and the dogs are asleep and my wife is listening to her podcasts then I press on a while.

Personally 10 hours @ 65mph is my max comfort zone.