North northwest from Charleston NC via 77? Across Appalachia’s Towards Chicago

[mrsportys]

Rather than going up the 95 corridor then take a left at Washington to go West , any suggestions for going from Charleston SC via 77 or? Across Appalachia mountains heading northwest towards Chicago
36’ bounder towing.
Thanks

[ThomB]

Why not head over towards Asheville on 26 then take 40 over the mountains to 75 North? Will definitely be shorter drive than taking 77 and the mountains then only last about 50 miles for you on I-40 rather than most of the state of WV mountains and tolls.

[doc]

Thom has a point. I-26 is not a bad ride, albeit a little boring from Charleston to Columbia. There might be a couple of hills after Spartanburg toward Ashville. Catch I-40 west towards Knoxville.
Catch I-75 there and head north. I really can't help you past Knoxville.
When we head up toward Chicago from Georgia we end up going thru Nashville then to Paducah on I-24 and then I-57 towards Chicago

[pbpaul]

I-26 can get busy but never seems as bad to me as I-95 and so the I-26/I-40 route sounds good to me. There is at least one pretty serious climb on I-26 West as you head up toward Asheville called the Saluda Grade. It has a third “truck lane” and is about 7%, I believe.

[Big Dude]

I run from Charleston to Knoxville fairly often and that is what I would suggest. You will have one grade on I-26 coming up Saluda Mtn but it is not a big deal then I-40 goes through, rather than over, the mountains. My main reason for the suggestion is I'd rather go up I-75 from Knoxville than go I-77 thru WV.

[mrsportys]

Thanks everyone , exactly what I’m going to do!

[Teamfoxy]

We often take 321 from Hardeeville to Columbia, skirt around the city on 26 & 20 and pick it up again on the north side. A lot of it is 2 lane through small towns, but traffic is almost non-existant. Pick up 40 in Hickory or head up the Blue Ridge from Blowing Rock.