RE Route 71 in Missouri

[conmart371]

Does anyone know how the road is on Rte. 71 in Missouri? We are traveling from Kansas City on I35 south and the routeing to Springfield Missouri uses 71. Just wanted to be sure no problems with a motorhome. Thanks Martha

[conmart371]

Does anyone know how the road is on Rte. 71 in Missouri? We are traveling from Kansas City on I35 south and the routeing to Springfield Missouri uses 71. Just wanted to be sure no problems with a motorhome. Thanks Martha

[JC2]

Personally, I would go another route if you are going to Springfield, Mo. 71 hwy will put you quite a ways west of Springfield. We have property on Pomme terre Lake which is about 1 hr north of Springfield off of 65 hwy. The route I would recommend is as follows if you haven't passed KC:
1. I35 S then exit to I435 S. Take I435 S and take the 63rd St/350/50 hwy exit which goes throught Raytown, Mo and Lees Summit. Continue east on 350 which turns into 50 hwy (divided 4 lane) and after 1 to 1 1/2 hrs you will reach Sedalia, Mo. Take 65 hwy south from Sedalia about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs and you are will be on the east side of Springfield. It isn't any longer this way and the drive is a lot nicer. Let me know if you need any further info. Bottomline is 71 hwy kinda sucks in MHO. Here is a link to a Missouri map that shows what I'm talking about.
http://geology.com/cities-map/missouri.shtml

[Steve Headley]

I travel 71 often, as I work in Minneapolis and live in Louisiana. It's not perfect, but not bad. I-35 has many areas that are worse than 71. I don't mind it when driving the MH. It's better than many major interstates. So I wouldn't avoid it.

[Racedog]

I just traveled that route last week. I went from central Kansas down to Mountain View Arkansas and then back a few days later. I took I-70 east to I-435 south into KCMO and then took Hwy70 south to Hwy 7 (just after Harrisonville) to 13 hwy south (catch 13 right after Clinton) to Springfield.

May seem a bit convoluted but it works well and takes some miles off the trip. We also enjoyed the country we went through.

R

[JC2]

The route mentioned by Racedog is also good; 71 south to 7 then east to clinton where you could then take 13 south out of clinton to Springfield. You could also continue on 7 past clinton to 65 then south to Springfield. Either way is a very scenic drive. Remember, 71 all the way to Springfield is: