Interstate 90 westbound from Billings?

Question

Tell me about I-90 from Billlings westbound. We want to drive it to Seattle next summer, but my youngest daughter hates roads through mountains with steep drop-offs. (Yes, I've tried counselling and even hypnosis for her fear of heights!) What is that highway like?

Answer 1

try looking at it on google earth

Answer 2

I have traveled I-90 Billings to Seattle at least 20 times, and can tell you that there are a couple places where you might have some heights issues. Most is farm, as previously stated, and some through mountains, but the freeway goes through the bottom and the mountains tower on either side of you. The only places you might have trouble with are right as you cross the border between Montana and Idaho. You climb up to the top of the pass, then the freeway is built into the side of a mountain going down and its hundreds of feet down on your right as you head west. Incredible view, but scary for someone who has trouble with heights. You'll do a little more mountainside travel around Coeur D'Alene Idaho, with a high bridge, then everything's pretty flat until you get to the Columbia River Gorge. You'll have to drive right into the gorge there, which is also little high. After that, the freeway stays at the bottom of all the valleys so you shouldn't have any other trouble spots.

Answer 3

It is a very beautiful drive in the summer. There are 3 or 4 mt. pass that you will have to travel over and there really is not any steep drop offs. It is about 820 miles from Billing to Seattle. I'm a truck driver and have traveled that part of I-90 a few times. It is about a 12 or 13 hour drive, depending on how many times you have to stop. If you can drive most of it at night while she is sleeping she will not know that she went over the mountains. When I travel with my kids that is what I like do just so they will sleep most of the trip. And you don't have her asking "are we there yet."
Well I hope that if you do decide to drive you will enjoy it, because it is some of the most beautiful part of the country.

Answer 4

There are two mountain passes at least on that drive, going through idaho there are a few points where there are drops offs. Same when you go over Snoqualmie pass, at one point you are even on a high bridge. There are a couple places inbetween the passes where you come down steep cliffs (like the columbia river gorge) and it can get a little scarey. But there is also a lot of long straight boring farm lands, where she could fall asleep and not notice when you get to the mountains.

Answer 5

My son recently drove himself from Dallas through Wyoming, Montana, to Seattle. The trip took several days. A friend, related to a truck driver recommended that he take another route (he had a choice).

He enjoyed the trip and did not regret taking the route he did.

If you must travel over the mountain, go only when weather is good (summertime is perfect) -- some roads over the mountain are closed in the wintertime due to bad weather..

Answer 6

I have driven that route many times. My sister currently lives in Livingston, and I often drive from Seattle to visit her.
There are several passes you will go over. The climb is gradual and very few places with deep drop offs. The Highway is an interstate and is really pretty good. Not alot of traffic until you hit Washington State. I love that drive! It is beautiful, and easy to travel.

Answer 7

I drove the interstate from Billings to Seattle when I moved here to Issaquah, Washington (a suburb of Seattle). The vast majority of it is through farming areas. You'll cross over the Rockies in Montana and Idaho, of course, but I didn't really notice much in the way of sheer drop-offs. You'll also pass through the Cascades - it was VERY foggy when I went through, so I couldn't tell about dropoffs. I do have to caution that I was moving FROM Colorado, so my notion of "steep" might be different from someone else's.

I used to have a significant fear of such dropoffs myself; I simply had to make myself go through them, since I HAD moved to Colorado. Since your daughter will not be driving, perhaps you might consider talking with your doctor about small amount of sedative medication for the trip.

I CAN tell you that it was a beautiful drive, and I'm completely glad that I drove instead of flying!

Answer 8

You can see some of it for yourself. There are 4 web cams on Homestake Pass, which is on I-90 going into Butte, Montana. It's night there right now, so you'll have to wait for morning to see much.