Lake George from the west

[afidel]

Going to be coming along I90 from Rochester area heading to Lake George. Wondering which would be the best drive with a truck and short trailer, NY-8, NY-67, or staying on I-90 to I-87? Google says there's no more than a 20 minutes difference between the routes with NY-67 being the fastest but NY-8 looks like it might be a fun drive if it's a decent road and it avoids most of the more crowded areas which is where I find the most stressful driving to be.

[ACZL]

afidel wrote:
ACZL, if I'm going the 8/12 route why not just stay on 90 until the 8/12 exit, why bother with 365? Looking at 365 I was thinking I'd take it all the way to the merger with 8 and avoid Utica.

I mentioned it because others spoke of 365. Yes you can stay on the T-way until exit 31 (Utica) and p/u 8/12 north. IMO, not really any good places for diesel fuel at this exit if you use it. After you come thru cashbox, you'll veer right, go under 90 and a sharp right for ramp. FOLLOW signs. Same directions as my previous post about 8/12 from here applies.

You could still get off at x33 and p/u 365 and just stay on it until 8, but here's my thought on it. Once you get off the 4 lane 365, it's not too awful bad at 1st of a road. But it then starts to have quite a few turns, small/med pulls, then levels out some. Then you have a very good downhill into village of Barneveld with a stop at bottom in town. Turn left and stay on 365. My bad some here as I haven't been on 365 east from Barneveld in years and frankly forgot it ran into 8. I just know that 8 north goes thru Poland and the route in my 1st post is how we go to Poland w/ our rig. Just a lot less of brakes, sharp turns and back tracking (at least for us if we stayed on 365 to 12 south to 8 north).

[afidel]

ACZL, if I'm going the 8/12 route why not just stay on 90 until the 8/12 exit, why bother with 365? Looking at 365 I was thinking I'd take it all the way to the merger with 8 and avoid Utica.

[ACZL]

Take 365 east to 49 east to 12 north to 8 north. You p/u 365 @ exit 33 off the T-way. It's a 4 lane for about 10 miles +/- @ 55 mph. Stay on 365 and don't get off it (just past Rome exits), rather look for/stay on the 4 lane as it turns into/merges w/ 49 east towards Utica. Becomes 70 mph for approx 10 more miles. Stay on 49 east until you see signs for 8/12 north.365/49 run parallel to 90, flat and only3 lights on it for the entire time, no towns or sharp turns. Once on 8/12, go approx 5 miles (good pull-but 4 lane w/ add'l slow truck lane) and 8 north branches off to the right at top of hill. FWIW- there is a Wal_Mart/Lowes/Applebees/Bass Pro/BJ's & BJ's gas on right as soon as you get on 8/12 north. After you get off 8/12 onto 8, you'll start down hill for approx 8 miles into the village of Poland. Good size down hill last couple miles.Turn left in village to stay on 8 north. AWESOME campgrounds at exit 33 (Villages @ Turning Stone) and just before you cross the bridge into Poland (West Canada Creek Campsites).

Also, if you need gas/diesel once you get off the T-way, there is 2 Sav-on stations on 365 east. One sells diesel only, the other is full blown gas/connivence store about 1 miles from the T-way and at same light opposite each other. Be on look out for Amish buggies on 8/12, 8.

[afidel]

Thanks from a fellow Tiger, going to take the 365/8 route knowing it's safe as the scenery looks like it will make up for any minor slowdowns and the reduced stress of the country driving will make for a better trip.

[DrewE]

NY 365 to NY 8 is the route I usually take. There are some decent curvy grades on the easternmost section (between I-87 and Hague mostly), but you presumably would not be taking that bit of road anyhow. The whole thing is entirely doable with an RV, or at least I have no compunctions about taking my class C over it.

I think the time would be about the same as taking the Interstates; at any rate it shouldn't be an enormous difference. I went to RIT (in Rochester) for college while home was in Vermont, so I've traveled over that road and some of the alternatives more than once or twice.

A better alternative than NY-67 is taking NY-30A at Fultonville/Fonda to NY29 to Saratoga Springs and then getting I-87. You cut off more of an hypotenuse around Albany/Schenectady/Troy that way. Downtown Saratoga Springs can be a tad congested at times, but not too bad and not for very long of a distance.

[AJB]

Beautiful ride along NY8 and very easy to do with your set up. Very nice scenery. Only reason to take 67 would be to avoid the Albany area and pay a little less in tolls. Being only a 20 minute difference between 8 or 90 I find hard to believe. NY 8 will take longer but if you are not in a hurry it is worth doing.