Three Good Stops

Minneapolis to Salt Lake City: where to stop

1241 miles, about 18 hr 8 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between Minneapolis, MN and Salt Lake City, UT, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

Windom, MNStretch your legs in Windom, MN · mile 126

The other 9 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

M•••••, SDstretch, meal · mile 265
K•••••, SDfuel · mile 320
K•••••, SDstretch · mile 465
S•••••, SDstretch, overnight, fuel, meal · mile 611
G•••••, WYstretch · mile 751
C•••••, WYstretch, fuel, meal · mile 885

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How the days break up

DayMilesDrivingNight in
16118 hr 46 minSpearfish, SD
25888 hr 38 minSnyderville, UT
3430 hr 43 min—

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan Minneapolis to Salt Lake City your way →

Questions

How far is Minneapolis, MN to Salt Lake City, UT?
About 1241 miles, roughly 18 hr 8 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive Minneapolis to Salt Lake City in one day?
Not comfortably. At a 9-hour driving day it splits into 3 days, with a night in Spearfish, SD.

Where is a good place to stop between Minneapolis and Salt Lake City?
Windom, MN is the first one on this route.