Quote:
Originally Posted by plymouth tom
Looking for ideas on a trip West toward Grand Canyon from near Raleigh, North Carolina. Anyone have suggestions on what route we should take and what we might want to see...or not see?
Tom & Cecilia Kennedy
Wake Forest, NC
2018 Canyon Star 3911
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Depends on what time of year and what you want to see along the way.
We did that trip in late October 2017 thru early November (ultimate destination was family in North Las Vegas). Since we live just SE of Nashville, TN, went I-40 the whole way.
(FYI, some stretches of road were pretty monotonous, but beautiful scenery)
Because of a big cold front coming thru the Southwest in the mountains, before we got there, we had some nighttime temps in NM and AZ near freezing. Had to use heated water hose during stay at GC. (it's 6,000+ ft elevation.)
The Grand Canyon National Park is actually an hour dive north of I-40 and Williams, AZ. The Trailer Village RV Park is within the Park boundaries and can handle big-rigs and has FHU. OR you can stay at a CG in Williams and ride the Grand Canyon Railroad north into the park. We stayed in the park. They have shuttle busses going all around the park and one stops right at the CG office. There is RV/bus parking areas near the overlooks. The breakfast buffet at the Yavapi Lodge was pretty good, we tried it our last morning.
A little southeast of Amarillo, TX is Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Commonly known as "The Grand Canyon of Texas". Western OK and TX panhandle we hit strong crosswinds, even semi-trucks were slowing down. Literally, thousands of wind turbines along this stretch.
On the way, we stopped at the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest Nat'l Parks. You can take the exit off I-40 and drive all thru the parks. No problems with bridges as the only one went over I-40 from the Painted Desert south into the Petrified Forest. We stayed in Holbrook, AZ, that night. Also, along I-40 in AZ is the Meteor Crater.