highway 54

[DangerCliff]

We will be traveling from Green Valley Az to Cadillac Mi in July , thinking of takeing highway 54 from Alomagordo NM to Wichita KA as part of our route. Anyone every take that route before, wondering if its a good way to go or not, any and all comments welcomed. Thanks

[MC9]

We winter at the Green Valley RV Resort. Yes, we have gone that way. You will see a lot of Kansas... We come home to Cheboygan, MI a different way almost every trip.

[jeeplj8]

I travel out that way a couple times a year, from Wichita on 54 out to Liberal, Garden City, Dodge City etc.

It is actually a pretty heavy truck route despite being 2 lane for most of that drive. The beef plants in western Kansas keep the trucks humming along. There are lots of small towns which bring the speed down quite a bit. Some of the scenery is quite pretty, especially around Cimmaron.

The last 50 or so miles into Wichita is actually 4 lane now.

Keep an eye on your fuel gauge, you can go quite a ways without a seeing a station, and they are not always open. Also - fuel prices tend to run 10-40 cents higher than along the interstate or outside Wichita.

[rotorhead1250]

I have family in Wichita and take that route all the time from Tucumcari on up. You would get on I-40 at Santa Rosa which is about 45 min from Tucumcari. I would recommend the third exit (last) where there’s a Loves and Flying J on the north side. About an hour inside Kansas is the town of Greenburg, which was devastated a few years ago by a tornado. We stop in there for fuel and a snack to support them. Don’t mind the smell of the cattle pens in Texas, that’s just steak going to market!

[J_KHawthorne]

We just returned from AZ and took 54 from Tucumcari through to Wichita. We have used this route several times, and it does save you about 110 miles as compared to the Interstate route through OK City. Speed limit ranges from 65 over most of the route with 75 on the Texas portion and the road is in good shape. Give the semi's a hand in passing you; they appreciate you flashing your hi beams when they can safely turn back into the lane. There are a lot of trucks, and as noted previously, watch the reduced speed limits in the smaller towns.
I personally like this route, and we stay at the Corral Drive-In RV park in Guymon, OK.

[B47]

Originally Posted by J_KHawthorne

We just returned from AZ and took 54 from Tucumcari through to Wichita. We have used this route several times, and it does save you about 110 miles as compared to the Interstate route through OK City. Speed limit ranges from 65 over most of the route with 75 on the Texas portion and the road is in good shape. Give the semi's a hand in passing you; they appreciate you flashing your hi beams when they can safely turn back into the lane. There are a lot of trucks, and as noted previously, watch the reduced speed limits in the smaller towns.
I personally like this route, and we stay at the Corral Drive-In RV park in Guymon, OK.

You bring up a good point in helping the big rig drivers out by flashing your hi beams when they can safely come back in front of you after they pass. Most will give you a "thanks" when you do and sometimes they will give you the hi beams after you pass them.

My father was an over the road big rig driver for awhile and that simple thing is one of the first things I learned about driving.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by B47

You bring up a good point in helping the big rig drivers out by flashing your hi beams when they can safely come back in front of you after they pass. Most will give you a "thanks" when you do and sometimes they will give you the hi beams after you pass them.

My father was an over the road big rig driver for awhile and that simple thing is one of the first things I learned about driving.

Interesting that you bring this up. During the day, I'm sure either works. But at night, would it be better to blink the lights on/off instead of high beams? Thinking of the extra bright since they're looking straight at it...

Or, as long as there's some kind of signal that they're safe to pull back over in front of you is good enough?

[B47]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Interesting that you bring this up. During the day, I'm sure either works. But at night, would it be better to blink the lights on/off instead of high beams? Thinking of the extra bright since they're looking straight at it...

Or, as long as there's some kind of signal that they're safe to pull back over in front of you is good enough?

Since we don't drive much at night I really don't know - to me it is more simpler to just momentary pull on the hi/low stalk than it would be to turn the headlight switch on/off.

[ependydad]

Makes sense and likely for me too since most of the time my lights are set to "auto".