Advice - Florida to Grand Canyon

[JVS04]

Planning a trip to Trailer Village RV Park in the Grand Canyon this coming March/April. Seeking route advice, stop overs along the way, etc. Experimenting with Good Sam trip planner avoiding highways. One route put us on route 380 south of route 40 and north of route 20 north of Dallas through Roswell NM. Also found ernest917's thread "Adventure 2019". Got me looking at some of the nice stops he made in Texas and New Mexico. So I looked at going by way of San Antonio. We are getting back into camping after a 20 year hiatus. Kids are out and we recently retired. Been enjoying trips within Florida over the last year getting reacquainted with rv'ing. Kind of nervous about taking on a couple thousand mile trip one way. Curious as whether campgrounds are still full at that time with snowbirds? I noticed some CG's are rather small and don't offer reservations . We go 200-250 miles per day. So we are in no hurry to get anywhere just want to enjoy the journey. Any advice and experiences are appreciated. Thanks

[david_reaves]

Avoid I-20 at all costs! The road conditions the last time I tried to drive across Louisiana were atrocious. I don't know about I-10. If you want to go more northerly, I just came across I-40 from Knoxville, TN to Little Rock, AR. The highway was in pretty good shape except for through Memphis (westbound there was better than eastbound). In previous years I've been out I-40 all the way to Kingman, AZ. I-40 was in pretty good condition most of the way. Williams is an easy stop, right of the freeway. The biggest issue I've had on I-40 in western states is the wind. Last time I drove to Las Vegas, NV, (in the fall of 2018) there were a couple of days where winds were in the upper 30 mph with gusts to almost 50 mph. I just slowed down.

If you do go more northerly, you have the option of Nashville and the music scene. You could visit Graceland in Memphis, also ride a Mississippi River paddle boat. Lots to do in Arkansas if you want to see the Ozarks. In the late spring, there should be lots of wildflowers in Oklahoma. There is the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, too. More fun stuff as you go west, too. There's Amarillo, Albuquerque, even a chance to go stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona!

[Trailer traveler]

In March/April you could still see some cold/bad weather in the higher elevations of New Mexico and Arizona. I don't think the North Rim of the Canyon is open in March. If you do take I-40, there is a lot to see.

In Amarillo, there is Palo Duro Canyon State Park and the Big Texan on Old Route 66. In New Mexico, Tucumcari still has dinners along Historic Route 66 and numerous murals painted on buildings plus other attractions. Santa Rosa is another Route 66 town and has the The Blue Hole and Santa Rosa Lake State Park which has a nice campground. In Albuquerque, the Pueblo Cultural Center, the Turquoise Trail, the Sandia Crest Highway and Petroglyph National Monument are worth visiting in my opinion. In Grants, there is the Mining Museum. Just South of I-40 going West from Grants are El Malpais National Monument, El Malpais National Conservation Area, El Moro National Monument and the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano. Acoma Sky City is said to be the longest occuppied location in the U.S. They give tours of the pueblo and there is an RV park next to the casino.

Meteor Crater and Petrified Forest National Park are not far from the Arizona/New Mexico border. Homolovi Ruins State Park is near Winslow where you can stand on the corner.

In the Flagstaff area are Sunset Crater National Monument, Wupatki National Monument, and Walnut Canyon National Monument. Sedona/Camp Verde/Cottonwood are about an hour South of Flagstaff with Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well National Monuments, Tuzigoot National Monument, Palatki and Honaki Ruins, V-Bar-V Heritage Site, Verde Canyon Railroad, Fort Verde State Park, Cathedral Rock, Gold King Mine, Jerome State Historic Park in the area.

All this before you even get to the Grand Canyon.

[formerFR]

well, there is a LOT to do and see between Florida and N Arizona... wow!

you'll do find planning fewer miles per day, as you are, as this gives you a chance to simply call the possible campground or rv park within several hours of your arrival there, or just show up ... most of the time campground or parks aren't necessarily 'full'... don't sweat it. Going on a journey like this, without the 'pressure' of having to arrive at some park on a certain day, just because you made reservations there 6 months ago, relieves a lot of the headache - just go with it, as I'm sure your rig can easily keep you aloft even for a night in a parking lot, or pull off, etc.

We've take these types of trips many times, even to Alaska and back, without a SINGLE reservation anywhere - it's amazing what you can find, and sometimes 'happen upon' when you don't have a specific destination each day, or previously reserved site that you 'must' arrive to at a certain day or time. Nice. Keep it simple. You can do this.


and, by the way, the Grand Canyon Trailer Village is a very nice rv park - it keeps you right near the 'action', and gives you the ability to hang out for several days and keep things easy. Some will stay down in Williams, off I40, and drive up to the canyon in their car, but then you have to drive back the same day - it's NOT a short drive, especially if you have already been 'driving around' the canyon all day already.

[JVS04]

Thanks for the great advice. I feel better about "winging" it with no reservations. We were thinking of bringing golf clubs but I don't think we will as there is too much else to see and do! Thank to all.

[formerFR]

hmmmm.... that brings about another option: overnighting in the golf club's parking lot, as if you are a customer, taking advantage of a round of golf, it doesn't hurt to ask the club to allow you to wait and 'leave' the next morning... might be a nice diversion from the normal parking lot 'boondocking' : ) Probably very quiet, too.

[shopinful]

We are planning a trip to the Trailer village either in May or June. Have reservations for both months. We will be leaving from Florida as well. Will be anxious to see how things go for you