Best Route From Santa Fe, NM to Kaneb, UT

Kanab.

Cass Sumrall wrote:
We are currently at an RV park outside Santa Fe & plan to leave tomorrow with a week to spend between here & Kaneb, UT. We had planned to stay in Gallup, Tuba City & Page on the way, but recently read about a crime wave in Gallup that concerns us about the safety of staying there.

We have a 34 ft class A towing a Honda Fit. Any suggestions of other routes & things to see in the area? We prefer the natural beauty of the high desert & Indian culture to busy tourist attractions & busy cities. We will do the north rim of Grand Canyon after we go to Kaneb & prefer that to the busier & more touristy south rim.

Thanks,
Cass & Lyn

Map - Well something close - would likely take a few more back roads to stay off the Interstate.


I can never be this close to Canyon de Chelly and not stop by - Just Special!

BOL,

Go north toward Cortez. East of there is the Mesa Verde Nat'l Park.

I'd avoid Tuba City (I don't think there is anything to see along there personally), turn toward page on Hwy-98 just after Kayenta. With that suggestion, you would miss out on the view from the Big Cut (near Bitter Springs), and you also have the option to drive to Lees Ferry (camp there if you wish), then continue on up to Jacob Lake.
If you are looking to just drive the Honda, make a loop of Kanab - North Rim - Lees Ferry - Page - Kanab. You cover some of the same ground, but you are missing out on some of the scenery along the Vermilion Cliffs on 89A.

Busskipper - good call on Canyon de Chelly! Haven't been there since a middle school trip.

There are a lot of possibilities of which Canyon de Chelly is a good one.

Another would be to go North from Santa Fe on NM-68 and visit Taos or take US-84 through Abiquiu and visit Ghost Ranch and the Christ in the Desert Monastery. Then head West on US-64 through Chama where there is a scenic railway Then on to Bloomfield and Farmington where there is Aztec Ruins National Monument and Salmon ruins. After Shiprock it would not be that far off route to take a loop North on US-191 to Bluff and then US-163 back to US-160. On this loop you could visit Monument Valley, UT-261 the Moki Dugway, Goosenecks State Park, Hovenweep National Monument, Natural Bridges National Monument, Bluff Fort, South Fork of Mule Canyon and House on Fire, The Valley of The Gods, and the Sand Island Petroglyphs.

Once back on US-160, AZ-98 will take you to Page.

First...every city has crime, even your hometown I would imagine, and the Gallop RV parks along the interstate would be no worry.

However, interstates are boring especially I-40 west.

It might be too late but if you have a week to use up I would have recommended from Santa Fe to head north on Hwy 84 (the painters' Georgia O'Keefe inspiration route) to Colorado 160 - stop in Pagosa Springs for an awesome soak in their immaculate pools overlooking the river, and then take that west to Durango and Cortez (Mesa Verde Nat'l Park and do a ranger tour).

Then take Hwy 160 to 162 into Bluff, Utah and south on 163 to Monument Valley. Stay at Gouldings - the only RV park and take a couple-hour tour of Monument Valley.

Then 160 to Page and on to Kanab. In Kanab is Best Friends Animal Sanctuary a no-kill facility. It well worth a stop and possibly a tour of this awesome place in a gorgeous setting.

Now about the North Rim of Grand Canyon.... check out this site for area fires (for any state) and you'll see one on the east side of the highway to the North Rim. There might be a smoke issue.

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4782/

If you take I-40 west Flagstaff has a few nice places - Sunset Crater Volcano Nat' Monument and a half-circle drive to Wupatki Nat'l Monument Indian ruins. Bonito national forest campground at the entrance booth of Sunset Crater is a lovely place to stay - no reservations and you're very likely to get a site if you can get there early afternoon. There's also Walnut Canyon Nat'l Monument and perhaps a chairlift ride up the ski hill of Arizona Snowbowl. You would also be close to Sedona, Arizona for some gorgeous hiking. We like to stay in nearby Cottonwood to tour Sedona. We stay at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. There are also more Indian ruins in this area - Tuzigoot Nat'l Monument and Montezuma Castle Nat'l Monument.

That should keep you busy! :)

2gypsies wrote:
...There are also more Indian ruins in this area - Tuzigoot Nat'l Monument and Montezuma Castle Nat'l Monument...

Just to add a few more to the Sedona list:
Palatki and Honaki Ruins,
V-Bar-V Heritage Site,
Montezuma Well National Monument

Plenty of choices as you can see, but their is nothing wrong with Gallup that isn't part of everywhere in America. We just spent a 4 day weekend a couple of weeks ago at Red Rock park near Churchrock and had no issues with crime, of course we took the normal precautions we would no matter where we are parked. As for private parks in Gallup, USA RV park has always enjoyed good reviews and is safe as one can possibly expect in the good ole USA.

Well, we decided to head west on 40 in spite of the heat & ended up at Holbrook, AZ where we will check out the petrified forest tomorrow. We will then maybe head over to Sedona or on up to Page before heading to Kanab in a week. We have one of Best Friend's two RV sites booked for two weeks where we will volunteer some & make day trips to the many parks in the area.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Cass & Lyn

Make sure you take the short hike to the Newspaper Rock Petroglyph Site when you tour Petrified Forest National Park.

Homolovi Ruins State Park is between Holbrook and Winslow not far off of I-40 if you have the time.

Good for you volunteering at Best Friends. The campsites are in a pretty area and the facility is top-notch. ...wondering if you return with a new addition to your RV! :)