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caysea7254's avatar
caysea7254
Explorer
Aug 24, 2013

HYW 89 in AZ

Is HYW 89 open To Bitter Springs? Which is best route from southrim of grand canyon to Virin UT. Thanks Tara

6 Replies

  • ok I believe you. Hubby says we wont know till we try! I'm the one scared of heights, but getting better. We are not going to miss scenery because of the unknown. Thanks again everyone!!! Tara
  • By the time you finish your trip you'll be pros!!

    Seriously, I believe you have a 24' RV which should not give you any problems on the western roads. We're from Michigan so they were new to us, too..but now we love them.

    When you begin entering the western states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona or even western Texas, it's not going to be climbing continuous mountains all at once. It will be gradual for you and when you do encounter a bigger uphill or downhill you'll be ready. Just relax and know that you CAN do it, as many RVers do. You just can't avoid them. If you want to travel to the national parks in the west you will not have flat roads to get there. You'll be just fine.

    By the way, we were definitely flatlanders but now we now BOTH drive our 40' motorhome in the mountains.
  • ok 2 gypsies, (good practice for Hwy 12) meaning what????? lol You guys that live out west and are use to mountain driving have to realize we are from Indiana, flat flat, so something you think very simple might be white knuckle for us!! We want to enjoy our scenic drives not be petrified!! :)
  • Exit Grand Canyon via Hwy 64 east to Hwy 89 north. The road damage is just beyond the intersection of 89A and 89 toward Page. So you'll need to take 89A west toward Jacob Lake (good practice for you for Hwy 12 :) )and then pick up AZ Hwy 389 west at Fredonia, AZ. Take 389 into Utah and it becomes UT 59. It will take you into Hurricane and on to Virgin. It's a very nice drive with one short uphill getting toward Jacob Lake.

    Exiting to get to Bryce which I think is your next stop, you can either take Hwy 9 east out of Zion and go through the tunnels and continue north on Hwy 89 or take Hwy 9 west to I-15 north and pick up Hwy 20 which will take you to Hwy 89. Head a little south on 89 through Panguitch and pick up Hwy 12 to Bryce.

    Have fun!
  • AZDOT flyer on US89

    The landslide in Feb. closed the part of US89 between the turn off near Bitter Springs and Page. US89A through Bitter Springs is open.

    So you can drive from Bitter Springs to Kanab, Utah, with a modest climb past AZ67 (to North Rim).

    There is a detour from the south using 160 and 98 to Page. And they are working on a shorter detour using N20.