Route stops between Albuquerque & Flagstaff?

Hank85713 wrote:
There are more areas such as the vast array down a little further out of soccoro, there is Pie Town along the same route and then you can go north to the Malapais lava flow...The painted desert with just a cursory view will take several hours and then you will either back track or take 2 lane roads back to I40 to get on trac again...

New Mexico has many interesting places to visit. We have spent over 8 months over the course of several years traveling throughout the state. Ten days will only let you see a very small part of what is available.

The Very Large Array(VLA) is worth visiting. It has a nice visitor center and self-guided walking tour. However, it is 126 miles from Albuquerque. Pie Town does have an annual festival, but when we have gone through it really wasn't much different than many of the other semi ghost towns in rural New Mexico except for the focus on pie. A loop to include the VLA, Pie Town and El Malpais National Monument and rejoin I-40 at Grants is 262 miles versus 72 miles from Albuquerque to Grants via I-40. From Grants you can visit the El Malpais Lava Flows, Inscription Rock at El Moro National Monument, and the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano in a one day loop. We found the mining museum in Grants, which has a replica of a uranium mine, to be interesting. Some of the campgrounds in Grants have lava flows all around them.

Going Westbound on I-40, if you take exit 311, you will be at the Painted Desert Visitor Center of Petrified Forest National Park. If you follow Petrified Forest Road, it will take you through the Park to the South Entrance on US-180. US-180 West will take you back to I-40 West at Exit 285 in Holbrook.