Springfield,IL to Phoenix,AZ
Getting ready to head out after Thanksgiving. We will be going the southern most route. IL/MO/TN/AR/TX/NM AND AZ. Any suggestions on stops? Appreciate them.
Forum Discussion
- Do you mean overnight camping locations, or things to see? Do you like state parks or big rig pull-throughs? How far do you go in a day? We have taken the same route many times, so I do have some answers depending on your preferences.
- We took a trip from Springfield, MO, through much of your route this summer, but we continued on to CA instead of heading south into Arizona. I enjoyed using the Route 66 Adventure Handbook to learn about the small towns and roadside attractions on the Route 66 portion of the trip.
http://www.amazon.com/Route-66-Adventure-Handbook-Turbocharged/dp/159580059X
I blogged about several of the sites along the way. You can check it out here, if you're interested.
http://travelswithbirdy.com/birdy-goes-west/
The blog also has several campground reviews.
The best roadside attraction was the scenery. It really changed from state to state along that route.
Have a great trip. russkerri wrote:
We took a trip from Springfield, MO, through much of your route this summer, but we continued on to CA instead of heading south into Arizona. I enjoyed using the Route 66 Adventure Handbook to learn about the small towns and roadside attractions on the Route 66 portion of the trip.
http://www.amazon.com/Route-66-Adventure-Handbook-Turbocharged/dp/159580059X
I blogged about several of the sites along the way. You can check it out here, if you're interested.
http://travelswithbirdy.com/birdy-goes-west/
The blog also has several campground reviews.
The best roadside attraction was the scenery. It really changed from state to state along that route.
Have a great trip.
Cool blog. I am planning a 2 month trip from AZ to Niagara Falls, New York City, and Washington DC for next summer. Can't wait.- Any and all information you can give us. This is our first time going this far and pulling a new TT. Thank you
Snowman9000 wrote:
Do you mean overnight camping locations, or things to see? Do you like state parks or big rig pull-throughs? How far do you go in a day? We have taken the same route many times, so I do have some answers depending on your preferences.
Overnight Camping Locations. State parks are fine. Not sure how far we will be able to travel in a day. Any suggestions this is our first trip pulling our TT this far. This is all new to us.- The southernmost route would be directly south to I-10.
However, since you're leaving at Thanksgiving you still might consider I-40 but I wouldn't consider it into December because it can get some serious snowstorms. Check your weather carefully before heading out and as you're driving to make any changes.
If you take I-55 from Springfield, IL to I-44 to I-40 at Oklahoma City you'd have 1600 miles of driving to the far west side of Phoenix at I-17. You didn't say where in the Phoenix area you would be staying and Phoenix is HUGE.
So...if you drive 300 miles a day your stops would be around Springfield, MO (take in a Branson show?); Oklahoma City, Amarillo, TX (stay at Palo Duro Canyon State Park - a beauty); Grants, NM and then Phoenix. You'll be passing Albuquerque, NM and Flagstaff, AZ and they can both get snow. In fact, Flagstaff already had one!
Your other choice if weather is bad is 1765 miles - only 165 miles difference: Springfield, IL to I-44 to Oklahoma City to Wichita Falls, Texas. Then stay on 277 at Abilene, TX to I-20 to I-10. Your stops at 300 mi/day would be around Springfield, MO, Oklahoma City, OK, Abilene, TX, Van Horn, TX, Wilcox or Benson, AZ and then into Phoenix from the south.
Since you're traveling in winter you probably won't be doing much siteseeing. You'll have lots of time for that once you're in sunny Arizona. :)
Have a good trip! 2gypsies wrote:
The southernmost route would be directly south to I-10.
However, since you're leaving at Thanksgiving you still might consider I-40 but I wouldn't consider it into December because it can get some serious snowstorms. Check your weather carefully before heading out and as you're driving to make any changes.
If you take I-55 from Springfield, IL to I-44 to I-40 at Oklahoma City you'd have 1600 miles of driving to the far west side of Phoenix at I-17. You didn't say where in the Phoenix area you would be staying and Phoenix is HUGE.
So...if you drive 300 miles a day your stops would be around Springfield, MO (take in a Branson show?); Oklahoma City, Amarillo, TX (stay at Palo Duro Canyon State Park - a beauty); Grants, NM and then Phoenix. You'll be passing Albuquerque, NM and Flagstaff, AZ and they can both get snow. In fact, Flagstaff already had one!
Your other choice if weather is bad is 1765 miles - only 165 miles difference: Springfield, IL to I-44 to Oklahoma City to Wichita Falls, Texas. Then stay on 277 at Abilene, TX to I-20 to I-10. Your stops at 300 mi/day would be around Springfield, MO, Oklahoma City, OK, Abilene, TX, Van Horn, TX, Wilcox or Benson, AZ and then into Phoenix from the south.
Since you're traveling in winter you probably won't be doing much siteseeing. You'll have lots of time for that once you're in sunny Arizona. :)
Have a good trip!
We will be going 55 south to Memphis. At Memphis I-40 to Little Rock,Az I-30 through Dallas,TX I-20 Out of TX then on to I-10 coming up through Tucson to the 17.- Your planned route is 1900 miles and doable but personally, I wouldn't go through Dallas if I could avoid it.
- You might as well try to make at least 400 miles on the first couple of days, to get down to hopefully warmer weather.
If you are up for a full day of travel each day, but still getting in by dark, you are looking at:
West Memphis KOA
Canton TX (find a commercial RV park)
Monahans Sand Hills SP, west of Odessa, TX (bleak place but right off the highway)
Las Cruces (shorter day) KOA is nice
Phoenix (shorter day)
We prefer state parks but at your stops they are not very close, and maybe not open or practical at that time of year. We find it nice to decompress on the 3rd stop, and stay an extra day. Although at Midland/Odessa/Monahans, it's not exactly paradise. :)
Sometimes we regroup at Las Cruces, then make the final run to AZ.
There just are not a lot of convenient, good, open (that time of year) RV parks in southern MO and through AR on your route. There is a good one in Sikeston, MO. And Texarkana, AR. We've stayed more than once at one in Arkadelphia, AR. The afternoon shift guy is surly but the CG is fine. There are a few good ones in Las Cruces. There is one in town we like, called Sunny Acres. It's quiet, roomy, friendly, and close to shopping and such. The KOA is up on a hill with a beautiful night view of the city. You should be able to get easy pull-through sites at all of the above, except maybe Sunny Acres (but ask, because they do have them.)
Don't feel you need to unhook every night. That's a newbie mistake. Get reasonably level, put your stabilizer jacks down, and settle in. Same for hooking up sewer and dumping, you should not need to do it every day. But at least at commercial parks, you will have the full hookups when you want to use them.
Have fun!
