Heading out west in Sept. by route I-40. Plan on grand canyon, zion,bryce, canyonland, arches. Not going up to Tetons or Yellowstone this time. What other attractions along the way, would you suggest? Can only do short hikes of 1/2 mile or so. Not interested in shopping, places to eat, or fishing. Pulling 5th wheel. Willing to venture off route 40 a couple hours if it is worth it. Suggestions?

Memphis is full of interesting things to see and do. Tom Sawyer's RV Park in West Memphis is a great place to sit by the Mississippi River and watch the barges go by. In Arkansas, a few miles south of I-40 is Mississippi River State Park. The campground has only 17 sites, all lakefront and full hook up. Award winning BBQ in nearby Marianna. We liked it so much we went there twice. I posted about our first stay at Crowley's Ridge Parkway and the Great River RoadLittle Rock is a good stopover. In Oklahoma, the only place we stayed was Red Rock Canyon State Park. There is a short drive down a fairly steep grade into the canyon but doable in a 35 foot fifth wheel. Amarillo, TX has the Cadillac Ranch and the Big Texan Steakhouse. Palo Duron Canyon is a great day trip from Amarillo or you can camp there. Albuquerque, NM is another good stopover with beautiful scenery and a couple of national monuments nearby. Stand on the corner in Winslow, AZ. In many places along I-40 you will be traveling near towns with memorabilia from old Route 66.Have fun!

I recommend Jacob Lake Arizona as a base camp. It sits at 8K altitude and is much cooler and nice than Kanab at 5K altitude. That place is hot as are most of the sights you want to see. Jacob Lake is only 44 miles from the North Rim and you can do most of the sights you want as day trips from there. And the inn used to have pretty good food and nice Indian blankets etc. Very nice. I'm figuratively sitting on one I bought there in 2006 at about 1400 bucks and is now worth about 5K (Wide Ruins). This (below) from Wikipedia describes Kanab which is the breakout point for the sights if you use Jacob Lake as a base camp. And the drive from Jacob Lake down to Kanab is fun and beautiful itself. A surprising thing to go see if you like Animals is the "Best Friends" sanctuary. They own a canyon and were the animal sanctuary that took in most of the animals from Katrina. We, coincidentally, knew someone who quit their life as a genetics counselor to be an animal trainer there. "Kanab is situated in the "Grand Circle" area, centrally located among Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, the Grand Canyon (North Rim), Zion National Park, and Lake Powell. Other nearby attractions include Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, the privately owned Moqui Cave, and the largest animal sanctuary in the United States, Best Friends Animal Society."

Kentucky _Jo wrote:Heading out west in Sept. by route I-40. Plan on grand canyon, zion,bryce, canyonland, arches. Not going up to Tetons or Yellowstone this time. What other attractions along the way, would you suggest? Can only do short hikes of 1/2 mile or so. Not interested in shopping, places to eat, or fishing. Pulling 5th wheel. Willing to venture off route 40 a couple hours if it is worth it. Suggestions?First off "Welcome to the RV World".Sounds as if this might be your first adventure out West? I will suggest that you start by Heading out to Colorado and then slowly work your way South to the Grand Canyon, as it is still fairly warm in the SouthWest.What might be the "Mission" of the trip - What are You Interested In? What would make this a Great Trip? What have you Heard about that makes You think this is for YOU?I Love the Rocks - The Rockies and the Drives in and Around all the Big Mountains out West. When it gets too Cold to enjoy, Like Minus 20 (-20) we move to Utah and the Desert - the Color there will amaze most people along with the shapes of the Rocks.So without Knowing what you are really interested in hard to steer you to anything but what I'm interested in!So, I usually head to Hannibal, MO catch RT 36 out to Denver - Good road - Less Traffic - Fewer Trucks and just an easy drive, with small towns and friendly Locals along the way.In Colorado we usually start in Golden - if you like beer this ia not only the Home of Coors but of many Craft brewers........along with it being right at the foot of the Rockies. From here Peak to Peak - to Estes/RMNP - Boulder and downtown Denver.Then head out RT 6 to Idaho Springs - on through the Tunnel on I-70 to Leadville - Twin Lakes - Collegiates - Buena Vista - Browns Canyon NM - all Right off RT 24. Now on to Salida RT 50 over to Gunnison - Crested Butte - Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP - Ouray. Now depending how long it has taken you can continue in the Rockies or Head out to Moab to Catch Utah.?South will give you Silverton and Durango along with Mesa Verde National Park. North gives you - Colorado NM - Possibly Marble and Maroon Bells, before taking RT 128 into Moab.There you go - MY trip for You - now it will likely be late October and Cooler so you can Head on down through Utah and the Grand Canyon.Hope this is of some help, as I've said this is MY trip for YOU.Best of Luck,

Based upon your I40 route. For scenery, about the only secondary route I might take is to go north at Alberqurque up to Bluff Utah. Hit Shiprock. North of Bluff 41 miles is one of the most beautiful NFS campgrounds in the world called Devils Canyon. From there, at night, you can see forever (at the entrance) including down to Shiprock and the skies are unbelievable. It might seem out of the way, but the drive from that campground to Jacob Lake (five hoursish) is the actual sight to see including Monument Valley, Mexican Hat and the run to Tuba City into Jacob lake. That drive alone is worth it. So, I'd either go straight there or do that side route in. Awesome trip you have in mind. I've been traveling that area of the world for fifty years. My family used to know "old timers" and my dad drank beer with Edward Abbey (Desert Solitaire) a few times. There is a practically unknown Canyon you can get to from Devils Canyon if you wanted to make it a two night called Montezuma Canyon. It is not a protected area, but has a lot of Anazazi ruins you can just walk up to as a day trip. My info is forty years old for that but it was special. There are a few sights I cannot even tell you about.Oh, buy the book Desert Solitaire for the trip. It will make you want to plan around the four corners area for your next trip. You are skirting it on this one. A previous poster noted some of its sights. that's a whole different deal.

You can stand on the corner in Winslow AZ and look for a girl in a red truck and there is free dry camping at the lake out of town.Petrified Forest NP free dry camping at store at south entrance.Meteor CraterSunset Crater NPBe sure to see the north rim of Grand Canyon.

Ky. To Grand Canyon on route I-40 | Good Sam Community

trailertraveler
Explorer
Aug 11, 2018
Kentucky _Jo wrote:
...Plan on ...zion,bryce, canyonland, arches...Suggestions?
Bryce Canyon/Utah 12-24 area:
Ut-12 Scenic Byway
Fishlake Scenic Byway
Scenic Backways off UT-12
Burr Trail
Hiking
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Kodachrome Basin State Park
Anasazi State Park
Calf Creek Falls
Hells Backbone
Capitol Reef National Park
Goblin Valley State Park

Moab area:
Kane Creek Road
Potash Lower Colorado Byway
Upper Colorado River UT-128 Scenic Byway
Sago Canyon
Dead Horse Point State Park
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Needles District
Newspaper Rock

US-89 area:
Zion National Park
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

Monument Valley, Bluff, Blanding Area:
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
Sand Island Petroglyphs
Edge of the Cedars State Park
Dinosaur Museum
jolooote
Explorer
Aug 11, 2018
A GEM everyone bypasses is the area around FlagStaff. When you turn north onto Rt 89 make sure to take the scenic byway thru Sun Set Crater and Wupatki Nat'l Monuments. Its a fine paved road and not out of the way. The Indian ruins are almost as good as Mesa Verde and each is less than 1/4 mile from the hyway. There are a lot of dry camping sites all along this route also.
huachuca
Explorer
Aug 11, 2018
Lots of good suggestions here. We've traveled this route a number of times form NC to AZ and other western states. Palo Duro Canyon SP is definitely worth an overnight or two and we enjoyed the Plains Museum in nearby Canyon, TX.

Carlsbad Caverns is more than a couple of hours off I40 but is a NP we really enjoy. Brantley Lake SP is a good place to stay in that area.

If you find yourself around Page, AZ, the all day boat trip to Rainbow Bridge is awesome. We like to camp at Lee's Ferry in the Glen Canyon NRA when staying around there. Not a good choice if you need hookups but they do have a dump station.

Have fun.
suprz
Explorer
Aug 11, 2018
We did that exact route 2 years ago. Went to Mammoth cave National park in KY, then took 40 across, we went to the Meteor Crater in Winslow AZ ( yes THAT winslow AZ, you can take your picture on the corner in town too) then to the Grand Canyon, then to Monument Valley, then to Arches National park
Kentucky__Jo
Explorer
Aug 27, 2018
I can't thank everyone enough for all your help. Feeling a little overwhelmed with all the choices, but am now going to sit down and try to map it all out before we make our way across. Have decided to put Bryce, Zion, Arches, Canyonland, and Garden of the Gods on the "if we still have the energy list" since we have already been to those places. Thanks again.
Brent_and_Gina
Explorer
Aug 30, 2018
Kentucky _Jo wrote:
I can't thank everyone enough for all your help. Feeling a little overwhelmed with all the choices, but am now going to sit down and try to map it all out before we make our way across. Have decided to put Bryce, Zion, Arches, Canyonland, and Garden of the Gods on the "if we still have the energy list" since we have already been to those places. Thanks again.

KJ,

I'd love to hear what you decide on for your itinerary. Gina and I are doing the same thing from the Little Rock area leaving 3rd week of September for 3 weeks. I want to see a bunch of the four corners area, parks, cuisine, and local cultures. The only thing is I have is a fear of heights especially if the roads are narrow and there's no guard rails. I don't want to hijack your thread, but I figure it might be better to solicit from you and others for both our sakes.

Brent
mittshel
Explorer
Aug 31, 2018
You have a lot to digest but I must throw this one out. Sedona, AZ is a ways south of Flagstaff, but a pretty spectacular area. Betsy.
charming
Explorer
Sep 01, 2018
Good luck with your trip, we're heading out next week, had to delay the big trip a week but we're all set to go now. Hoping we can get back home sometime in the first week of November. We're planning to take I-40 west to CA and back east on I-10 in the spring, so we can cut a few things off the trip this time.

Forum Discussion

Ky. To Grand Canyon on route I-40

About Campground 101

Related Content

Travel Route to Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon to Zion

Tn to Grand Canyon

Central Florida to Grand Canyon

Visiting Grand Canyon in July