Going to Mesa Arizona

Lady Fitzgerald wrote:
I would prefer going to Flagstaff and pick up I-17 south to Loop 101 in Phoenix and go east on 101 to U.S. 60 in Tempe, then east on 60 into Mesa. Turning off at Holbrook will take you through some nice scenery but you will have some steep grades on twisting, winding roads. If the weather is the least bit dicey, it could get rather hairy...

If the weather is dicey, I-17 won't be significantly better.

Lady Fitzgerald wrote:
Turning off at Holbrook will take you through some nice scenery but you will have some steep grades on twisting, winding roads.

Parts of 260 are now 4 lane divided and wide. I don't find towing on 260 bad at all. Theres some steep grades but I-17 has a few as well.

87 south of Payson is almost all 4 lane divided. Much better than years ago when it was 2 lane.

Either way you're dropping from 7000' to 1100' in Mesa/Phoenix so downhill grades can't be avoided nor can snow possibilities.

Lady Fitzgerald wrote:
you will have some steep grades on twisting, winding roads. If the weather is the least bit dicey, it could get rather hairy..

You are making it sound worse than it is - or more likely its more than you can handle.
Others find it very doable.

Holbrook is a great way to get to Mesa and avoiding a LOT of Phoenix traffic.

I would prefer going to Flagstaff and pick up I-17 south to Loop 101 in Phoenix and go east on 101 to U.S. 60 in Tempe, then east on 60 into Mesa. Turning off at Holbrook will take you through some nice scenery but you will have some steep grades on twisting, winding roads. If the weather is the least bit dicey, it could get rather hairy. I-17 has some pretty steep grades (up to 6%) but the road is better and straighter. Just try to plan your route to avoid Phoenix and Tempe during rush hour.

Altern wrote:

lbrjet wrote:

TyroneandGladys wrote:
Take I40 west to Holbrook AZ then drop down 77 to 377 to 260 and then on 87 the rest of the way towards Mesa

X2

X3

Did this route just 2 weeks ago from Mesa to Holbrook. Beautiful climbing over the mogollon rim from the desert.

lbrjet wrote:

TyroneandGladys wrote:
Take I40 west to Holbrook AZ then drop down 77 to 377 to 260 and then on 87 the rest of the way towards Mesa

X2

X3

TyroneandGladys wrote:
Take I40 west to Holbrook AZ then drop down 77 to 377 to 260 and then on 87 the rest of the way towards Mesa

X2

Watch the weather. You should be fine using US60 via Holbrook and AZ77, or south at Santa Rosa, NM on US54 to Vaughn and then US60 west if it was me. If the weather is nice then no problems with any route. If the weather forecast is icy roads then turn south on US54 down to US 70 in Alamagordo and follow US 70 to 60 in Globe or use I-10 via Tucson if the weather is really bad.

How far is US 54 from where you are starting. I always use US 54 from Tucumcarri to Wichita.

Take I40 west to Holbrook AZ then drop down 77 to 377 to 260 and then on 87 the rest of the way towards Mesa