Route for California to Texas travel in early April

[ejmorgan]

We plan to start our trip from Southern California to Austin, Texas, this coming weekend. We will be towing a 29' travel trailer. We could take Interstate 40 or Interstate 10 across Arizona and New Mexico.

Which route would be better at this time of year to avoid snowy conditions or road closures due to weather?

Also, are most RV Parks along these routes open for business at this time? Thanks for any advice!

Ed

[brooks379]

Had me scratching my head for a minute...... 85 is a good road and it is now mostly 4 lane to Gila Bend.

[TyroneandGladys]

brooks379 wrote:
I've never even slowed down on 85 bypassing PHX north or south bound any time of day. 85 be a long ways west of PHX.

You are correct I was thinking of another route.

[brooks379]

I've never even slowed down on 85 bypassing PHX north or south bound any time of day. 85 be a long ways west of PHX.

[TyroneandGladys]

brooks379 wrote:
I 40- 95 SOUTH I 10 east - 85 south- I 8 east to I 10 east....YOU ARE GOLDEN !!! all good roads !! and you will miss the mess in PHX.

I have driven both but at rush hour both are horrible. Plan your trip to hit Phoenix between the hours of 11Am to 2PM on weekdays or anytime on weekends and it is smooth sailing either route.

[brooks379]

I 40- 95 SOUTH I 10 east - 85 south- I 8 east to I 10 east....YOU ARE GOLDEN !!! all good roads !! and you will miss the mess in PHX.

[ejmorgan]

NMDriver wrote:
Most of the time we are going to SF Bay area so we cut off on AZ and US 95 to I-40 and then stop in Tehachapai in summer or Palmdale Fair grounds in winter.

Thanks, NMDriver. Lot of good info.

Going from I40 to I8 (west of Phoenix), how does AZ 85 compare to the US 95 route?

Ed

[ejmorgan]

We appreciate all the tips for routes and places to stay on our trip. Thanks everyone! Looks like we'll keep an eye on the latest forecasts and choose the best route accordingly. I10 looks best to avoid snow, as long as dust storms don't develop.

Ed

[NMDriver]

Going west from Austin on I-10 we stop at Twin Arrows Rv in Ft. Stockton, TX, Western Skys in Vado, NM, KOA Gila Bend,and if we are on going through LA on I-10 we stop at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio and from there we either go to Point Mugu or Santa Nella depending on our final destination. Those are about 350-400 miles apart and are reasonably priced

Most of the time we are going to SF Bay area so we cut off on AZ and US 95 to I-40 and then stop in Tehachapai in summer or Palmdale Fair grounds in winter.

On a side note my aunt lives in Dixon but we park near our grand kids in San Leandro when we are RVing in that area.

[ejmorgan]

TyroneandGladys wrote:
Would take I40 to Needles and then 95 to I10. Campgrounds should be open.
might be able to recommend some stop with the following info how many days do you have for this jaunt and how many miles per day do you want to drive

Thanks, TyroneandGladys. Recommended stops would be appreciated. Would like to travel about 400 miles per day for 5 days.

Ed

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

RV parks on the I-10 route never close.

Took I-8/I-10 from San Diego to Dallas in the second week of January. Everything open.

Took US-380/US-70/I-10 from Dallas to Las Cruces to Los Angeles area the third week of March - everything open.

I like the I-40 drive better, but the routing didn't work for us this time.

Got stopped on I-40 outside Gallup NM once for ice on the road - in AUGUST.

Got stopped on I-10 near Lordsburg once - for blowing dust storms.

Just look at the weather forecast and take the best weather route.

[brooks379]

I 10....... Less hills and the weather in northern NM this week is SNOW....It is a little windy right now in Southern NM but calling for low winds, mid 70's and plenty of sunshine all weekend.

[NMDriver]

You are likely to find I-10 closed due to dust storms this time of year. The DOT will detour you off to secondary roads, it is like a LA traffic jam. You can still keep going but it adds 1-2 hours to a days drive.

I-40 will mostly be clear and you can check the weather a week in advance to see if there is a storm coming in. The forecast for Flagstaff and Gallup is a good indicator for the whole route as far as freezing weather is concerned.

Today is not a good day for I-40 around Albuquerque this morning but the weekend looks good.

[Captain_Happy]

I'd go on I-10 all the way to say Kerrville, Texas, and then up to Fredricksburg and over to Austin, Texas. You'll be in the Hill Country.

[Isaac-1]

I would tend to suggest the more southern route also, I had an experience with a blizzard in NM which kept I-40 closed for a couple of days around that time of year (may have been early April) about 10-15 years ago, I did not see the I-40 conditions first hand, I stopped in Roswell early that day after running into the snow which was piling up fast just after leaving Carlsbad (75 miles south). That was a memorable adventuresome couple of days, first seeing the caverns, then spending the night in a Quality Inn (former external corridor Holiday Inn) a section of the 2nd floor walkway collapsed just after I checked in about 30 feet from my room, they had a construction crew out shoring up the rest of the walkway running power tools until about midnight.