southern Kansas, Ok, & NM

[routeforty]

Thinking the first of May we may take a month or so and head to NM, AZ, & Ca. Will go I-70 to I-44, but when we get to Joplin, Mo. was thinking of taking the 2 lane across southern Kansas(staying south of Witchita), cutting down through Guymon, Ok or Boise City, then into NM to I-25 to Albuquerque. Have been the I-40 way several times, wanted a change of scenery, and to go through tornado alley(will watch the weather). Anybody know anything about this area(diesel avaibility, sights, etc)? Have seen a couple towns have city parks to overnight in. I know it's really flat, don't have to remind me of that. Will be taking the Lance and towing the Prius on a tow dolly. After NM want to head to Grand Canyon, then on to Sequoia NP. Would like to stay mainly on 2 lane roads. No hurry. Then??? Will decide then. Any ideas?? Gary

[caver]

routeforty wrote:
Have seen a couple towns have city parks to overnight in.Gary

I go to the towns website for places to camp. Sometimes you can get a good tip from rvparkreviews. Last time I did the 160 route I stayed at Coldwater Lake.

[hotpepperkid]

jtrent6415 wrote:

hotpepperkid wrote:

jtrent6415 wrote:
I went to College 10 miles southwest of Guymon....and there is not much there. Guymon will have Diesel and any amenities you need. Liberal is a bigger town in the area and would also have anything needed. You would also not be very far from Dodge City, you could visit Boot Hill if you were interested in that. As you probably know from driving I-40 through the Texas panhandle, get ready for lots of wind!

No way Panhandle A&M. Me to but was only there a year

I was there 4 years, I liked it, but it is not for everyone!

I was in 1963 and on the ROTC rifle team. I worked at the dairy to pay my room and board. Along came Vietnam and off to war I went.

[jtrent6415]

hotpepperkid wrote:

jtrent6415 wrote:
I went to College 10 miles southwest of Guymon....and there is not much there. Guymon will have Diesel and any amenities you need. Liberal is a bigger town in the area and would also have anything needed. You would also not be very far from Dodge City, you could visit Boot Hill if you were interested in that. As you probably know from driving I-40 through the Texas panhandle, get ready for lots of wind!

No way Panhandle A&M. Me to but was only there a year

I was there 4 years, I liked it, but it is not for everyone!

[hotpepperkid]

Perty much what Reddwar said. There some interesting towns on US 160. In meade they have the Dalton gang hide out. The park at Winfield is nice just don't stay in the area where the carny people stay if it happens to be county fair time. Stay back toward the road and interance. US 160 goes all the way to US 89 in AZ. Wolf Creek Pass is on US 160. Once you get to Meade you will want to take US 54 which will take you to Guymon. Other roads will take you to Boise City ect. During WWII Boise City was bombed by the US Army Air Core. Its a long story but the gist is they created a decoy city for practice and training of building decoys. Well it seams they did a really good job and the Air Core couldn't tell the difference and stated bombing the wrong one

[hotpepperkid]

jtrent6415 wrote:
I went to College 10 miles southwest of Guymon....and there is not much there. Guymon will have Diesel and any amenities you need. Liberal is a bigger town in the area and would also have anything needed. You would also not be very far from Dodge City, you could visit Boot Hill if you were interested in that. As you probably know from driving I-40 through the Texas panhandle, get ready for lots of wind!

No way Panhandle A&M. Me to but was only there a year

[Engineer9860]

Check out the old Rte/US66 from Joplin west.

[reddwar]

When you get to Joplin I think 166 from Baxter Springs to Arkansas City then 11 miles north to Winfield then 160 on west is a lot faster & better road but 160 ia a more scenic route. If you do take 160 a must stop is the 160 cafe in in Burden. A nice place to camp is the fairgrounds on the west side of Winfield. If you come down I 44 A must stop it lamberts cafe in ozark mo. which is the home of Throwed Rolls. http://www.throwedrolls.com/ Not sure of it was the travel or food chanel that called it the best place to pig out in Americal. It is around 10 miles south of Springfield on 65 headed toward Branson.

[routeforty]

Thanks again everyone for the great replies. Looked up most of them and had the trip nearly planned. BUT-have to put it on hold for now 😞 Grandson was going with us-mainly the reason we were going-he is unable to go(nothing bad, but disapointed grandparents). We're looking at maybe early fall. Anyway TC was all cleaned up and ready to go so DW & I just decided to take a few days around Hocking Hills SP. Haven't been there in years-only a couple hours from home. Not quite the Grand Canyon, but still a nice few days in the TC. Gary

[TyroneandGladys]

Great overnight park in coffeyville Kansas

And instead of cutting down to Guymon cut down to Black Mesa State Park or go on to Trinidad Colorado and spend 1 or 2 days on the Highway of Legends Then to Durango Silverton Railroad stoping at Mesa Verde on the way to the Grand Canyon

[Vette_Racer]

If you go through Bartlesville, stop in at Murphy's Steakhouse and try the Hamburger Steak complete with Fries, gravy, and onions, OMG! need to plan a trip myself. And don't forget the house dressing on the salad.

[A_hitch_and_hop]

A trip across sothern Kansas and northern Oklahoma woul not be complete if you did not stop in Coffeyville, Ks to see the site of the last big bank robery shoot out. http://www.coffeyvillechamber.org/Attractions-35834.asp

And since you are near Bartlesville, you need to spend a day touring Frank Phillips home as well as the Woolaroc museum. http://www.woolaroc.org/

There are several nice RV parks near Bartlesville and Pawhuska, Ok.

[routeforty]

Thanks for the great responses!!! Deserthawk, I'll be 2 days just looking up all those places! jrs1871, looks like I will try 160. Haven't decided on Guymon or Boise City yet, probably play it by ear when we get there. Trailertraveler, thanks for those local CG ideas, that's what we'll be looking for. Jtrent, we probably will head up to Boot Hill, especially if a grandson goes with us. If you think of anything else don't hesitate to post!! Gary

[jrs1871]

If you want to stay south of Wichita across KS then 160 is the only more or less road across there. I have not gone across the state on 160 but the parts I have been on are decent two lane roads. You could take Alt. 69 west of Joplin, north to catch 160. That would take you across to Meade where you could catch 54 down to Guymon, OK and on into Tucumcari, NM. However the last time we were on 54 for that drive, we found the stretch across OK and part way into to TX to be really poor. We prefer to take 56 into Clayton, NM and then over to I25. To get to 56 you would have to take KS 51 into Hugoton. I have no idea what shape KS 51 is in but even the state roads in western KS are usually in decent shape because they don't have much traffic.

[trailertraveler]

US-50, 54, and 56 are all good two lane across Kansas. US-36 across Northern Kansas is also a good road. US-64 and 412 across New Mexico are good roads. There are plenty of places to get diesel. There are a number of Corps of Engineers Campgrounds in Eastern Kansas. There are RV parks/campgrounds in Dodge City, Mead, Liberal, Dalhart. Clayton, Guymon, Tucumcari. Ute Lake State Park is off US-54 East of Tucumcari. Conchas Lake State Park is West of Tucumcari. There is also Santa Rosa State Park North of Santa Rosa.

A few places that I did not see mentioned but may be in Desert Hawks links: Fort Union National Monument, Petroglyph National Monument, El Malpais National Monument, El Moro National Monument, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Salinas Pueblos National Monument, Tent Rocks National Monument, Acoma Sky City, Pueblo Cultural Center, Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Rio Grande River Gorge, Mining Museum. Tucumcari is an interesting small town.

We prefer to travel the U.S. Highways rather than the interstates.