I-40 across the country

[cardtarget]

Hey all, we're driving from Durham, NC all the way to the Grand Canyon on I-40. Planning on hitting Memphis, Little Rock, OK City, Albaquerque, etc.

Family of 5 with kids 10, 8, and 5. Tell me about anything else worth seeing in that 3000 miles. Campgrounds, museums, restaurants, whatever! What are you "must sees"?

[cardtarget]

LOL... ambitious, yes, but what are your other options for a working family with, at most, 4 weeks? It's 30 hours of driving to get out to the Grand Canyon (and that's in a car, so figure 35). If we average 5 hours a day we can make it in a week. So it takes a week to get out there and a week to get back. So we have 10-12 days between the Grand Canyon and southern Utah.

Of course I'd love to stay everywhere longer! And I've taken many notes and made many stars on my google map so that when my wife and I have months in the future we can do all of the cool stuff I'm seeing.

But we have to do our best to make our memories in the time constraints we have.

As far as backtracking, the fastest way home from Moab is on I-70 through Colorado and Kansas. It's not backtracking. When I say "do Colorado" I mean stay there for a night (at most 2), not see the whole state. Plus, by that point in the trip the kids will be "natured out" and just want to go to an amusement park or the movies.

[Thom02099]

ken56 wrote:
Its an ambitious itinerary and I am not sure you will have adequate time to do what you plan on doing in the same day you drive to a destination. It all depends on conditions and what your rig set up is. How fast are you comfortable with pulling or driving your rig and still keep you and your family safe? Contingency for blow outs and other mechanical problems? Things happen.

I live a few miles away from Anchor Down and can vouch that its a beautiful campground. You will want to stay there longer. It overlooks Douglas Lake and has a beautiful view of the Smokies. It would make a good base to tour the Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg area some other trip.

I think the most important thing would be to be flexible and be willing to change your itinerary if needed. Otherwise just go have a great time.

^^^^^This. Very ambitious.

And you stated you wanted to come back through Colorado. Unless you have another 9 days on top of this, I'd advise skipping Colorado this trip, as it will be difficult to see/do much of anything unless you have the time devoted to it. Allowing only a few days doesn't do the state justice! I'd recommend doubling back on I-40, and seeing what you may have missed going out, and plan a separate trip to Colorado another time...when you'll get lots of recommendations of things to see/do here!

[scout_dad]

In Oklahoma City Twin Fountains RV Park is 1 of the best in city area, they have lots of stuff for family , club room with games, pool table, etc..
You could visit National Cowboy Hall of Fame, OKC Zoo both within 2-3 minutes. Short drive to down town and Riverwalk and Bricktown area.
Boat house district near there.

Hope this helps, safe travels.

[ken56]

Its an ambitious itinerary and I am not sure you will have adequate time to do what you plan on doing in the same day you drive to a destination. It all depends on conditions and what your rig set up is. How fast are you comfortable with pulling or driving your rig and still keep you and your family safe? Contingency for blow outs and other mechanical problems? Things happen.

I live a few miles away from Anchor Down and can vouch that its a beautiful campground. You will want to stay there longer. It overlooks Douglas Lake and has a beautiful view of the Smokies. It would make a good base to tour the Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg area some other trip.

I think the most important thing would be to be flexible and be willing to change your itinerary if needed. Otherwise just go have a great time.

[huachuca]

We're a bit east of you (Tarboro) and have taken that route a number of times. Petit Jean SP in AR is worth a day or two but it looks like you're pushing hard with just overnight stops on the way out so may not be worth it. I'll second another poster's recommendation of Palo Duro SP outside Amarillo and not too far off I-40. Red Rock Canyon SP in OK is near I-40.

If you have time, try to work Carlsbad Caverns NP in and make advance reservations for the Lower Cave tour. Brantley Lake SP is a good place to stay while in that area and the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens SP is nearby. We found lots of dry camping options around Glen Canyon NRA if that's of any interest.

[RoyB]

There is too much to see and do - Driving across country just does not do it justice.. What you really need to do is to go to one section of of it and spend a couple of weeks...

Centered on Flagstaff AZ is a good example...

I'm not even sure a couple of weeks would be justice for that area... I lived in the Tempe AZ area for a couple of years and never got to see all of the things associated with Northern AZ...

Just saying...

Roy Ken

[Campinghoss]

You will be rolling right along to do all of it but I understand time restraints. We did the trip a few years ago but we stayed a bit longer. I do know that staying in Williams Az at the KOA was a good choice for us. The Grand Canyon railroad leaves from there and we enjoyed doing that a lot. If my memory serves me correctly it is about a 40 minute drive from Williams to the Canyon. For us the KOA was centrally located more or less from what we wanted to do. I am sure where you have picked is more central for you too.

[cardtarget]

Ok, here's a little more detail of where we're at.

We did Yellowstone two years ago and Maine last summer, so we're getting good at longer RV trips.

We're leaving June 17th, 2017. I have already booked our first night at Anchor Down RV park just inside the Tennessee border.

We want to go to Sedona and do slide rock with the kids on the way to the Grand Canyon, so that is going to take us a little bit south.

We're planning on doing Zion, Bryce, and Moab, then heading home through the colorado area.

Right now, here's my tentative itinerary for the trip out there. Trying to front load driving before the kids get too sick of it.

Day 1 - Sat - June 17th, Anchor Down RV resort
Day 2 - Sun - June 18th, Memphis or somewhere else in west Tennessee.
Day 3 - Mon - June 19th, Little Rock, Arkansas Travelers baseball (AA Mariners - home June 18th--21)
Day 4 - Tue - June 20th, Oklahoma City, OK?
Day 5 - Wed - June 21st, Amarillo, Tx?
Day 6, Thu, June 22 - Albequerque, NM - Petroglyph National Monument
Day 7, Fri June 23rd- Petrified Forest National Park
Day 8, Saturday, June 24th - Sedona, Slide Rock
Day 9, Sunday, June 25th, Grand Canyon....

I'm thinking two nights at Trailer Village at the Grand Canyon, two nights at Zion (watchman), a night at Bryce, then three nights somewhere in Moab (maybe renting a car) to explore the various parks in that area.

Then heading home.

Does that sound reasonable?

[TenOC]

azdryheat wrote:
"Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona". Meteor Crater, AZ. Williams, AZ for taste of Route 66. Graceland is a must do.

Meteor crater outside Winslow. Also there is a city park (?) at the lake outside Winslow with free camping

Free camping at the rock store at south entrance to pererfice Forest. That will allow the kids to sleep in a teepee.

[ken56]

That's a great trip. What is the time line you plan on? All summer or just 2-3 weeks? How much do you plan on driving in a day? There is just so much to do and so little time. lol. When we plan a trip I go to each state's tourism web site and order their visitor packet that we plan on being in. Research each city you are going through and see what is interesting to you. Outside Amarillo is Palo Duro Canyon State Park, the second largest canyon in the country. Might be a good place to explore for a day or two. Amarillo also has The Big Texas Steak Ranch restaurant. If you are inclined to have a good steak dinner I say do it there.

I would get off I-40 and follow rt. 66 at times too. Don't be shy about going a little off the I-40 route. Thats where you find the odd ball and quaint places you would normally pass by without ever knowing it was there.

[Busskipper]

cardtarget wrote:
Hey all, we're driving from Durham, NC all the way to the Grand Canyon on I-40. Planning on hitting Memphis, Little Rock, OK City, Albaquerque, etc.

Family of 5 with kids 10, 8, and 5. Tell me about anything else worth seeing in that 3000 miles. Campgrounds, museums, restaurants, whatever! What are you "must sees"?

When I plug in your trip if you were to go directly it would be 2,143 - but who's counting :E . I'll chime in for the ETC part of the trip and a thought about the route home.

Out of Albuquerque head to Window rock - the Capital of the Navajo Nation, from there over to Canyon de Chelly - across to Rt 64 entrance to the Grand Canyon - IMHO just different coming in away from the main entrance - after you time at the GCNP look at leaving the same way you came in then heading to Page and Lake Powell - Antelope Slot Canyon - Monument Valley - Mexican Hat - Moab - then if we still have the time a little trip just trough Colorado - (That's a whole page just there) but to Name Drop - Colorado Nation Monument - Ouray - Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP - Marble - Maroon Bells - Independence Pass - Leadville - Collegiates - Crested Butte - Buena Vista - Great Sand Dunes NP then back home.

Confused? :h .

Just soooooo........ much to see and do - time of year and amount of time.

Photo's from Stan Parker

Family that did this every year for three weeks.

Search more on mpond - Matt - does more than most dream of.

Hope this is of some help in your GREAT ADVENTURE!!!!!

[lawnspecialties]

cardtarget wrote:
Hey all, we're driving from Durham, NC all the way to the Grand Canyon on I-40. Planning on hitting Memphis, Little Rock, OK City, Albaquerque, etc.

Family of 5 with kids 10, 8, and 5. Tell me about anything else worth seeing in that 3000 miles. Campgrounds, museums, restaurants, whatever! What are you "must sees"?

Totally jealous here. When I retire in ten years, that's the number one target spot I want to camp at on our cross-country trip.

Safe travels.

[gbopp]

I like to use Roadside America when traveling.
Maybe you can find something interesting along your route.

[md_procouple]

If the kids like animals the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm is a must! They also have a walk in bird cage where you can feed the birds. Its located in Picocho Az. between Tucson and Phoenix My husband and I loved it. Good Luck and Happy Caming

[2gypsies1]

Here's one site and there are more to Google for:

https://roadtrippers.com/trips/14685149