I-25 Albuquerque, New Mexico to I-10

wallynm wrote:
Flagstaff to Phoenix on I-17 in not all downhill but has some decent grades both up and down. Last 20 miles or so pretty much down hill.

cpoo wrote:
I am assuming that going south to Phoenix from Flagstaff on I-17 is an easy drive all down hill but perhaps north bound a bit of a climb.

yup. expect one or two decent pulls SB on 17 just south of exit 289.

Flagstaff to Phoenix on I-17 in not all downhill but has some decent grades both up and down. Last 20 miles or so pretty much down hill.

cpoo wrote:
I am assuming that going south to Phoenix from Flagstaff on I-17 is an easy drive all down hill but perhaps north bound a bit of a climb.

I am assuming that going south to Phoenix from Flagstaff on I-17 is an easy drive all down hill but perhaps north bound a bit of a climb.

jrp wrote:
yes, an easy drive, just over 200 miles, no mountains, just a few big washes that you drop in and climb out.
if you're headed West on I-10, exit at Hatch and use 26 to Deming, saves almost 50 miles from going the long way thru Las Cruces.

X-2!!

Executive wrote:
When are you leaving? We are in Norman OK at the moment and we will be here another week. The weather is colder but no rain..yet...:W. We plan on heading west to Flag and then south to Phx around December 1st..ish. We plan on making the decision on 25 when we get to Albuquerque....Dennis

Depart on the first of Dec.

You are in the Rio Grande valley all the way, no high passes, and the water has to run downhill, thus so does the road, mostly.

Not the case for other sections of I-25 to the north, but fro Abq it is downhill.

When are you leaving? We are in Norman OK at the moment and we will be here another week. The weather is colder but no rain..yet...:W. We plan on heading west to Flag and then south to Phx around December 1st..ish. We plan on making the decision on 25 when we get to Albuquerque....Dennis

I've been lucky in the past with I-40 passing through after a storm with snow only on sides or with a storm trailing a day behind so we pushed a little harder to beat it and get out of the way. This trip we are challenging ourselves to traveling an easy fashion doing no more than 8 hrs on the road a day and about 400 miles. We are most familiar with the route that takes us to Memphis and that has us heading south quickly instead of going west to Des Moines to head south on 35. Where we go from Memphis is a condition of weather. Options are I-40 to Little Rock and then angle south or keep on going. Or continue south to I-20 and head west or all the way to 10 or 12 and head west. We would really like to avoid having to drive 10 the entire trip across Texas. That is 900 miles plus of driving and we have done it several times. Listen to a good book. It seems my ideal for getting to Palm Dessert is to take 40 to I-25 and then to Deming as suggested. From there 10 to 8 and the cut off back to 10 to avoid Phoenix. I didn't know that I-25 from I-40 was an easy drive and a great way to avoid the mountains in Gallop and Flagstaff so that has adjusted my thinking. Have to get south at some point so I-25 looks like an excellent choice if I have not been forced south earlier. All suggestions are welcomed.

staying on 40 west is ok if the weather is reasonable. But if a winter storm is approaching, take the time to head south to I-10 before its too late; or stop for a few days to allow the storm & its aftermath to clear.

cpoo wrote:
Thank you everyone. I am heading initially to Palm dessert so perhaps this is the best route no matter the weather. We will be leaving Madison, WI . Our initial trip is to take 151 to 80 to 35 south and cut across from Wichita to Tucamcari and then take 40 until we cut down to 10 at Phoenix. But perhaps it is easier to drop down to 10 on 25 and cut over to Deming as suggested. Probably avoid some mountains and potential December snowstorms.

cpoo wrote:
I have done 40 in the past on the way to LA but this time we are stopping in Palm Dessert for a few days. Avoiding Flagstaff is a good idea as that has the greatest likelihood of snow. If weather doesn't work for 35 south and Kansas route then I will drop down to 40 at Memphis and go across through Little Rock and Oklahoma City. Will probably be asking about best bypass of Oklahoma City as well. Thanks. This is so much better than AAA. REal routes from the people who drive them.

OK city is not bad as far as traffic goes. just avoid the morning and PM rush hours.