Desert Captain wrote:
Highway 87 aka the Beeline Highway runs north from Mesa {just east of Phoenix} north 75 miles to and through Payson continuing on to provide a good route for the RV crowd to the I-40 corridor {Flagstaff, Winslow and Holbrook}. From Mesa it is good 4 lane {with wide paved shoulders} of mostly divided highway. It does however have a lot of steep climbs {6 to 7 percent} as it winds up through the mountains.
The speeds on that road have been surprising. I'm not on it that often but go in and out of Arizona on it with my RV. When the police holed up last year we were passed by lots of high speed traffic, probably 90 & 100 MPH. The police are back but spread thin and speeds seemed slightly lower.
We travel the US through lots of mountains & I consider that road from the Mogillion Rim through Payson to Mesa to be one of the best workouts for the driver and the RV. Lots of climbs in high temperatures to test your cooling system and patience and lots of descents to use the Jake Brake, exhaust brake and learn to keep the service brakes cool.
We like the Payson Airport (KPAN) Crosswinds Restaurant but we don't go there by road.
