I 40 from Memphis to Arizona

[UAB master]

My family is headed across the US to Arizona this summer. I would like some advice from the experts on campgrounds and any "must see" locations.

 

[bama_ed]

Greetings from Hoover, neighbor.

I have made the drive along I40 three times in the last 7 summers and have some suggestions.

First, stop at the Big Texan steakhouse for a big delicious, good value steak meal. http://bigtexan.com/menu/ It's relatively affordable and fun to see someone trying to eat the 72oz steak meal for free in an hour. Seen 4 people try it across 2 of my visits, only 1 was successful. I've had the 24oz ribeye twice and the 36oz once and they were all good. It's cheesy Texas tourism but it's fun and delicious. It's on I40 in Amarillo, TX.



Second, if you are going as far as the Grand Canyon area, is to stop in Williams, AZ and ride the Grand Canyon Railroad to the National Park and back. Don't know if you are staying at the Park (I backpacked down to Phantom Ranch and back up to the South Rim in 2009 - great trip) but the train ride alone is worth doing. http://www.thetrain.com/?gclid=CJvu34Tj58MCFRckgQodJDQAtA They also have an RV park across the street from the station in Williams if you are taking a camper with you. The GCRR was recently bought by Xanterra who runs the National Park's hotels and some maybe a campground on premise as well so they are trying to make the train a seamless experience with the Park.

Of course the GC, even if you weren't planning to stop, is something everyone should see even if it's literally just a look out over the edge. It's an hour's drive off the Interstate each way to the South Rim but it's worth it.

You'll see many of these in TX (not trucks, wind generators).


And oh it can get hot.


Sounds like a nice trip.

For campgrounds, we made it from Birmingham to Lake Eufala State Park in Oklahoma. It's not that great and showerhouses were cinderblock, small, not air conditioned. The KOA about 10-15 miles west is better. The town just before that, Checotah, has a Denny's now off the Interstate about a mile on Hwy 69 north and across the other side of 69 is a Wal-Mart. We camped other places off the I40 corridor before we got to Williams so I can't speak to any others.

Oh, and third in Albuquerque the tramway up Sandia Peak is interesting and a great view. http://sandiapeak.com/index.php?page=sandia-peak-tramway

Bama Ed

PS - Also as you head west from Amarillo before the New Mexico border, the landscape changes dramatically. On the Amarillo side you are on the plains/prairie but then you feel yourself driving down hill and the scene becomes more dry scrub and desert-like. It's weird but cool.

 

[UAB master]

Thanks for the info, Bama Ed. Just curious- is 110* out west anything like 100* in Alabama? I've always heard it's not as hot because of lower humidity...
Also, which rim of the Grand Canyon does the railroad go to?

 

[StormyCA]

Well, I'm from out West and 'hot is hot'. Where I used to live it was common to have weeks at 110+ in the summer. The difference is that out West the dry heat keeps you, well, dry. But it's still too hot for me. I've only spent a little time in the humidity of Chicago and Austin in the summer and it was a killer. I think people from a humid clime do much better in the dry heat than we do in the humidity.

The GCRR goes to the South Rim. The North Rim is not visited as frequently and it's a 'long way 'round' from the South Rim to get there.

There's a meteor crater about 20 miles west of Winslow AZ. Another interesting side trip is to Montezuma's Castle about 50 south of Flagstaff. It's an old Native American under-cliff dwelling. The 'long way' drive back via Oak Creek Canyon & Sedona is really beautiful, but that makes it a full day's trip.


We're taking I40 to WDW in two months. I'm looking forward to the drive. I haven't been east of Amarillo on I40 since I was in my 20s.

 

[bama_ed]

Stormy's right. It is a drier heat but the thing to watch out for is in the TX/OK area where it is breezy, the wind will help it feel cool and you'll get dehydrated more easily because you don't "feel" as hot.

The other thing as far as temps go, once you get into New Mexico and Arizona and start to get up high, the temps get cooler and the daily swings are what got me. Grand Canyon Village is at 7200 feet altitude or so and in summer it gets into the high 80s, sure. But the nightly lows can be 40-45F lower than the highs. Here in Alabama in summer, the difference between high/low might be around 20F in summer.

Most of GCNP action is on the South Rim. The North Rim is a bit higher in altitude, has a seasonal lodge and campground (mid-May to mid-Oct), and a trailhead. Like Stormy says, it's a LONG way around between the two rims (like half a day's drive through nothing). One interesting fact is all the water for the hotels and development on the South Rim comes from a spring on the face of the North Rim and is piped down the trails (mostly underground) and up the South rim face. There are several storage tanks on the South Rim and pipe breaks/shutdowns do occur. In fact, when I hiked over the Silver bridge across the Colorado which is part of the Bright Angel Trail, the pipe is suspended underneath the foot grate of the bridge and it doesn't look very big at all.

Now that you got me talking about it, I'd like to head back out along I40. Your family could have a great trip.

Bama Ed

PS you ought to take a few minutes, go to the www.nps.gov/grca website and punch through the news archives and read about all the rescues, falls, and people dying on the river raft runs that the Park Rangers have to deal with. It's really shocking and people need to take it more seriously than they sometimes do. BTW, Uncle Sam does not offer free rides if you are too tired to hike out of the canyon when night is falling...