leaving mid june for 18 days...is this doable..any suggestions
1 slidell, la - alexandria, la 250 miles
2 alexandria- denton tx 350 miles
3 denton- amarillo tx 325 miles
4 amarilio - walsenburg co (hwy of legends) 320 miles
5 walsenburg - montrose-durango 350 miles
6 durango - Mesa Verde NP-4 corners-mexican hat- moki dugway- monticello 345 miles
7 monticello ut- archsNP- canyonlandNP- green river 220 miles
8 green river -torrey-tropic- bryce canyon NP 250 miles
9 tropic- zion np- kanub 150 miles
10 kanub- north rim-flagstaff 300 miles
11 flagstaff- sedona-precott valley-phoenix 210 miles
12 phoenix- tombstone-bisbee-lordsburg 300 miles
13 lordsburg- alphine (coronado trail) - silver city 275 miles
14 silver city- carlsbad 345 miles
15 carlsbad - sonora tx 280 miles
16 sonora texas- sisters- san antonio- columbus 370 miles
17 columbus tx - slidell,la 450 miles
one open day to fit in

re-thinking day 11..been reading about lake/bridge etc east of flagstaff and then hitting alpine and go south on coronado trail. Is this any better than prescott valley????

will I have enough "free time to sight see the National parks??/
any other suggestions????
thanks

 

Hopefully there is a little flexibility, such a schedule might be hard to keep. And yes Alpine is WAY better than Prescott Valley, nothing really to see their. Prescott on the other hand is a nice old west town. "Whiskey Row" is historical but riding wise Alpine is a must. Know as the Dragon of the west. If you do end up going to Prescott then Jerome should be in your ride. Are you camping or motel? It is possible to ride south from Flagstaff- Sedona-Jerome-Prescott. Then head east through Camp Verde and head over to Alpine from their. void Phoenix if possible, nothing but cars, truck, and 100 deg temps.

 

I'm doing much of your proposed route in May. We leave on May 10 from Arlington, TX and will go through Silver City, Tombstone, Alpine, Show Low, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Monument Valley, Four Corners, etc. I'm going to try to post here daily if I have time with a brief description of the day and then do a comprehensive report when I return home.

I'll send you some info when I return on 5/24 which should hopefully help you before you leave in June.

 

thanks .....I will be traveling 2 up and will be staying in hotels......
I will be watching your reports Robertwy
Doc ***-agree with you on alpine...like your route suggestion....only reason I was going thur phoenix was to come south an see the Saguaro catcus(a must see for OL) and then Tombstone(not a must do). maybe I can make a "southwestern loop" after hitting Lordsburg. Are there any other locations to see the big catcus other than just outside Tucson???

 

I understand you're wanting to get to Colorado in a hurry but once you're there it is time to slow way down. Just west of Walsenburg is Great Sand Dunes National Park. Were you planning on passing that at what, 70 MPH? Then one day to get to Durango? You will fly by the best riding in the San Juan Range.

You mention Mexican Hat, how about Monument Valley? One day passing through Arches and Canyonlands is a sin.

Cut your mileage in half and see twice as much.

 

I do question your length of day planning on the first four days. I think that from Denton to Amarillo is not anywhere near a good day. Amarillo to Walsenburg will put you at your destination hours before you can check into a hotel. Just think you should at least kick out 500 miles a day until you get to Colorado. This will free up time to enjoy the ride that is really the "ride". As an example, if you could end up on day four in South Fork, Colorado it will let you ride north through Lake City up close to Gunnison, then west to Montrose, then south on the Million Dollar Highway to Durango. All of this is great riding that is must see. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is worth a look. Also if your going to do this many national parks, buy a pass which will save time and money at each park.

 

Just a word to the wise here, June is the hottest month of the year in Phoenix. By mid-June we are usually well above 110° here, and it doesn't cool off much at night. It can still be 100° past midnight.

The saguaro cactus only can be found at elevations below about 3000'. You start seeing them about 50 miles north of Phoenix near Cordes Lakes, which is one of the junctions to get to Prescott from Phoenix. If you REALLY want to see lots of them, visit Saguaro Nat'l Monument outside of Tucson, but I wouldn't recommend it in June.

Here's a couple about 50 miles E of Phoenix on US-60 at Florence Jct:


Keep going through Mexican Hat about 20 miles and see Monument Valley, you'll be glad you did.

 

June will be HOT, but if you start early should be ok. You could come south out of Payson on 87 to the 60 then east towards Globe. I'll map it out.

 

I rode from Flagstaff though Payson to Tucson last June. It was real nice through Payson. Once you got to Roosevelt Lake all the way to Tucson it was hotter than hell. We stopped quite often just to cool off.

 

jump on the interstate and haul *** to colorado--not much to see until you get there. i would do really long days getting there. those days are for covering miles. take your time in colorado and utah. i would leave arizona for a different trip and time of year. you can easily spend several days in most national parks--2 or 3 a day is just taking a picture or two and saying you were there. slow down and enjoy the scenery...you may never pass that way again.