Any must see places along the way?
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Any must see places along the way?
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
We don't believe in generic must see places on this forum. What's must see to me could be completely different from what's must see to you.
So to provide you any help at all, we're going to need to know some specifics - like how much time you have for this trip, who is going, what kinds of things you're interested in, and what places you already know you want to visit.
Albuquerque to San Diego is about 825 miles, so it is at least a 2-day drive for most folks WITHOUT stops. As you start adding stops, you need to add time. Here are some highlights, IF you have extra time:
Petrified Forest National Park -- allow at least 3 hours to make the scenic drive. The park is right at I-40 before you get to Holbrook.
If you have time, you could take a more scenic route from Petrified Forest to Phoenix: US-180 and 180A to Concho, AZ-61 south, then US-60 west through the Salt River Canyon to Globe, Superior, and into Phoenix via the "Superstition Freeway".
Leave Phoenix on I-10 east, but get off the interstate at AZ-347. Take that south through Maricopa and points south. When you get to AZ-84, turn west. It will dump you right on the 8, going west. This is the route to take to avoid a lot of traffic on I-10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande.
At Yuma, IF you still have time, the Yuma Territorial Prison is very interesting. It only takes an hour or two. Another place is to get off the freeway west of Yuma at Greys Well Road, and go into the Yuma Dunes area.
As you go up into the mountains west of El Centro, and you still have time, you could get off at In-Ko-Pah Road exit and go up to the Desert View Tower.
I make the trip between Phoenix and San Diego all the time, so I'm very familiar with the road!
Donna
Thank you Donna, looking forward to the desert view tower.