Hello!
I am planning a road trip from Maryland to Yuma, AZ. I have most of the trip figured out, but I'm still not quite sure about which way to go in AZ.

The hard part is, my last leg is from Vega, TX(near Amarillo) to Yuma, and I'm trying to keep the number of miles to a minimum so that I won't need to stop and fill up between the two.

I'm familiar with I-40 and I-17 in that area, as I went to school in Prescott and have made that trip many times. I'm hoping to take a shortcut, cutting off from I-40 before getting to Flagstaff. This will save some miles, which I definitely need, as this part of the trip is definitely going to be stretching my range to the max.

Also, I'm hoping to avoid the climb to 7,000ft(Flagstaff), and all the drops and rises on I-17 south of Flagstaff.

I was thinking of two routes...

1.) Coming west on I-40, turn south at Winslow on Rt 87, cut across 260 to I-17. I-17 south a few miles to 169(Cherry road exit) towards Prescott, then 89 south , and you can pretty easily see the dircetion I'm heading from there.

2.) Coming west on I-40, turn south at Holbrook, taking 377 towards Heber. Then take 260 towards Payson, 87 south into the Phoenix area, I-10 west from Phoenix...


My issue is I'm not real familiar with these routes. I think I've taken 87 south from Winslow once before, but not entirely sure. If I remember right, it was pretty flat... at least relative to I-17 south coming from Flagstaff.

I'm trying to avoid a lot of steep climbs, and elevation increases in general(to get better mpg), and cut miles at the same time. I understand that these WILL add considerable time compared to the normal I-40 to Flagstaff and I-17 south from there. But I remember all the hills on I-17 south, and that's what I'm trying to avoid.

Are these two routes flat, relative to the I-40 to I-17 route? Should I expect weather to be worse along these roads? If anyone can link me to a good topographical map, or maybe a sectional chart that would show elevations, that would help a lot!

Any suggestions/warnings/accusations of insanity are appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick

PS. The whole thing is a work trip, but I am REALLY wanting to make it from Maryland to Yuma on only two stops for fuel, so I'm not worried about taking a few backroads to take a little longer. I just don't want to run out of fuel 30miles short of Yuma! The mountains are not my friends, especially considering I'll be loaded somehwat heavily comapred to other trips I've taken.