St. George, Utah to Virginia via Flagstaff

[Bens_Mom]

My family will be moving from Utah to Virginia next month and I need some advice. Since we've driven I-70 and I-80 more times than I can count, I'm looking at a more southernly route. We'll be mostly driving I-40 to I-81, etc. What I'm concerned about is the road to get to I-40. We're planning to take US-9 to Kanab, then US-89 to Flagstaff. Can anyone tell me the quality of this route? We'll be driving a 26' U-haul with a car dolly behind it. Is this road steep? I've heard that parts of it are twisty, but I was hoping for a little more info. If this road isn't doable, I guess we'll have to bite the bullet and do I-70 again.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Yes, UT-9, as it climbs out of Blacks Canyon on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, can be fairly steep and does have a series of switchbacks and tunnels that might be daunting while driving a truck/dolly rig, but there are alternatives short of going all the way up to I-70. The easiest substitute is to take UT-59 east from Hurricane and down into Arizona where AZ-389 will take you through Colorado City and on to join up with Alt-US-89 in Fredonia which in turn will put you on US-89 south of Page.

An even easier route, although about 110 miles longer, is to just take I-15 southwest down to Las Vegas and then US-93 to Kingman. AZ.

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

An even easier route, although about 110 miles longer, is to just take I-15 southwest down to Las Vegas and then US-93 to Kingman. AZ.

I agree with AZBuck, you ought to stay on I-15 to Las Vegas and then south on US-93, with one caveat (do not cross Hoover Dam with your U-Haul) it will be searched, which could lead to a 1.5 hour delay at the Dam!

What you want to do is... when you reach Las Vegas, turn south on I-515/US-93/US-95 and stay on it until you reach the exit for US-95 south. Proceed south on US-95 (its mostly a four-lane highway these days) and follow it all the way to I-40 and then you can head east.

If you want a short detour, you can cut east on NV-163 (to Laughlin) and head in a beeline to Kingman to pick-up I-40. Although many vehicles take this "short-cut" I wouldn't recommend it because of the steep grades on both sides of the Colorado River.

If you do the I-15 to US-95 route, you will probably shave off an hour or two over one of those other routes, even though they are shorter in distance.

Mark