So you are going to be driving several hundred miles a day, what are you going to see ? In NM, mostly scrub brush & sand. Just roughly, LV - Albuquerque - Denver - back to LV is about 1800 miles. I'd start w/that loop & reduce even further. Also, pick some places/things that you want to see & adjust by that...why would you want to go into Ok & Ks ?

Northeastern Arizona has a special windswept, desolate beauty. It's home to the Hopi and Navajo; we drove through their reservations last October and it was really lovely (we live in NM).

Unless you just want to knock OK and KS off your list of states you've visited, I wouldn't waste the time going there. Instead I would spend my time doing the other things on your list.

Lee Ann

We only going as far north as the Arches SP in UT. Maybe not that far. Same for CO, only touring the SW corner. We'll see the rest of those states on another trip.

What I need is a scenic route across AZ and NM working our way from the Grand Canyon to Sante Fe.

We'll only hit the corner of the OK panhandle and KS after leaving Sante Fe before heading NW into CO.

I'll have to get out my road atlas and find the highway numbers for you.

Honestly, I really think the OK and KS bits are a waste of your time. It will take a whole day away from more interesting, scenic things.

Lee Ann

My heavens what would you do in KS and OK that you cant do on the eastern slope of CO? (meaning it's all the same kind of flatness and not really worth the time or effort).

Recently someone else was planning a loop trip similar to yours (that I offered suggestions to) you might try a search on CO.

CO is a HUGE state. To go from Santa Fe to Ok to Ks to Co and back to hit Mesa Verde, is about the same miles as Memphis through TN, VA and DC to Baltimore (add another 75 miles and you could drive from Memphis to Santa Fe). And remember the steep windy mtn roads at elev around 12,000 ft. Coming from the east, I got lightheaded the 1st time I rode US-160 and needed oxygen. I wish someone had warned ME Unless there's something specific to do in Ks and Ok, going all that way may be too much for this trip. If you enjoy flying and taking drives, consider a future trip. Fly to San Antonio, drive I-35 to Ks and US-83 back to Tx.

2 weeks from LV? Hit as many sw utah parks as you'd like (nps.gov is a perfect site to figure which parks are more to your likings). See the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon. Going to Mesa Verde does not require any CO mtn driving, but if you want to go over the mtn on US-160, just east of Alamosa is the Great Sand Dunes (also on nps.gov), one of my most favorite natl parks. You said you wanted to go through AZ and NM and back through Co. I would suggest the north first and south last in case of early snow/ice. Just east of Mesa Verde is Durango and an amazing train ride to/from Silverton. It's a little pricey but worth every penny. One of my favorite roads here is US-550, from Durango to Albuquerque. Going from Albuquerque to LV there's the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, and if you take I-40 around the Hoover Dam instead of back over it, you can take a short side trip to Lake Havasu City to see the original London Bridge. Plus, going around the dam through the town of Needles, you will get to see a bit of California.

Hope that helps. Best of luck on your trip.

The quick way to New Mexico is I-40 from Williams to Albuquerque, where you'll pick up I-25 to Santa Fe. You could do this in a day if you're hellbent on doing that OK/KS thing.

If you want something more leisurely, exit the Grand Canyon on the east side, take Hwy. 89 north to Hwy. 160. When you get to Tuba City, take Hwy. 264 southeast through the Hopi Reservation, then into the Navajo Reservation. You could spend the night in Window Rock or Gallup.

Pick up I-40 in Gallup and drive about three hours to Santa Fe. Spend a couple of days there.

If you absolutely must waste time going to OK, take I-25 north to Springer, then Hwy. 56/412 to Clayton and over the border into OK.

If not, you can take Hwy. 84/285 from Santa Fe to Espanola, about 1/2 hour distance, then Hwy. 84 up through Abiquiu (Georgia O'Keeffe country) and Chama (Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, if it's still open for the season), then up to Pagosa Springs. Then you'd get on Hwy. 160 and head for Mesa Verde.

Lee Ann

One more vote that you should skip the Oklahoma panhandle and Kansas. In my opinion, there is no reason whatsoever to go East of I-25, unless it would be to see Palo Duro Canyon in the Amarillo area. If you are determined to go East from Santa Fe, however, you could head over there by going up through Taos (not to be missed) then over to Angel Fire, and the Boy Scout ranch (Philmont), and then to Amarillo. You could then come back West through Clayton, New Mexico to Trinidad, Colorado. At that point, you would head north on I-25 for a little way, getting off at Walsenburg and heading West over the pass. I have done both of these drives more than once, and the Clayton route is a more interesting drive than the one up through the Oklahoma panhandle, but they are both desolate. Although there is a stark beauty, long vistas, big skies, and often violent weather using either route, (and very few places to stay or eat) I really wouldn't do this very long addition to your trip if it means excluding things like Bandelier National Monument near Santa Fe, the Great Sand Dunes, Taos, the north rim of the Grand Canyon etc. And what about Albuquerque? My vote would be to head north after Santa Fe and Albuquerque, see Taos, see Bandelier, go to Georgia Okeefe's Ghost Ranch, take the train ride mentioned above. Then head up into Colorado and over to Mesa Verde. After Mesa Verde you can see the north rim of the Grand Canyon (very different from the south) and start up through the Utah parks. That area is spectacular.

I realize that your reason for visiting Kansas and the panhandle of Oklahoma are none of my business.....but,

I agree with other posters.

If you can delete that part of your trip, you'll have more time to enjoy the other parts of your trip. Believe me, from Las Vegas, NM to Boise City, OK, and then into Kansas there is a whole lot of nothing except high plains desert and prairie. Then, once back inside Colorado you have to pass through high plains for an entire half of the state before you get to mountains.

She sounds like a list checker. Going 1000 miles out of the way so I can tell somebody I've been to OK. & Ks. ??!! Why ??!!

I don't mind being a list checker, actually. When Mr. Pickle and I were driving from New York to Massachusetts, we dipped into Connecticut, then drove across Rhode Island just so we could say we had been there. But taking a couple of hours for that is a lot different than taking a day or more to do it in the West.

Lee Ann

And at risk of piling on, I am from Oklahoma, and find the Oklahoma Panhandle interesting because of its huge sky, the prarie grassland and my ancestry - but the drive from there through the eastern part of Colorado is one of the most bleak I have ever experienced - and not bleak in a good or grand way like in the Big Bend of Texas, or the Four Corners area. We did it one Sunday morning, and almost ran out of gas because it was so far between the tiny towns, and they were shuttered tight. We did it another time heading the other way (trying to avoid the Raton pass while pulling a large load), got caught in a horrible thunderstorm/tornado watch, couldn't find a place to spend the night, and blew out a tire on the trailer in the middle of nowhere the next day. I remember lots of talk about how the people on the prarie schooners must have felt. The other issue that Bells needs to think about is that you don't "hit the corner of the OK panhandle and KS after leaving Sante Fe" if you are "heading NW into CO." You have to go significantly east of Santa Fe to hit the corner, and in doing so you miss a drive going north from Santa Fe that is spectacular and shouldn't be missed if you are touring this area.

I live in OK and I see no reason to go east of the New Mexico border. There is nothing scenic enough to justify the very long drive and take time away from enjoying getting out of the car. We consider the panhandle of OK & TX the "armpit of the earth" (very sorry if I offend anyone with that).

Santa Fe to OKC is an all-day drive of 7-8 hours, depending how often you stop and your speed and there is nothing you'll see either.

Going that far just to say you've "been" to OK or KS isn't visiting the states anyway, imho.
Stick to AZ & NM.

Interesting idea of venturing east to OK and KS (where I've lived in the past) but not a good idea unless some good reason. Really your huge western sky can be seen elsewhere with less driving. Certainly there is so much to enjoy in the West.

Ozarksbill

Thanks for all the help! I don't know what gave some people the idea we were planning on going as far north as Denver and far east as Oaklahoma City and way into Kansas! We were thinking more of heading toward Felt, OK and on to Elkhart, KS before heading west into CO...but after reading your posts I have cut that part of our trip out, LOL!

We now plan on heading north out of Santa Fe into CO via Taos. How far should we head north into CO before heading west to Mesa Verde?

I really appreciate all the wonderful advice

As an Arizona native that has been to all the areas you want to go to I want to throw my 2 cents in for a couple of sites not to be missed in Northern Arizona. Sunset Crater in Flagstaff in a great Volcanic landscape. Meteor crater is...well a giant hole in the ground but it is actually pretty cool. Canyon De Chelly is a beautiful but far away look at ancicent Native American buildings, but Mesa Verde is more impressive (unless you want to drive 20 miles on a dirt road to Chaco canyon in NM which is the most impressive in my opinion.) The Pertified forest is pretty cool too. If you are coming down from LV think about staying in Williams and taking the train up to the Grand Canyon it is a fun experience (they have train robbers and gun fights). Personally I would take I40 and not go up through Tuba City, heading East, depending on your route out of Mesa verde you will will probably pass through it on the way back. You are going to want to take the 160 west in Colorado to get to Mesa Verde. Out of Cortez think about the litte trip north to see the Arches National Park in Eastern Utah.

Now that I am looking at my maps, I want to give my suggestion of the an actual route. Out of Las Vegas head down over the dam (the tour is neat but takes some time), then 93 to Kingman. If you feel nostalgic take old route 66, Grand canyon caverns in along that route. Then to Williams to take the train to the Canyon, we stayed at a nice B&B called Sheridan House Inn which was really nice. Then I would take 40 all the way to Albuquerque, then up to Santa Fe and Taos. From there I would suggest the 64 and 84 towards Pagosa Springs, Co. Then to Durango and Cortez to get to Mesa Verde. Then you have 2 choices of you want to see Brice and Zion which are must sees, go north or South. North you see Arches and some other gorgeous views, south is Lake Powell, North rim Grand Canyon and some also gorgeous views. That one you may have to just flip a coin. Good luck and have a safe trip.

I never wrote a trip report from last year! Here are the highlights and low points of our trip.

Highs:

Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon
Sedona
Route 66
Royal Gorge
Hwy 50 to 550 south in CO
Monument Valley
The scenery!
Bryce & Zion in UT
Vegas for the weekend!! Everyone should go one time


Disapointed:

The drive from Flagstaff to Sante on I-40
Sante Fe itself was not what I expected.
Taos!!
Great Sand Dunes
Mesa Verde - If you're afraid of heights don't try it!
Natural Bridges NM in UT
The heights and narrow roads!!

We had a wonderful trip and would'nt have missed it for anything

Next trip the Northwest from SF to Seattle and back!

We need more detail!! (e.g., What DID you expect from Santa Fe?)

Thanks for reporting back, Bells! I'd like more detail too, if you don't mind.

Lee Ann

I am so sorry that you found so much that dissappointed you.

I have homes in SW CO and just north of Albuquerque, this is a spectacular area to visit and live in; Mesa Verde has much to see even if you are afraid of heights, the Loop Trail would have provided you with grand vistas and views of the cliff dwellings without having to climb or put yourself into height.

Santa Fe has loads of history and wonderful museums, great restaurants, galleries, hiking, that most people really like. If you only went to the Plaza and simply walked around there, yes - you missed the best parts.

Taos is rugged, beautiful scenery and outdoor activities galore. Again, driving over the Gorge Bridge is not everyones cup of tea, but it is breathtaking for most.

Sound like you aren't a fan of mountainous terrain and the SW is full of them; it is part of what makes it so beautiful here. Narrow roads, heights, drop offs are all very much a way of life here. It is unfortunate that you didn't know this before making your plans.

This part of the country is filled with ancient ruins, mountains, rivers, that you can't see from a car window speeding by as you rack up miles. Here, you have to slow down and smell the [roasting] chiles.