New RVers seek counsel on travel through Texas into California to San Fran.

AutoteacherSonny · March 31, 2016

We are new to this, We left our boat in Jax, bought an old RV and are visiting off the interstates to go visit our son in San Fran. We are doing the tourist thing and staying in state and national parks. Not interested in Mexico. Seeking to have first hand unbiased info on travel at the latitude of I 10 or US 90. What do we do when US90 runs out going West? Where to stay? Where to avoid? We are retired teachers, disabled Veteran, Not interested in rock climbing or scuba anymore. Thanks for all. If this is not the right forum please direct me.

2gypsies · March 31, 2016

Welcome! I assume you're asking about U.S. 90 at the intersection of I-10 in Texas and where to go from there. Some suggestions would be to pick up Hwy 54 at Van Horn, TX and visit Guadalupe Mtn. Nat'l Park on 62/180 then continue NE to Carlsbad Caverns Nat'l Park, NM. Guadalupe Mtn. has a dry camping area (no hookups) and we've also stayed at Brantley Lake State Park, New Mexico.

You could take Hwy 82 west to White Sands Nat'l Monument and Oliver Lee State Park nearby is nice.

Continue west via I-10 until Lordsburg, NM and pick up Hwy 70 to Safford, AZ and stay at Roper Lake State Park. Stay on Hwy 70 to Globe, AZ and then make some choices. Hwy 60 will take you to Show Low (Fool Hollow Lake State Park) and you could take 77 to I-40 west to Flagstaff for a Grand Canyon Nat'l Park visit. Stay in the park at Trailer Village w/hookups or Mather, without. From Globe you could also take Hwy 60 into Apache Junction, AZ and use the 202/101 bypasses toward Cave Creek and Hwy 74 taking you into Wickenburg, AZ. The greater Phoenix area has some wonderful Maricopa County park campgrounds and in Apache Junction there is also Lost Dutchman State Park - a beauty.

You could work your way to Nevada around Las Vegas and pick up Hwy 95 taking you to Reno and I-80 into Sacramento to San Francisco.

There are many secondary road options for your trip depending what you want to see along the way. Hwy 395 up the eastern Sierras in California is a wonderful drive, too. You could take Hwy 50 into Sacramento from 395.

Have a great trip!

Kirk W · March 31, 2016

Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are happy to have you join us and will do our best to assist & advise you.

I am fairly familiar with most of I-10 and with US90 in TX, but don't know much about it farther west. We have traveled I-10 from Texas to San Bernardino area as recently as a year ago. We liked the Joshua Tree NP area and their Black Rock Canyon campground is a short distance from I-10 on CA62 and is one that we very much enjoyed. You could then easily take that highway to the Twentynine Palms entry to the park and travel through the park to the south to return to I-10. Quartzsite, AZ is pretty much past the main season, but will have plenty of places to spend a night or two, either in an RV park or dry camping on public land.

As you near Phoenix, you may find it more interesting to leave I-10 and follow US60 to Globe and then follow AZ77 south to Tucson, which is an interesting area to visit. Tucson also has Saguaro NP and Pima Air & Space Museum. If you leave I-10 again at El Paso and follow US62 it will take you to Carlsbad Caverns NP after which you can follow TX54 back south to join US90. I suggest that you consider a visit to Big Bend NP as a good side-trip from your route. You will find that the San Antonio area has many things to see and do.

reed and elaine · March 31, 2016

Guadalupe Mtn National Park has several places to dry camp:

The HQ area allows camping in the main parking lot on tarmac

Dog Canyon is 60 miles by windy and interesting road on the NW side of the park. This requires going north and around. Dog Canyon is quite isolated and tranquil. We stopped by the HQ and asked if space were available at Dog Canyon. They phone the resident Ranger and he basically said "please come, it is lonely here!" Dog Canyon is itself merely a parking lot but I believe water is available. There are some short to long hikes in the area and is well worth the drive.

It is a several hour drive to Brantely State Park in NM. We were not excited by this state park since it is a reservoir in the midst of the desert but quite popular with Texas fishermen. Heading east from there takes you aceross to San Antonino NM with Valley of Fires on the way and Three Rivers NF CG if you head south from Carrizozo.

NM and Arizona have many square miles of boondocking on BLM land.

To bad you have ruled out Mexico since we have been down to Yucatan 4 times; however, the seasons have changed and it is getting hot down there (we just got back into USA last week afte 14 weeks)

Reed and Elaine

Barbaraok · March 31, 2016

Are you doing the trip now? If so, the southern route gets VERY hot real soon. If it were us, I'd go up to I-40 and across. Lots to see in NM and you could see south rim of Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, etc.

Barb

reed and elaine · March 31, 2016

Southern NM is fairly cool right now (we are mootchdocking at daughter's place in Las Cruces) but it will be quite warm in a month.

Reed and Elaine

GR "Scott" Cundiff · March 31, 2016

Just off I I10 as you journey west from San Antonio check out a pretty state park: South Llano River at Junction. Then, on west check out Balmorhea State Park. There's a terrific spring there - a true desert Oasis.

Crossing I10 is an experience in patience - you'll see just how big Texas is. Once you get west of San Antonio things spread out - be ready to do a lot of driving through wide open country!

Cat Lady · March 31, 2016

First thing I'd do is get my Senior Pass if 62 or the pass for disabled veterans if you qualify. That way, you could camp for half price and visit museums, National Parks, etc. free.

AutoteacherSonny · March 31, 2016

Wow! Thanks for all the replies! We are thankful to have found this site and all the new friends. We have lived aboard our boat on the Atlantic ICW for the past 7 years and now trying this with a 1995 Itasca RV.

We will try and follow your advisement. We will have many questions. We have the national park pass.

Cat Lady · March 31, 2016

If you have a smartphone or iPad or Android equivalent, buy the Allstays Camp & RV app. It's got all kinds of campground locations, camping clubs, gas stations, etc. you'll ever need. Well worth the $10, I believe.

coachmac9 · March 31, 2016

Hope you are making the trip as soon as possible!! The Bluebonnets and wild flowers are absolutely beautiful now and the temps are still very nice...I am a life long Texan and I promise you don't want to be going across West Tx in the summer!!!! Also, if you stay in the State Parks you can fish without purchasing a license and there are many along your route.

AutoteacherSonny · March 31, 2016

Reed and Elaine, I appreciate the advice. Had a bad experience in Mexico years ago. Locked up in the Tijuana jail and no one sent me mail. I will not go back.

I will stay in the USA until a better place shows up. We have been in the Fla Keys on our boat for the last few and now in Jax.

oldride · April 1, 2016

If your coming close to lake charles la send me a pm and you'll have place to park a day or 2

Second Chance · April 1, 2016

Southern NM is fairly cool right now (we are mootchdocking at daughter's place in Las Cruces) but it will be quite warm in a month.

Reed and Elaine

Hmm... I'm from Las Cruces and my mom and sisters all still live there. Unfortunately, none have accommodations for our fifth wheel and we end up having to pay to stay somewhere (although the monthly rate at Hacienda isn't bad and the people are very nice). We stayed about six weeks over the holidays this winter and passed back through again the first of this month on the way back from California.

To the OP... all the advice above is good. The only thing I would add is: avoid US 285 between Pecos and Carlsbad. I'm embarrassed to admit that the landscape on that route is part of my homeland and the road is one of the worst I've ever driven. (Bad road surfaces, tons of oil field trucks building a new pipeline, trash, etc.).

Rob

AutoteacherSonny · April 16, 2016

We have made the trip to Silver City NM and have had a great time in many state parks, some of them you suggested and several national parks. Tried to go in rv to Gila National Monument and had to rent a car because the RVs brakes could not handle the hills on NM15. We will replace the cheap brake pads with better ones in Safford Arizona our next stop. Has anyone driven Arizona 191/78 to Safford from NM 180 at Silver city?

Someone told us not to miss the huge flea market in Arizona, Where is the best one to visit? We are at Manzano's RV park in a new site that is very nice at Silver City.

youngfulltimers · April 16, 2016

Break up the monotony of Texas by stopping at Fredericksburg and the rest of the Hill Country area. Beautiful scene and one of the best places to see the aforementioned bluebonnets.

We enjoyed Franklin Mountains in El Paso as well.

AutoteacherSonny · April 16, 2016

We will be in Arizona tomorrow if all goes well. Looking for info on good campsites between here at Silver city NM and San Fran. Especially San Fran. How are the California state parks or national parks near San Fran?

duraduk · April 17, 2016

We have traveled west from Texas to California and Nevada by about every route the exist. Try to stay off the Interstates. Most secondary roads are great with interesting places to see (except for the infamous 285 from Ft. Stockton to Carlsbad). If leaving in June the southern routes can get pretty hot. There have been several years where we have had to reroute due to fires in New Mex and Arizona. We are flexible in our routes and try to state at Federal and State parks when ever possible. There is too much to see and you have to plan on what you like and want to see. Most importantly don't rush unless the schedule demands it.

AutoteacherSonny · April 21, 2016

Welcome! I assume you're asking about U.S. 90 at the intersection of I-10 in Texas and where to go from there. Some suggestions would be to pick up Hwy 54 at Van Horn, TX and visit Guadalupe Mtn. Nat'l Park on 62/180 then continue NE to Carlsbad Caverns Nat'l Park, NM. Guadalupe Mtn. has a dry camping area (no hookups) and we've also stayed at Brantley Lake State Park, New Mexico.

You could take Hwy 82 west to White Sands Nat'l Monument and Oliver Lee State Park nearby is nice.

Continue west via I-10 until Lordsburg, NM and pick up Hwy 70 to Safford, AZ and stay at Roper Lake State Park. Stay on Hwy 70 to Globe, AZ and then make some choices. Hwy 60 will take you to Show Low (Fool Hollow Lake State Park) and you could take 77 to I-40 west to Flagstaff for a Grand Canyon Nat'l Park visit. Stay in the park at Trailer Village w/hookups or Mather, without. From Globe you could also take Hwy 60 into Apache Junction, AZ and use the 202/101 bypasses toward Cave Creek and Hwy 74 taking you into Wickenburg, AZ. The greater Phoenix area has some wonderful Maricopa County park campgrounds and in Apache Junction there is also Lost Dutchman State Park - a beauty.

You could work your way to Nevada around Las Vegas and pick up Hwy 95 taking you to Reno and I-80 into Sacramento to San Francisco.

There are many secondary road options for your trip depending what you want to see along the way. Hwy 395 up the eastern Sierras in California is a wonderful drive, too. You could take Hwy 50 into Sacramento from 395.

Have a great trip!

How steep and mountainous is 395? ( from South to North, going from Barstow to I80) We are not enjoying following big rigs at a crawl up mountains and then a brake burning descent

2gypsies · April 21, 2016

Naturally you're going from the desert in southern California to the Lake Tahoe area in northern California so you're going uphill. However, to us it really doesn't seem like a climb. There won't be anything over a 6% grade and you'll find that and higher (I-70 west of Denver, for instance) on the interstates. You'll have ups then some leveling out and then another short uphill, etc. It's not all one big climb. It's a good paved road with plenty of pull-outs and small towns along the way. The scenery is amazing. The only issue would be the weather because it does get some spring snow storms. Just look at the forecast. You can always hunker down in a campground until the highway is clear again. They do work fast. We love 395.