Need Route advice

[MFrenchek]

As part of our Western tour this September, I need to know the best way to get from Salt Lake City to Flagstaff without going all the way to Las Vegas via the interstates. We'll be pulling a 30 ft. TT behind the truck. Your travel experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[EricBu12]

I-15 south

Exit mm 222. . (Highway 28 south)

I-70 west for a bit to Exit 23 (highway 89 south)

Take highway 89 all the way to Kanab. Continue Highway 89 to Paige. . (crosses the colorado on a high bridge. . beauty). .

Continue 89 all the way to Flagstaff... From paige on south is some downhill but not too bad. . other than that, it is a much better view than the interstates.

This route from the junction of I-80 and I-15 to the end of highway 89 at Flagstaff is 509 miles.

Have a good trip

 

[MFrenchek]

Thanks for the advice. I had thought to go past Zion via Springdale, but had a closer look at the route on mapquest and saw all the hairpin turns and figured someone else would have a better idea. I wasn't sure what to expect on rt 89. Beautiful out there!

 

[jelag]

I just drove to(week of June 17th) and from a town south of Phoenix and my GPS had me take I 15 south and than take state hwy 20 east to state hwy 89 and turn south again... we were pulling a small trailer... but for us it cut 130 miles off the route from going through las vegas and around Hoover were our trailer would not have been permitted to cross... .

To cross Hover with a trailer there has to be a walk path from the rear to the front of the trailer to get a dog into the trailer to smell for stuff... we were packed full and a friend of mine from the corp of engineers said all dams are now under home land security... .

So we took the route mentioned above and found it suitable and not as fast as the freeway but we save 130 miles... beautiful country and more trucks than I thought I'd see, which told me they enjoyed the route as well for speed... . and safety... .

Hwy 20 is way south of Salt Lake... and 89 south will take you right through Flagstaff... we assume the gps chose 20 east was because of the shortness of 20 over some of the other routes...

Hope this helps...

 

[JMetzger]

When did they start with dogs at Hoover Dam? Just went across it twice 2 months ago with the RV & all they did was look in the compartments & inside the trailer. Stopped about 5 min only. That was going south then back north.

 

[EricBu12]

be neat when this is done. .



Hoover Dam Bypass

 

[RVTRKN]

Just ran that route with my Harley Davidson, EricBu12 has it right, however you might want to check out Zion and Brice along the way. Steep grade after the North Rim cutoff but you should be fine, Oh ya, and hot when you cross the Colorado river.

 

[richardcoxid]

If you are planning on going E/W on Hwy 9 through Zion NP DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT with your 30’ TT! There is a restricted height/width tunnel to go through! Stop at Mt. Carmel Junction, disconnect, park your TT and tour solo through Zion. There is probably tunnel information available at Mt. Carmel Junction.



The largest vehicles allowed through the tunnel are PU campers escorted by a NP service guide! The NP service will periodically stop traffic at either end and escort them through. Do a search for Zion NP for detailed information. You are correct, between Springdale and the tunnel going east there are some 10/15 mph turns. However Zion will be worth it!



Going SLC/Nephi/Kanab/Page route to Flag is “OK". Stop at the bridge/dam for some fantastic views.



Let us know about your trip!



Richard

 

[EricBu12]

The route I stated is what any trucker could do in a semi. so no problems on this route.

 

[RVTRKN]

If you go to Zion, time it so you arrive at 8AM or 4:30PM because they close the road and will not allow any one through. the closure is from 9A-4P M-F. Make sure you check with the Park first. We ran from SLC to Zion and just happened to arrive at 4:30PM, it was perfect timing. We didn't know about closure until we could hear on the FM radio for info.



It was awesome, my wife sat on the back of the HD and took pictures while riding through.

 

[AH64ID]

I agree with the route EricBu12 mentioned. I have driven 90% of it and its fine. . a few tight corners, but easy for semi's. . and very beautiful. The way I went down was to stay on I-15 until exit 95 then cross over to 89. This is a good route, with one pass up to 8K feet with a few tight corners on the back side, but nothing that isn't doable with a trailer.

Enjoy!

 

[MFrenchek]

Thanks for the information gang! The information and pictures of the Hoover dam and by-pass bridge were great. I had no interest in driving over the dam. That kind of activity gives me the heegee beegee's. Guess I've seen too many disaster movies! Zion was fantastic. We stopped there years ago (only the car) during the 4th of July. I wasn't aware of the tunnel issue as we never went out east of the park. I think Yellowstone has the same issue traveling out the West End if I remember correctly. I recall telling my wife that I REALLY would not want to have the trailer with us.