Hellopaul

We will shortly be driving from east coast to west coast, along this route. It's not the kind of trip to do regularly (2500+ miles!) so we don't want to miss out on something fantastic that might be only a small detour away. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them! Graceland is already on the list!

tonrob

Ok - I'll start:

Santa Fe/Taos/Los Alamos.
Four corners/Monument Valley.
Sedona.
Grand Canyon.
London Bridge? (Lake Havasu City).
Las Vegas.
Joshua Tree National Park.

I've done them all bar the last one.

elfman

How far are you willing to deviate from that exact route?
If the answer is 50 miles or so then I'd recommend Canyon de Chelly National Monument near Chinle, AZ.

S Folinsky

You don't give the standard of what you want to see -- a brief detour or a place to spend a day or two? Also, depending upon your time frame, you may want to figure out if you can take somewhat parallel routes to the InterState. An example would be the Flagstaff to Sedona and back route [where you might want to take the InterState down to Sedona and the regular road back up to Flagstaff. BTW, I am not using the the words "up" and "down" in the sense of map coordinates.]

Can't say that I've done it -- but many people like the romance of old Route 66 out west.

On the Joshua Trees, if you don't go to the National Park -- try and plan your drive time for daylight in that desert area.

BTW, I think the neighborhood where I live is a fine area to see -- especially the Griffith Park Observatory -- but you may be eager to press on to Ventura at that point.

Awesome Welles

There's an awful lot of nothingness on that route.

AmerLisa

That's what I was thinking.....

sir_eccles

Amarillo - Big Texan Steak Ranch and motel

Hellopaul

Thank you for all those suggestions! I will get researching right away. And yes, there is a LOT of nothingness on that route. I've randomly plonked the Google streetview man along the route, and 90% of the time it's just a straight road disappearing to the horizon with absolutely nothing either side.

We're planning to do about 400 miles per day = 6 or 7 days to do the journey, so won't have a huge amount of time to do long deviations, but would love to do the odd hour here or a couple of hours there along the way.

Noorah101

Definitely the Grand Canyon! And if you like to see Native Indian ruins, there's a fantastic one just east of Flagstaff called "Walnut Canyon". Definitely worth seeing.

Rene

Oregon4now

Going through New Mexico on the I-40 is a beautiful experience, there is a reason why it is called the " Land of enchantment " The drive is breathtaking. I would suggest stopping in Gallup NM and the Indian trading post, also the Bandera volcano & Ice cave along the way, Grand canyon AZ of course ( 55 mile deviation off the I-40 ), but very much worth it 100%. perhaps do the Sky bridge @ Grand canyon it is awesome though a tad pricey, again totally worth it in my opinion.
London bridge @Lake Havasu city AZ, Las Vegas, Hoover dam in NV to just name a few off the top of my head, I did a similar drive 2 years ago from Ca to Wilmington NC and I thought it would be a long stretch of nothingness, boy was I wrong, there is so much to do and see and a road trip like this, I hope you have a fantastic trip and take lots of pictures, it is truly a stunning drive.

Yorkieabroad

As you head thru NM you go right thru the middle of Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Parks. Take the time to visit them - we hit them after doing the Grand Canyon, and odd though it may sound, I was more impressed there than at the GC. Don't get me wrong, the GC is incredible, but I think it was probably that I'd seen so many films/photos of the GC that I pretty much knew what to expect. But I had no knowledge of what to expect at the PD/PF and they blew me away.

There's also a place called Meteor Crater that you will pass on 1-40 near Winslow AZ (cue The Eagles!) just a mile or 2 south of the road - not the biggest meteor crater in the world, but the best preserved apparently. They tested the lunar rovers in the base before the apollo moonshots. Interesting couple of hours.

Sorry, haven't done any of the rest of your route.

Noorah101

I totally agree with the Painted Desert / Petrified Forest / Meteor Crater ideas as well.

Rene

penguinsix

Vegas? You're just blowing by that?

Hellopaul

Aahhh Vegas....
Been there a few years back (but it's probably been bulldozed and completely rebuilt twice since then!) and we're going there again not long from now. So yep - we'll just blow on by.

Thank you all for these suggestions! Keep 'em coming!

avanutria

If you're near Huntsville Alabama check out Space Camp