Road trip suggestions
June 30, 2023 12:46 PM Subscribe
I am doing a road trip with my GF and I was wondering: what is there to see between Omaha, NE and El Paso, TX? We are basically driving directly south from Omaha to El Paso, but I have not figured out the exact route besides knowing that I will have to stop halfway for a night before continuing onward.
I don't care what it is: weird roadside attractions, excellent restaurants, cafes, bars, Americana, etc. I want it all!
Best answer: It wouldn’t be that out of your way to go to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe.
posted by sacrifix at 1:05 PM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by sacrifix at 1:05 PM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I was coming to second White Sands. Bring water, hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen though. It is hot and bright. (I lived in Alamogordo for a few years as a kid)
If you take US 75 it adds a half hour to the overall drive but you get to go through Wichita, which must have something to recommend it; most of the time I've spent in Wichita was inside a machine shop though. I think their gardens come recommended, and I noticed on maps that there's a frank lloyd wright house there so maybe check those out if it sounds at all interesting to you. I won't bother suggesting their zoo, Omaha's is likely to be the better one.
It adds quite a bit more to your trip (and you'd miss white sands), but Carlsbad Caverns (also in NM) is a rather large cave that you can tour (walk in, elevator out, as I recall it)
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 1:06 PM on June 30, 2023
If you take US 75 it adds a half hour to the overall drive but you get to go through Wichita, which must have something to recommend it; most of the time I've spent in Wichita was inside a machine shop though. I think their gardens come recommended, and I noticed on maps that there's a frank lloyd wright house there so maybe check those out if it sounds at all interesting to you. I won't bother suggesting their zoo, Omaha's is likely to be the better one.
It adds quite a bit more to your trip (and you'd miss white sands), but Carlsbad Caverns (also in NM) is a rather large cave that you can tour (walk in, elevator out, as I recall it)
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 1:06 PM on June 30, 2023
Best answer: For weird roadside attractions and Americana, I recommend taking a look at the maps or trip planner on Roadside America.
That being said, El Paso isn't directly south from Omaha by any stretch of the imagination - El Paso is far enough west that it's in a different time zone. You could take three radically different routes to hit some interesting places - you could take the fastest route, you could head a little further southwest to go through Albuquerque and Santa Fe (with Meow Wolf and White Sands on the way), or head due south to go through Oklahoma City and Dallas and possibly even Austin before heading west. Very different landscapes.
posted by eschatfische at 1:06 PM on June 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
That being said, El Paso isn't directly south from Omaha by any stretch of the imagination - El Paso is far enough west that it's in a different time zone. You could take three radically different routes to hit some interesting places - you could take the fastest route, you could head a little further southwest to go through Albuquerque and Santa Fe (with Meow Wolf and White Sands on the way), or head due south to go through Oklahoma City and Dallas and possibly even Austin before heading west. Very different landscapes.
posted by eschatfische at 1:06 PM on June 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Seems like you'd be well placed to do up to 50% of it on Route 66.
Mr. Doodley and I have driven Route 66 from about Oklahoma City to Tucumcari NM and it's very doable with great stuff to see, eat, and stay. Route 66 runs more or less parallel to I40, and is nominally called US HWY 60 or I40 Business through the states we traveled. If you get yourself down to I40 and US 60, you will not fail to find Route 66.
It might be in better shape now than the last time I saw it (25+ years), because due to interest, I think some work has been put into some redevelopment and preservation. Here's the National Parks Service guide: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1453/rosi.htm
On our trip, we visited Cadillac Ranch, ate at the Big Texan (both in Amarillo), went to the Devil's Rope Barbed Wire Museum in McLean, and stayed at the historic and beautiful Blue Swallow Motor Court in Tucumcari. All these places are still open. In conclusion, I would drive it again if I could. Enjoy!
posted by toodleydoodley at 1:17 PM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Mr. Doodley and I have driven Route 66 from about Oklahoma City to Tucumcari NM and it's very doable with great stuff to see, eat, and stay. Route 66 runs more or less parallel to I40, and is nominally called US HWY 60 or I40 Business through the states we traveled. If you get yourself down to I40 and US 60, you will not fail to find Route 66.
It might be in better shape now than the last time I saw it (25+ years), because due to interest, I think some work has been put into some redevelopment and preservation. Here's the National Parks Service guide: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1453/rosi.htm
On our trip, we visited Cadillac Ranch, ate at the Big Texan (both in Amarillo), went to the Devil's Rope Barbed Wire Museum in McLean, and stayed at the historic and beautiful Blue Swallow Motor Court in Tucumcari. All these places are still open. In conclusion, I would drive it again if I could. Enjoy!
posted by toodleydoodley at 1:17 PM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Some things we did around El Paso: White Sands (as mentioned, fantastic). World's largest Pistachio roadside attraction.
posted by true at 1:33 PM on June 30, 2023
posted by true at 1:33 PM on June 30, 2023
Best answer: Depending on which route you take through Kansas, you'll pass right by Monument Rocks National Area, STRATACA, or the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
posted by neushoorn at 2:16 PM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by neushoorn at 2:16 PM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: @eschatfische: haha I just meant we are heading straight to El Paso from Omaha 😅 Besides road trip suggestions we have no stops planned on the way!
posted by gucci mane at 3:58 PM on June 30, 2023
posted by gucci mane at 3:58 PM on June 30, 2023
Best answer: There are several good sites along the way if you go west on I-80 and then south on US 281. Red Cloud has the National Willa Cather Center and this year is the 150th anniversary of her birth.
Once you're in Kansas head west to Cawker City to see the world's largest ball of twine. Visitors can add to it to make it an ever bigger ball of twine.
South of Cawker City is the can't miss small town of Lucas, Kansas (pop < 400). Lucas famously has Samuel Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden, along with the Grassroots Art Center and the Worlds Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Museum.
Greensburg in southwestern Kansas has the world's largest hand-dug well and the world's largest pallasite meteorite. Much of the town was destroyed in a 2007 tornado. The parts of town that have been rebuilt have done so to a strict "green" building code. Nearby in Mullinville is M. T. Liggett's iconoclastic metal sculptures, which have to be seen to be believed (Liggett died a few years ago but I think the artwork is still standing).
Agree with everyone else about White Sands but will note that Roswell is not too far out of your way if you like UFO stuff.
posted by plastic_animals at 5:25 PM on June 30, 2023 [3 favorites]
Once you're in Kansas head west to Cawker City to see the world's largest ball of twine. Visitors can add to it to make it an ever bigger ball of twine.
South of Cawker City is the can't miss small town of Lucas, Kansas (pop < 400). Lucas famously has Samuel Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden, along with the Grassroots Art Center and the Worlds Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Museum.
Greensburg in southwestern Kansas has the world's largest hand-dug well and the world's largest pallasite meteorite. Much of the town was destroyed in a 2007 tornado. The parts of town that have been rebuilt have done so to a strict "green" building code. Nearby in Mullinville is M. T. Liggett's iconoclastic metal sculptures, which have to be seen to be believed (Liggett died a few years ago but I think the artwork is still standing).
Agree with everyone else about White Sands but will note that Roswell is not too far out of your way if you like UFO stuff.
posted by plastic_animals at 5:25 PM on June 30, 2023 [3 favorites]
Best answer: If it were me, I would do a more grueling first day with no stops, get all the Kansas over with, and then spend time around the Santa Fe area, which just has so much to offer in terms of food, museums, natural/cultural sites, and atmosphere. Outside the immediate city, visiting Bandelier or Kasha-Katuwe would be my priority (note that the latter is currently closed). But there are so many options to explore.
Otherwise, if you take the most straightforward route from Omaha to El Paso, White Sands (as others have mentioned) is right along the way. It's beautiful, though I would personally not go there in summer, when it will be both extremely hot and physically blinding. YMMV on that score.
If you wind up on the 25 instead, the Very Large Array is not too out of the way, and can be a fascinating little jaunt.
(On getting all the Kansas over with: I have driven through Kansas in this general direction multiple times, and I'm afraid I never have found anywhere stimulating to stop. Elsewhere in the state, I love the Tallgrass Prairie Monument and the Konza Prairie site, but neither are especially on your way. I would absolutely NOT go to Wichita, given that the only logical way to drive there will involve tolls, which I consider to be total bullshit on a major highway or interstate. The town itself is not worth driving on toll roads for.)
posted by desert outpost at 7:47 PM on June 30, 2023
Otherwise, if you take the most straightforward route from Omaha to El Paso, White Sands (as others have mentioned) is right along the way. It's beautiful, though I would personally not go there in summer, when it will be both extremely hot and physically blinding. YMMV on that score.
If you wind up on the 25 instead, the Very Large Array is not too out of the way, and can be a fascinating little jaunt.
(On getting all the Kansas over with: I have driven through Kansas in this general direction multiple times, and I'm afraid I never have found anywhere stimulating to stop. Elsewhere in the state, I love the Tallgrass Prairie Monument and the Konza Prairie site, but neither are especially on your way. I would absolutely NOT go to Wichita, given that the only logical way to drive there will involve tolls, which I consider to be total bullshit on a major highway or interstate. The town itself is not worth driving on toll roads for.)
posted by desert outpost at 7:47 PM on June 30, 2023
Best answer: If you like outsider art, the Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas is amazing. As it the Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City. Lawrence, a college town, has a beautiful vibe and we really enjoyed it when we went. I don't know if these are exactly straight though.
posted by intrepid_simpleton at 9:01 AM on July 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by intrepid_simpleton at 9:01 AM on July 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
You could visit North America's only visit-able salt mine -- STRATACA -- in Hutchinson, Kansas and barely need to change your route. I made that one of my stops the last time I did a road trip through that part of the world and the underground tour is amazing. Plus, in the same town you'll find the Cosmosphere, a museum for the space travel afficionado.
I stayed Hedrick's Exotic Animal Farm Bed and Breakfast and got to hand-feed some zebras, camels and kangaroos.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 12:52 PM on July 7, 2023
I stayed Hedrick's Exotic Animal Farm Bed and Breakfast and got to hand-feed some zebras, camels and kangaroos.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 12:52 PM on July 7, 2023
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Monument. One of the most beautiful places I’ve been, go at sunset.
posted by mai at 12:58 PM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]