Driving Denver -> Phoenix
May 18, 2004 2:57 PM Subscribe
Denver to Phoenix: What's the fastest (or otherwise best) route for driving?
Response by poster: Fastest is the highest priority, however, if someone who's familiar with the drive is aware of other considerations, I'm interested in hearing them.
Mapquest and Yahoo Maps are great tools, but I've learned that they don't always give you the quickest route -- they tend to give you the simplest route. For example, on a cross country drive between Utah and Illinois last year I saved about 2-3 hours by connecting to a state highway across Iowa, rather than taking 80, and the only way I could get Mapquest to compare that stuff was by explicitly specifying legs of the trip connecting to small towns in Iowa.
I don't particularly blame the tool, being long familiar with the related travelling salesman problem and I still like Mapquest and the like. But I also still like asking people for their experience.
posted by weston at 3:39 PM on May 18, 2004
Mapquest and Yahoo Maps are great tools, but I've learned that they don't always give you the quickest route -- they tend to give you the simplest route. For example, on a cross country drive between Utah and Illinois last year I saved about 2-3 hours by connecting to a state highway across Iowa, rather than taking 80, and the only way I could get Mapquest to compare that stuff was by explicitly specifying legs of the trip connecting to small towns in Iowa.
I don't particularly blame the tool, being long familiar with the related travelling salesman problem and I still like Mapquest and the like. But I also still like asking people for their experience.
posted by weston at 3:39 PM on May 18, 2004
I just made this trip last summer when I drove cross country from Boston to Phoenix. My wife and I met in Glenwood Springs, CO and we wanted to spend a day of two there. Thus we went I70 from Denver out through Glenwood and into Grand Junction. We crossed into Utah and headed south on US191 to US160 to US89. Then I40 to I17. MapQuest. It was a longer trip but arguably more scenic. Also held some nostalgia for us.
posted by rglasmann at 3:48 PM on May 18, 2004
posted by rglasmann at 3:48 PM on May 18, 2004
*waves at weston from Phoenix*
mmm...105°F
The only advice I can offer is not to go via the US89 from Winslow, AZ as there is a 5-mile resurfacing/works project going on a few miles south. Great scenery tho'.
posted by i_cola at 4:47 PM on May 18, 2004
mmm...105°F
The only advice I can offer is not to go via the US89 from Winslow, AZ as there is a 5-mile resurfacing/works project going on a few miles south. Great scenery tho'.
posted by i_cola at 4:47 PM on May 18, 2004
Sorry, didn't mean to be snarky earlier. As penance, I'll mention that another good place to find out about things to do/see along the way would be the forums over at Road Trip America. In fact, there's a Denver to Phoenix thread on there right now, although it looks like they're planning on taking quite a bit longer than you.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:35 PM on May 18, 2004 [1 favorite]
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:35 PM on May 18, 2004 [1 favorite]
I think you should probably go through vegas for the obvious reason - - You can drive over the hoover dam ;)
posted by trbrts at 9:20 AM on May 19, 2004
posted by trbrts at 9:20 AM on May 19, 2004
Response by poster: Excellent, DA! It may not help with speed on this trip, but wow, those forums are exactly the resource I've been looking for to complement the automated trip planners
And trbrts -- you're right, the Hoover Dam is cool. Although the last time I went, we saw these huge fish down in the water that really made us wonder ...
posted by weston at 10:23 AM on May 19, 2004
And trbrts -- you're right, the Hoover Dam is cool. Although the last time I went, we saw these huge fish down in the water that really made us wonder ...
posted by weston at 10:23 AM on May 19, 2004
Two things: I live in Flagstaff, and the easiest rt. to Denver is the interstates no question. But it isn't the best. The best one will take two days. So...
Second, I had a friend who after a stint as a Navy Seal took a job cleaning debris out of the blow out tubes in dams in the SWest. He told of nine foot catfish down in Hoover Dam. Nine Foot. He said other had seen longer....
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 11:42 AM on May 19, 2004
Second, I had a friend who after a stint as a Navy Seal took a job cleaning debris out of the blow out tubes in dams in the SWest. He told of nine foot catfish down in Hoover Dam. Nine Foot. He said other had seen longer....
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 11:42 AM on May 19, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you're looking for "otherwise best," it would be helpful if we knew what qualities would make a route "best" to you, since it may significantly differ from what other people would consider "best."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:07 PM on May 18, 2004