Route 66. When is the best time?

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Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby Rhino Ray » Mon Feb 24, 2014 12:54 am

I'm planing a trip to Southern California then to Route 66 across Arazona in May or June. I have AC but a couple of my traveling companions don't. :frightened: when is the best months to take the trip and take a side trip to the Grand Canyon? :thinking:
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby Redneck Teepee » Mon Feb 24, 2014 1:35 am

I have been there several times and weather wise any time from April thru June is best. If you have never been to GC it's worth seeing, you will also understand the satire of Chevy Chase in the movie Vacation when they just get there and are ready to leave...you can only look at that hole in the ground for so long and so many different lookouts. The south rim is the most popular and visited, if you really want to live the GC drop down to the town of Williams (south of the rim) and go to the IMAX theater...well worth it. The North Rim is where the Indians built the glass platform to walk out on, I have not been there, but heard it was expensive plus it's about 6 or 8 hrs by car to get to it from the south rim. You are actually at a very high elevation and into the pine trees on the south rim. Hope I helped :)
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby citylights » Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:41 am

Redneck Teepee wrote:I have been there several times and weather wise any time from April thru June is best. If you have never been to GC it's worth seeing, you will also understand the satire of Chevy Chase in the movie Vacation when they just get there and are ready to leave...you can only look at that hole in the ground for so long and so many different lookouts. The south rim is the most popular and visited, if you really want to live the GC drop down to the town of Williams (south of the rim) and go to the IMAX theater...well worth it. The North Rim is where the Indians built the glass platform to walk out on, I have not been there, but heard it was expensive plus it's about 6 or 8 hrs by car to get to it from the south rim. You are actually at a very high elevation and into the pine trees on the south rim. Hope I helped :)


What?

South rim is the most popular and easiest accessible place to visit Grand Canyon. It is lower elevation, high desert. It is plagued by haze in the summer made worse by smoke if there are any wildfires nearby. I would go spring or fall and avoid the crowded and hot summer. I have also been in the winter, which was great, but much of it is closed.

West rim has the glass platform Indian construction, arts and crafts. Also desert. I have not been there.

The north rim is my favorite. It is higher elevation and cooler with pine trees. Great to visit from the moment the snow melts until it is snowed in again.
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby Redneck Teepee » Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:44 am

citylights wrote:
Redneck Teepee wrote:I have been there several times and weather wise any time from April thru June is best. If you have never been to GC it's worth seeing, you will also understand the satire of Chevy Chase in the movie Vacation when they just get there and are ready to leave...you can only look at that hole in the ground for so long and so many different lookouts. The south rim is the most popular and visited, if you really want to live the GC drop down to the town of Williams (south of the rim) and go to the IMAX theater...well worth it. The North Rim is where the Indians built the glass platform to walk out on, I have not been there, but heard it was expensive plus it's about 6 or 8 hrs by car to get to it from the south rim. You are actually at a very high elevation and into the pine trees on the south rim. Hope I helped :)


What?

South rim is the most popular and easiest accessible place to visit Grand Canyon. It is lower elevation, high desert. It is plagued by haze in the summer made worse by smoke if there are any wildfires nearby. I would go spring or fall and avoid the crowded and hot summer. I have also been in the winter, which was great, but much of it is closed.

West rim has the glass platform Indian construction, arts and crafts. Also desert. I have not been there.

The north rim is my favorite. It is higher elevation and cooler with pine trees. Great to visit from the moment the snow melts until it is snowed in again.

Yes... I stand corrected on the Skywalk Platform, it is on the west side.. my bad. The south rim has an elev. average of 6800 ft and the north rim average is 8000 ft, I personally would not say the south rim is what I would classify as high desert.
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby citylights » Mon Feb 24, 2014 12:19 pm

Redneck Teepee wrote:
citylights wrote:
Redneck Teepee wrote:Yes... I stand corrected on the Skywalk Platform, it is on the west side.. my bad. The south rim has an elev. average of 6800 ft and the north rim average is 8000 ft, I personally would not say the south rim is what I would classify as high desert.


Alright, not exactly high desert. South Rim has lots of scrub brush, some oak, and stunted pine trees. You just have to drive through some desert to get there. But you don't go there for the plants, you go there for the big hole in the ground!

I still recommend the north rim as the best visit. Two of my pics from the north rim...

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And I can't even find any of my pictures from the south rim, if that says anything!
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby Redneck Teepee » Mon Feb 24, 2014 12:26 pm

Never been to the north rim, but it looks like it is worth the visit and a lot less people. Thanks for the pic's! :thumbsup:
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby Rhino Ray » Mon Feb 24, 2014 12:51 pm

Thanks for all the great advice. I was thinking that perhaps right after the Dam Gathering on May 1st -4th that I would head south with my sister and nephew. We do want to go through Santa Cruz, see Hurts Castle then head east to follow Route 66, check out the Grand Canyon and eventually stay overnight in a cement Tee Pee in Holbrook, AZ. Of course we would be camping along the way. Any suggestions for camp sites :campfire: that would be comfortable with showers? There will be at least the three of us in caravan driving vintage rigs. I know May can be a bit iffy when it comes to weather, they don't want to drive in the rain :rainy: yet don't want it too hot because they don't have Air Conditioning :fan: :sweaty:
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby citylights » Mon Feb 24, 2014 3:36 pm

Rhino Ray wrote:Thanks for all the great advice. I was thinking that perhaps right after the Dam Gathering on May 1st -4th that I would head south with my sister and nephew. We do want to go through Santa Cruz, see Hurts Castle then head east to follow Route 66, check out the Grand Canyon and eventually stay overnight in a cement Tee Pee in Holbrook, AZ. Of course we would be camping along the way. Any suggestions for camp sites :campfire: that would be comfortable with showers? There will be at least the three of us in caravan driving vintage rigs. I know May can be a bit iffy when it comes to weather, they don't want to drive in the rain :rainy: yet don't want it too hot because they don't have Air Conditioning :fan: :sweaty:


Early May should be the perfect time. Still a chance of rain on the coast, but with beautiful green hillsides. Also Herst castle grounds should be blooming then. Should still be cool enough for your ride through the desert. I have driven California coast to Las Vegas a few times, but never camped.
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby mikerueve » Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:08 pm

Great post! This is our 25th anniversary and we're planning on our "honeymoon" being the entire route. We should be picking up our newly-built tear in a month and plan on shaking it down for the two months before then. We did three states (Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma) two years ago. Any suggestions will be appreciated. I'll be watching this with much interest!
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby Tabitha » Tue Feb 25, 2014 4:06 pm

We just came back from the GC South Rim. If you are coming through in May go to their site and reserve a campsite in Mathers Campground (inside the GC) now because they fill quickly. They have hot coin showers and a laundromat in park next to the campground. I highly recommend getting the adventure pass for the National Parks. It's about $80 annually but it pays for itself after two trips. You get into the national parks for free and you get discounted camping 1/2 price and discounts at the gift shops too. We paid $16 for our entire 3 night stay over President's weekend. They have a fun Jr. Ranger program for kids to earn badges. After you leave the GC as you continue down the 66 stop at the Petrified Forest, another NP along the route and so cool. The spaces are very big. They do not use artificial light at night so bring flashlights it does get very dark.

http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/cg-sr.htm

When you hit Needles follow route 66 through Oatman. the road is smaller but the wild burros are in Oatman and a fun stop. We saw bighorn on the road after we left Oatman. It's about a 10 hour drive with a trailer from Mojave CA to the South rim on route 66. It's very crowded on the South Rim in the summer, they bus people in to cut down on traffic. Bring water, food, and firewood, these are all expensive at the store in the park. We had a huge herd of elk stay with us in the campground when we were there and deer every morning. Secure your food and belongings the ravens will get into them faster than you can walk back to camp. We watched them defeat all kinds of zippers and bags, use plastic tubs in other camps. Poor folks came back to food and clothes everywhere.



We are staying at the North rim in July so I'll post photos when we get back.

Message me and I can also share the great food stops along the way. In Albuquerque there is a KOA off the freeway.
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby Rhino Ray » Tue Feb 25, 2014 5:56 pm

We will probably go as far as the Grand Canyon and them head back. As it is it's going to be a long trip starting at the Dam Gathering. I think we are going down the east side of the mountain range through Reno and Vegas then over to the Grand Canyon. We will mosey back along much of Route 66 as we want and then stay overnight in Railto at the Wigwam. From there we will head up the coast on Hwy 1 then 101. I'll head home when I get close but all total, it may be 15 to 17 days. :applause: We wont be in a real hurry and will camp along the way. Once I know my schedule I will probably reserve sites. Its a good thing my son is still living at home, I won't have to worry about who is going to feed the cats. :phew:
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby mkitchen » Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:46 pm

Hey Ray
We met at the 2012 IRG and I was trying to plug the Rt 66 Fun Run to you back then. Your trip sounds like it should be a lot of fun for you all. We did a similar trip coming home from IRG, staying at Van Damme by Mendocino, Samual Taylor, just north of Sausalito, and then Big Basin by Santa Cruz. From there we had to hook it home, but heading south from there on hiway 1 is a great trip. Drop us a line if you come through Kingman (it's on your way through). Time allowing, I suggest you check out Hualapai Park. It is just 12 miles south of Kingman and a very nice sky island with lots of pine trees. The park was built in the thirties by the CCC and has some very scenic campsites.
Also check out the campground at Grand Canyon Caverns on Rt 66 east of Kingman. Lots of nice forest service camps in and around the Williams area as well.
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby Rhino Ray » Sun Mar 02, 2014 11:41 pm

We will definately go through Kingman! Here is our plan so far. We leave the Dam Gathering and head through Lassen and stop in Reno. There we will definately go through the National Automobile Meusium. Then we will continue south through Vegas then over to Flagstalf and perhaps to Holbrook to do the cement TeePee. We will take our time heading back, a couple of days at the Grand Canyon, back down 64 and then follow Route 66 stopping at all the stops. We did plan to stay at the campgrounds at the Grand Canyon Caverns. Then onto Kingman then off to feed the donkees in Oatman. How is the road between Kingman and Oatman? :thinking: Looks a bit windey to me. I've traveled trom Oatman to Lake Havasu before so I knpow that's good (we have family in Bullhead City). From there we will go through Needles, Barstow and perhaps stay in another TeePee in Realto. From there we will head to the coast and Hurst Castle on up Hwy 1 and visit family in Santa Cruz. We will then head up 1, 101 and continue north. I will probably cut off at Ukiah and head East and home, the rest will head up through the Redwoods and possibly home via Grants Pass to Eugent. All total we will take about 20 days including the Dam Gathering. Should be a fun time. Any suggestions for stops in Arizona and sites to see would be appreciated. :applause:
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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby mdvaden » Tue Mar 04, 2014 10:39 am

Rhino Ray wrote:I'm planing a trip to Southern California then to Route 66 across Arazona in May or June. I have AC but a couple of my traveling companions don't. :frightened: when is the best months to take the trip and take a side trip to the Grand Canyon? :thinking:


If you were in the redwoods, would be cool to photograph that car and trailer in your signature.

Red is my favorite accessory color to photograph in the forest, whether red outfits for portraits, or, like this red Mustang in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park


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Re: Route 66. When is the best time?

Postby Rhino Ray » Tue Mar 04, 2014 3:23 pm

mdvaden wrote:If you were in the redwoods, would be cool to photograph that car and trailer in your signature.


Nice photography :applause:

OK, I changed it below, how does it look? :thinking:
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