Route advice? Santa Fe, NM to Page AZ

The subject sums it up, I need routing advice for driving between Santa Fe, NM and Page, AZ, in mid October.  I am looking at possibly stopping at 4 corners monument, and Navajo National Monument along the way, possibly spending the night at the monument campground.  google maps offers 3 or 4 different routes all with very similar mileage.  Look for scenic more than speed, but not too bad or too slow of drive either, as it looks like about 360-370 miles between Santa Fe and the campground at the Navajo National Monument.

thanks Ike

Sort of depends on what you consider to be scenery. If time is not a consideration and you like trees and mountain vistas, I would go up to Pagosa Springs via US 84 and then use US 160 over to Cortez, CO. If you like high dry land then drop down to US 550 and use it to get over to Shiprock. If you want some of both then take 84 up to Chama and then follow US 64 west.

That area is so beautiful I doubt you could go wrong.

Me I would take I 25 to US 550 to NM 197 which turns into INDIAN RtE 9 us US 491 to NM 264 to Us 191
Which will lead you to the beautiful Canyon De Chelly (pronounced SHEA). Lots of people say it is more scenic than the Grand Canyon.
Nice Native American run campground near canyon.
That puts you south of the 4 corners about 2 hours but I have never been impressed by the attraction but The canyon is spectacular

Canyon de Chelly is a nice place but there is no comparison in my book to the Grand Canyon.

"Look for scenic more than speed, but not too bad or too slow of drive either, as it looks like about 360-370 miles between Santa Fe and the campground at the Navajo National Monument."

There's no "easy" way to get from SF to Page...  If you take 84 Northwest out of SF, you either take it toward Chama and turn at Abiqui Lake and take 96 to 550 thru Farmington to 160 and follow that to the Page turnoff, Route 98  OR continue on to Chama, then take 64 west to either Dulce/Farmington then 160/98 OR stay on 84 to Pagosa Springs and catch 160 to Cortez, then 491 to 160/98.  Last time we were on 160 west of Tec Nos Pos the pavement was terrible, 30 mph max so the northern route thru Utah (Monticello/Bluff) while longer has much better pavement.  No matter which way you go, take your time and avoid night-time driving... too many animals on the roads!  There are some nice RV parks in Chama, BTW as well as Farmington, Durango, Pagosa Springs and Cortez.  The Canyon of the Ancients Visitor Center near Cortez is a Smithsonian quality museum.  You'll pass options for Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly and others such as the Mesa Verde, Salmon Ruins, Bolack Museum, Navajo Monument, Monument Valley, etc. Unless you are on a schedule, October/November are wonderful times to see this area although winter weather will become a factor in late November.

Have a great trip.

BTW: the campground at Navajo Nat'l Monument is small.  Might wanna call them to be sure it will work for you.  The RV park just west of Page at Lake Powell is much larger with incredible views.

Another BTW: if you take Route 64 west of Dulce you'll come to Navajo Lake State Park which has some nice RV parks and great fishing in the trout waters just below the Navajo Dam.  People come from all over to fish there...

taoshum said:

BTW: the campground at Navajo Nat'l Monument is small.  Might wanna call them to be sure it will work for you.  The RV park just west of Page at Lake Powell is much larger with incredible views.

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I was going to chime in here with this info.  We're 37' plus the Jeep.  I managed to get one site that was on the outside of a curve.  The front bumper of the coach was within 6" of the line in the front and the back rack on the Jeep was within 6" of the line at the back.  Had to leave the slide in to keep from blocking the road with it.
Ranger came by and asked how long we were staying.  When I told him only 1 night he was okay, but I had the feeling if I'd said we were staying a week he'd have changed his tune.

taoshum said:

Another BTW: if you take Route 64 west of Dulce you'll come to Navajo Lake State Park which has some nice RV parks and great fishing in the trout waters just below the Navajo Dam.  People come from all over to fish there...

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That's another tight park.  We didn't find any site we'd fit in there, and at one point I wasn't sure I'd be able to get out of the campground without damaging something.

As it stands the route is shaping up to be Santa Fe to Los Alamos for a couple of hours then on NM 4 to US 550 and up to Aztec NM for the night, visit the Aztec National monument the next morning, then onward to the west along US 64, then up US 160 a quick stop at 4 corners monument, the CO 41 / UT 162 over to Bluff UT then down US 163 stopping at Goosnecks State Park for the night if there is a site available (arrival will be mid week so I am hopeful).  The next morning will be down to US 160 and across to Navajo National Monument, and then on into Page, AZ.

NMDriver said:

Sort of depends on what you consider to be scenery. If time is not a consideration and you like trees and mountain vistas, I would go up to Pagosa Springs via US 84 and then use US 160 over to Cortez, CO. If you like high dry land then drop down to US 550 and use it to get over to Shiprock. If you want some of both then take 84 up to Chama and then follow US 64 west.

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This would be my suggestion but as

SeilerBird said:

said
That area is so beautiful I doubt you could go wrong.

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Isaac-1 said:

As it stands the route is shaping up to be Santa Fe to Los Alamos for a couple of hours then on NM 4 to US 550 and up to Aztec NM for the night, visit the Aztec National monument the next morning, then onward to the west along US 64, then up US 160 a quick stop at 4 corners monument, the CO 41 / UT 162 over to Bluff UT then down US 163 stopping at Goosnecks State Park for the night if there is a site available (arrival will be mid week so I am hopeful).  The next morning will be down to US 160 and across to Navajo National Monument, and then on into Page, AZ.

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Might wanna check to see if NM 4/126 is paved all the way if that matters to you.  It was many years ago but the last time I took that road, it was talcum powder in many places.

Thanks, I have already checked, 4 is paved all the way, 126 is not

a few years ago we did that trip in reverse.
from page we took 98 to 160 to 163 up through monument valley.  I had learned of a really promising boondocking location overlooking the river near Mexican Hat (Goosenecks State Park), but we ended up passing through mid day and stopping didn't make sense.
pretty sure we took 163 up to 162 at Bluff, and followed the San Juan..after stopping at 4-corners.  I remember being surprised at some of the green places along the river but I'm not so sure 4 corners was worth it...it's a long way through nothing to get there...and then not much there.  Don't remember much else through to Mesa Verde and Durango.
Durango was a nice town to stop for touristy walking and dinner, but that town wasn't very RV friendly...apparently a new at the time town ordinance against boondocking at walmart and similar....so we ended that night down in Farmington..then backtracked a bit to see the Aztek ruins at Aztek.. nice suprise.  From there we took 550 I think to Sante Fe.

I wish we'd have done the Navajo Natl Monument. 

We are probably skipping Durango on this trip, my wife has an elderly uncle that has offered to let us use his vacation cabin in Durango if we ever want to, which we may see about doing next year.