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My wife and I will be driving through New Mexico from Arizona in late January. We'll drive on the 40 EB.
Knowing that we'll have several hours available, what are the "must-see" places to visit on that route?
Most of the places worth seeing on I-40 are actually on the Arizona side; you have the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, Dinosaur thinggy, to name a few.
I-40 has attractions aplenty in Gallup, Albuquerque, and perhaps Santa Rosa or Tucumcari. Still, the biggest appeal of I-40 as I see it is the natural sightseeing along the road.
Strongly recommend you list your tolerance for deviations (how far are you willing to go out of your way?) from the road, as many people in here are absolutely in love with places 6 hours each way out of your way, and will recommend (more like insist) you visit them.
I-40 is unfortunately the most boring route across the state. Albuquerque and the Sandias are the highlights.
You haven't tried I-10 (flat, flat, flat until you get right outside Cruces), then? US-60 isn't much better than 10 either.
I-40 is the most exciting east-west route across the state. That's not saying a whole lot. It is a fair bit more interesting to take historic US-66 through the old towns on the route, though you need to know what exit numbers you have to leave and rejoin I-40 in order to experience it.
Thanks for the tips, guys. I know that we don't travel during the best time of the year. We're moving from SoCal to Knoxville, TN. I decided to do the whole trip in 1 week through I-40. It's just over 4 hours driving a day and gives us some time to visit. We'll spend the night in Albuquerque and will surely eat on Old Town.
Thanks again!
In Albuquerque, take the Sandia Peak Tram, one of the world's longest. It's only a 15-20 minute drive from I-40. If the mountain is cloud-free, you'll have spectacular view from the crest at 10,378 feet. Depending on when you hit it you might run into a lot of skiers and long lines. There is a restaurant at the top where you can get a meal, or just a hot chocolate.
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