North America Travel Forum

I will be driving to Phoenix (well actually Prescott, AZ) at the end of August. Possible stupid question.....is it a really desolate drive from Amarillo to Phoenix? I am female and will be driving alone.

It’s been a few years since I did that stretch. If I can trust my memory...

If you’re sticking to the interstate and driving during the day then you should be okay. Even at night it is fine; it’s just pretty remote country in some stretches. Gas stops are few and far between, and at night the open ones are fewer and farther. I-40 is fairly well-travelled, with truckers and summer vacation tourers (maybe not so much, with gas prices these days), so you won't be too alone during the day.

You’ll be travelling part of the old, historic Route 66, so do a search on that and make a stop or two along the way if you want some local history. On the stretch between Flagstaff and Phoenix, if time allows I highly recommend driving through Sedona on Hwy 89; it’s not much longer in distance, and it's very pretty. It'll be slower going, though.

if you want to get there quickly take the Interstate highways or the Blue Highways such as Route 66 if you can get in a bit of the history of USA. Once i drove from Houston to San Antonio to Marfa to Presidio to cross into mexico.. the first part was okay, a few miles out of san antonio the scenery is half brush desert and then became an uninteresting scenery for long stretches.. had wanted to see marfa lights which is a natural phenomenon..
Drive during the day, stay at motels during the evenings and bring CDs to listen to!

Why would you go through Amarillo? You really just need to stay on I-10 then take 17 north at Phoenix to 69 and on to Prescott.
The San Antonio to El Paso stretch of I-10 is the worst. Plan a night somewhere along the way: Fort Stockton, Ozona or Sonora, or you can take the back route along US 90 from San Antonio to near El Paso. It's more interesting.
If you do go through Amarillo, the Amarillo to Albuquerque stretch isn't terribly desolate, but there are a couple of long stretches without development. Lots of traffic though, so you should be okay. Santa Rosa, NM is a nice town. Amarillo is not.
hth