Drive from Phoenix

I'll be driving to Vegas from the Phoenix area at the end of the month. Was planning on just driving straight (I think it's about 4 hours). But if anyone has suggestions on detours to take or stops to make, I'd love to hear!

 

well you could stop in Laughlin and check it out! I have made the Vegas drive a few times...grandkids are in Phoenix! Highway 17 north...turn left Highway 74 until Highway 93 turn right till Highway 40 head west and follow the signs! Pretty fast drive that way.

 

Why stop in Laughlin (45 mins off the hwy to Vegas) when you are going to Vegas anyways?!?!

It's 5 hours from Phoenix, safely. You should stop at the Hoover Dam overpass. Take the exit before you get to the overpass so you can see the dam from the new area. If you have time, you should drive down to Hoover Dam and take the Dam Tour.

If you drive fast (wanna get there in 4 hours from downtown Phx), watch out for Highway Patrol in the start of the Joshua Tree Forest Parkway going up. There may be a few just outside Kingman on I-40 as well.

Drive safe and have fun!

 

Here is another fun route that will take all day.

Drive west to the California border. Follow the river north. You can stop and see the Parker dam, then visit the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, head up to Laughlin and then on to Vegas.

 

Thanks everyone! I may be itching to get to Vegas after visiting family in AZ for 5 days so I may just head straight there. But I've always wanted to peek into Laughlin and this may be my chance.

 

There is a pretty little town named Wickenburg that you will pass through.

Then you will pass through the Joshua Tree National Forest.

Then you will drive up & down some beautiful desert mountains.

At the base of the mountains is a tiny town named Wikieup. There, they delight in giving speed tickets.

Soon after you turn left onto hwy 40, you will enter Kingman, Arizona. That's a good place to buy gas, as they have cheaper prices at the truck stops.

When you depart Laughlin, Nevada, you will go up & down more mountains.

Then you will drive through Searchlight, home of Senator Harry Reid, majority leader of the U.S. Senate.

Just before you enter Las Vegas, there is a solar energy farm on your left.

Much of this land, with the exception of the highway, must look exactly the same as when Christ walked the earth.

I envy your trip!

 

We live in Phoenix and have made this drive many times in the last 4 years since we have lived here. We have our favorite gas stations, etc. to stop at, but we usually are so excited to get to Vegas, we never make any detours. EXCEPT, we have stopped at the Hoover Dam lookout. Quite the sight to behold! I agree with the comment someone made about Wikieup being a speed trap. Never been ticketed there, but have seen plenty of cars pulled over. Better use the facilities in Wickenburg, because there is nothing for 60 miles to Wikieup. The scenery on this whole drive is simply spectacular! Joshua trees, mountains, an area we like to call Bouldertown, where there are high stacks of boulders everywhere. Have your camera ready as this is about 3/4 of the way between Wickenburg and Wikieup.

Have fun...we are heading there the middle of March!

 

Bring back some great memories for me!! Used to live in Tucson and loved to make this drive. Wife and I would leave at 4:00 PM after work on a Friday and see if we could be gambling in Laughlin by 9:30 PM. Love getting that extra hour just by driving across the river. We always stopped at Taco Bell in Wickenburg and of course, as robert says, get gas in Kingman while humming "get your kicks...on route 66"!

 

Thanks very much!

 

Taco Bell!

Thanks for the memory. My daughter spotted it as we drove into Wickenburg enroute to Las Vegas for her 21st birthday celebration.

I hit the Burger King, and she hit the Taco Bell. Can you tell that we won't be relating any stories of 5-course gourmet meals?

But, we had FUN!!