Originally Posted by RustyJC

From Houston to Phoenix? Sounds like I-10 unless you want to do the Hill Country in which case you might want to take US290 from Houston to Fredericksburg (it'll start to get a little more interesting west of Austin), then Texas 16 down to Kerrville and I-10. OK, here are the jumpoffs:

1. Do the Hill Country. You'll be in it between Austin and Kerrville. This is a must. Just about all the back roads are good, but be sure to ride the "3"'s below Kerrville and Texas 16 from Medina to Kerrville.

2. Next, do Big Bend. US 90 along the Rio Grande to Marathon or Alpine will be more interesting than I-10, but take your pick. Come out of the west end of Big Bend National Park and then take the River Road from Study Butte to Presidio, then on to Fort Davis via Marfa.

3. Do the Davis Mountains scenic loop.

4. Now, north to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. On north to Carlsbad Caverns if you've never been there and want to see it - it's close by.

5. From there, you can head west through the mountains (Ruidoso and Cloudcroft, NM) or head to El Paso and get back on I-10 - take your choice.

After the above, you'll probably need to stop in El Paso and buy new tires, anyway. You'll never do all this along with the rest of your trip in your 9-day window, so pick and choose from the list above.

Rusty

Originally Posted by RustyJC

From Houston to Phoenix? Sounds like I-10 unless you want to do the Hill Country in which case you might want to take US290 from Houston to Fredericksburg (it'll start to get a little more interesting west of Austin), then Texas 16 down to Kerrville and I-10. OK, here are the jumpoffs:

1. Do the Hill Country. You'll be in it between Austin and Kerrville. This is a must. Just about all the back roads are good, but be sure to ride the "3"'s below Kerrville and Texas 16 from Medina to Kerrville.