Blog from this trip may be seen at:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/9130587643880389737I can also give you the routes we used either on Strava or in some cases RWGPS
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Ocotillo to El Centro: Based on recommendations from a Warm Showers host we took Rt S80 the W. Evan Hewes Highway. It was ok for a couple miles then the surface was extremely bad with huge cracks that bumped us very badly and slowed us down. A bridge was closed but easily bypassed (able to go around the barriers). I would NOT recommend this route.
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Gila Bend: Camping difficult to find. Sonoran Desert RV Park was not accepting tents. We ended up on the lawn at the Palms Mobile RV Park which did not have any facilities- we were able to use restrooms at nearby McDonalds and Loves (which also has paid showers)
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Gila Bend to Phoenix Area (Chandler): Instead of the Adventure Cycling route we took 238 to Maricopa and then 347 north to Chandler (based on friends recommendation). 238 was excellent until 10 miles out from Maricopa- after that there was a lot of 18 wheeler traffic with little or no berm. Do
NOT take this route- it is not safe.
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Chandler to Globe: we took US60 instead of the ST route. Camped at a dry campground- Live Oak Flats, a few miles past Superior. US60 was good for the most part but as noted in the ST maps, the truck traffic can be a challenge and there are sections under construction that require care. There is a tunnel to go through which is extremely noisy. They continue to make improvements to US60 but there are areas with limited berm. We rode up on a Sunday so there was no truck traffic but we got a fair amount of truck traffic going down the east side on Monday. Best to do this Saturday / Sunday. A shuttle from Superior down to Miami would not be a bad idea during the week.
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Bylas: Bylas has a small rest area that isn't well marked- camping not allowed. There was also a grill right next to the grocery store if you want to eat there. We cowboy camped east of town based on recommendations of the store clerk- go to the house on the hill and turn left. We camped just off a dirt road on a small rise next to the cemetary.
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Duncan : camped in the city park. The restrooms are not open due to vandalism and there is no water. You can charge devices in a plug next to the closed restroom. The Simpson Hotel is closed for remodeling and no longer takes campers.
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Route Alternate at Lordsburg: At Lordsburg we went off route and took a more southerly route. We traveled about 12 miles east on I-10 and exited at 113 and went south. This section of the interstate had a rough shoulder and construction. Due to lack of room on the berm we used the closed lane where they were paving- this worked out very well with just a couple of areas where we walked the bikes due to construction equipment. At Hachita we stayed at the Bicycle Ranch which does charge - Jeffrey said $40-80 which I think was for the two of us and included beer and food (we traded an item I found along the road for lodging and I had bought the pizza's for dinner). You can also camp at the community center- just ask at the Hachita store. From Hachita we went east all the way to El Paso on state Highway 9. We camped at Pancho Villa St Park in Columbus and also crossed over the border to Paloma (we didn't have our passports but they said they could easily look them up so no problems crossing the border). We ate dinner in Paloma at Pinks which is just a couple hundred yards away from the border- they have outside seating in the back so we were able to keep an eyey on the bikes- highly recommended. This entire route except for the interstate section had excellent roads and very low traffic. Highly recommended if you want to avoid the mountains in the Silver City area.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
