O S T / D O H R F C

[DennyG]

I have a reason/excuse to drive to San Diego next month. The Dixie Overland Highway has been suggested as a possible route and the Old Spanish Trail came to mind as well. Recognizing that early August is hardly the best time to drive either of these southern roads, I'm posting this Request For Comments to see what others might think are the good and bad points of each.

[mga707]

Lots of drivable remnants of old US80 on the OST routing, at least in AZ and CA. And, of course, the Old Plank Road that the BLM has preserved in the dunes west of Yuma.

As far as the heat, a well-maintained modern vehicle can handle it. Just this past Sunday I drove home from LA on I-10. The reading on my car's outside thermometer was at 110 or over all the way from the Palm Springs area to the east side of the Phoenix valley, where welcome thunderstorms and much-needed rain dropped it down to the mid-80s in a hurry. The peak temperature was reached west of Blythe at 115. Right around the Chuckwalla Road remnant of old US60/70, which I was sorely tempted to drive, heat or no heat. Alas, I was in a hurry to get home and the siren song of steady 75mph motoring was too strong.

Edited July 15, 2014 by mga707

[DennyG]

The vehicle for this trip will be a reasonably well maintained and modern though the driver will be neither.

 

I've not driven all of those remnants you mention but I have driven several and I've visited the plank road (which is very cool) a couple of times. West of El Paso, OST, DOH, US80 and a few other trails essentially share the same path and I've driven much of it (El Paso-Las Cruces is the exception) a time or two and once even stood at The Center of the World (with a certificate to prove it). East of El Paso, the two auto trails follow different paths and, even though they both go through some places I've been, I'm not really familiar with either one.