8 days by RV from Phoenix to the Very Large Array, White Sands and Roswell

Twenty-seven white dishes, each 82 feet across, stand on a high plain in New Mexico, all turned to the same patch of sky. You may have seen them before: Jodie Foster sat on a car among them in the film Contact. Two days later you're in Roswell, where a 1947 press release about a "flying disc" turned a balloon crash into the most famous UFO legend in the world. In between: lava only about 5,000 years old, and white gypsum dunes where the missile range next door can close the road for three hours.

This is an eight-day RV loop from Phoenix: the Very Large Array (VLA), Socorro, the Valley of Fires, Alamogordo's space museum, White Sands, Roswell, the nuclear museum in Albuquerque, Petrified Forest and Meteor Crater. It's a big trip for science, space and Cold War fans, and it's honest about the drive. We tell the Roswell story the way the U.S. government's own reports tell it, and we label it: we never claim that an alien spacecraft crashed in New Mexico. Every price, opening hour and RV rule below comes from the operator or a public agency, with the date we checked it. Anything we estimated is marked [A].

When to go

1. JanToughVLA can close for snow
2. FebToughfreezing nights
3. MarGoodcold nights up high
4. AprBestmild days
5. MayBestwarm, dry
6. JunToughRoswell 96 °F
7. JulToughmonsoon storms
8. AugToughmonsoon storms
9. SepGoodPhoenix 100 °F
10. OctBestRoswell 78 °F
11. NovGoodcold nights, holidays
12. DecToughshort days, ice

Our rating [A], based on NOAA 1991–2020 normals and NRAO's VLA advice. The VLA sits at about 7,000 ft: NRAO says to expect 70–95 °F from April to August, monsoon storms with lightning from July to late August, and lows down to 15 °F from November to February, when snow and ice can close the site [C1]. Roswell averages highs of 96 °F in June and July and 78 °F in October; in the Arizona high country, St. Johns (near the route on day 2) averages January lows of 19 °F [C27]. Phoenix averages 104–107 °F from June to August [C27]. Several stops close on Thanksgiving (November 26, 2026) and Christmas [C11][C16][C18][C22].

Route map

The 8 days at a glance

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Distances and drive times are our estimates for an RV at legal speeds without stops: a road router plus 10–20% for a motorhome [A]. Add time for photo stops, fuel and roadworks. From March to early November, clocks in New Mexico are one hour ahead of Arizona [A].

Before you go: checklist

1. Buy VLA tickets for day 2. Adults 13–64 $10, seniors 65+ and military $8, ages 12 and under free; NRAO encourages buying in advance. The site is open every day 9 am–4 pm, and nobody may stay after 4 pm [C1].
2. Book the New Mexico state parks for nights 3 and 4 (Oliver Lee and Bottomless Lakes) through ReserveAmerica, up to 6 months ahead. Non-residents pay $20 a night for a developed site, plus $10 for electricity and $5 each for water and sewer hookups, plus a reservation fee of $3.50 a night (up to $10). The America the Beautiful pass is not accepted at New Mexico state parks [C14].
3. Phone the RV parks that don't book online. Enchanted Trails in Albuquerque (night 5) takes reservations by phone only [C19]; Casey's in Socorro (night 2) is listed with a phone number [C6].
4. Book the Arizona state parks for nights 1, 6 and 7: Fool Hollow Lake, Homolovi and Lost Dutchman, each with a $3.60 reservation fee [C20][C21][C25].
5. Plan your days of the week. Start Monday to Thursday [A]: the Phoenix depot is closed on Sundays [C28], Fool Hollow Lake has a 2-night minimum on Friday and Saturday nights from April 1 to October 30 [C20], and the space museum in Alamogordo (day 3) is closed on Tuesdays [C10].
6. Check White Sands the day before. The park's "Military testing park closures" page lists planned closures of Dunes Drive, up to 3 hours each; the visitor center stays open [C12]. White Sands Missile Range also posts roadblocks on US-380 and US-70 [C9].
7. Plan your tanks. Oliver Lee's dump station is closed during construction, which runs until December 2026 [C13]. Empty your tanks at Socorro (full hookups) on the morning of day 3 and at Bottomless Lakes on day 4 [C2][C15].
8. Fill up before the VLA. There's no food on site [C1], and the BLM says the nearest food, fuel and water to Datil, on the way, are in Magdalena [C5]. Fill the tank in Show Low or Springerville [A].
9. Phones off at the VLA. Devices must be in airplane mode or switched off, drones are banned, and there's no cell coverage [C1][C2]. Download maps for the whole day [A].

RV access, stop by stop

RV ok paved, parking for a typical campervan or Class C up to ~30 ft [A] · Caution possible, with a catch · No RV leave the RV and walk, take a shuttle, or skip

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Not sure your rig fits? Our RV size guide explains length, height and what "unpaved" means in a rental contract.

Where you sleep: hookups and dump stations

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Lost Dutchman has no public dump station [C25], so empty your tanks at Homolovi on the morning of day 7 [C21], or ask your rental company whether you may return the RV with full tanks [A]. For what to do when every campground is full, see our plan B guide.

Day by day

Day 1 — Phoenix, up the Mogollon Rim to Show Low (~165 mi)

The Phoenix depot is in Mesa and hands over RVs between 1 and 4 pm [C28]. Do the walk-through slowly and the grocery run in Mesa [A]. Then take AZ-87 north to Payson and AZ-260 east along the rim to Show Low, about 165 miles and 4 hours [A]. Your camp is Fool Hollow Lake Recreation Area at 6,300 ft, so the night will be much cooler than Phoenix [C20]. The gate closes at 8 pm; if you arrive later, you need the PIN code from your reservation [C20]. Watch for elk and deer on AZ-260 at dusk [A].

Day 2 — US-60 to the Very Large Array (~210 mi)

Leave early: the VLA closes at 4 pm, and from March to early November New Mexico is one hour ahead of Arizona [C1][A]. US-60 runs east through Springerville into New Mexico, across high ranch country and through the village of Pie Town [A]. Fill up before you leave Arizona [A].

The Very Large Array stands on the Plains of San Agustin. It has 28 radio antennas: 27 in use and one spare. Each dish is 82 ft across and weighs about 230 tons, and the antennas sit on rails in a giant Y, nine per arm. Over 16 months the array stretches each arm from two-thirds of a mile to 23 miles, then moves them back [C3]. It was approved in 1972 and dedicated in 1980 [C3]. Start in the visitor center with the short film narrated by Jodie Foster, then walk the self-guided tour, about half a mile [C1]. Contact (Warner Bros., 1997) was filmed here [C4].

The rules: devices in airplane mode or off, no drones, no night photography, and nobody on site after 4 pm. Dogs are welcome outside on a leash up to 6 ft long, but not inside the visitor center [C1]. The gift shop closes for lunch from noon to 12:30 [C1]. Then drive on through Magdalena to Socorro, about 52 miles [A], and sleep with full hookups at Casey's Socorro RV Park, which NRAO lists among the places to stay [C2].

Day 3 — Lava, rockets and White Sands (~195 mi)

Empty your tanks in Socorro before you leave; the next campground's dump station is closed [C13]. Take I-25 south to San Antonio and US-380 east. About 12 miles east of San Antonio you pass the turnoff to Stallion Gate. It leads to Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945, but the site opens to the public only on the third Saturday of October [C8].

The Valley of Fires, 4 miles west of Carrizozo, is a lava flow from Little Black Peak, about 5,000 years old: 44 miles long, 4–6 miles wide and up to 160 ft thick [C7]. The paved Malpais Nature Trail, ¾ mile, crosses it [C7]. Then go south on US-54 to Alamogordo and the New Mexico Museum of Space History (closed Tuesdays; the fifth floor is closed for renovation) [C10].

Finish at White Sands National Park, 15 miles west of Alamogordo: the world's largest gypsum dunefield, covering 275 square miles [C11]. Dunes Drive runs 8 miles into the dunes, half paved and half packed gypsum, so allow time for the 16-mile round trip [C11]. Don't stop between miles 3 and 5.5, a safety corridor [C12]. The park is open from 7 am until sunset, and there's nowhere to sleep inside it [C11]. Leave at dusk for Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, 8 miles south of Alamogordo on US-54 and 4 miles east [C13]. Its entrance is under construction until December 2026 [C13].

Day 4 — Over the mountains to Roswell (~150 mi)

US-70 climbs from Tularosa through the Sacramento Mountains, passes Ruidoso Downs and follows the Hondo Valley down to Roswell, about 130 miles [A]. The International UFO Museum and Research Center on Main Street is open daily 9 am–5 pm; adults pay $7 [C16]. Plan an hour or two, then walk Main Street [A].

Sleep at Bottomless Lakes State Park, 15 miles from town: eight lakes in sinkholes, 17 to 90 ft deep [C15]. The campground at Lea Lake has showers, a dump station and six full-hookup sites [C15]. The day-use bathhouse at Lea Lake is closed from October 31 to April 1 [C15].

Day 5 — Roswell to Albuquerque: the nuclear museum (~230 mi)

Take US-285 north through open ranch country to Clines Corners, then I-40 west to Albuquerque, about 210 miles [A]. The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History is open daily 8 am–5 pm; adults pay $24, and the Museum Artifact Center costs $10 extra [C18]. The museum used to be on Kirtland Air Force Base and had to move after September 11, 2001 [C18]. It's federal property: no firearms or weapons [C18].

Sleep on Route 66 at the west edge of town: Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post, at I-40 exit 149. It began in the late 1940s as the Hill Top Trading Post, the owners say [C19].

Day 6 — Back to Arizona: Petrified Forest (~280 mi)

The longest day. Leave Albuquerque early: I-40 west past Gallup to exit 311 is about 200 miles [A]. From March to early November you gain an hour when you cross into Arizona [A]. Petrified Forest National Park is open 8 am–5 pm and costs $25 per vehicle; drive the 28-mile park road from north to south, starting with the Painted Desert [C22]. During construction, the visitor center's services are at the Painted Desert Inn, 2 miles into the park, and fuel is sold at the north entrance [C22]. From the south end, US-180 leads to Holbrook and I-40 to Homolovi State Park near Winslow [C21][C22].

Day 7 — Winslow, Meteor Crater, down to Phoenix (~260 mi)

Empty your tanks at Homolovi before you go [C21]. Stop at Winslow's "Standin' on the Corner" park [C24], then drive on to Meteor Crater, open from 8 am [C23]. The crater is more than 4,000 ft across and 550 ft deep, made by an impact about 50,000 years ago [C23]. The guided rim walk takes 30–40 minutes; tours of the crater floor are paused [C23]. Then take I-40 west to Flagstaff and I-17 down to Phoenix, about 180 miles [A], to Lost Dutchman State Park below the Superstition Mountains [C25].

Day 8 — Return the RV (~26 mi)

The Mesa depot takes returns between 9 and 11 am [C28], so it's a short morning: about 26 miles [A]. Lost Dutchman's dump station is not open to the public, so check your rental's rules on tanks [C25][A].

Fact or folklore?

Verified fact documented · Legend / folklore a story, not proven · Tourism marketing tourism claim · Gone / not available closed or changed

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What we left out, and why

• Trinity Site. Open only on the third Saturday of October; the 2026 date has passed and the next is October 16, 2027 [C8]. If your trip covers that day, it fits into day 3: the gate is open 8 am–2 pm [C8].
• Raven Site Ruin near Springerville. Often listed as a stop, but it's now a preserve of the Archaeological Conservancy (Sherwood Ranch Pueblo), not a public attraction [C26].
• Casa Malpais in Springerville. We couldn't open an official page with current tour days, so we don't list it [A]. Ask in town if you pass.
• A one-way trip to Denver. From Roswell it's about 540 more miles [A], and one-way fees apply. The loop back to Phoenix is simpler.
• Valles Caldera and the Turquoise Trail. Both are north of Albuquerque, off this route, and would add a day [A].
• "Crash site" tours. We found no official site to visit, and we don't recommend tours that sell the legend as fact [A].

Alternatives: 9 days, Carlsbad, shorter

Buffer day: if you can, add one spare day, ideally on the first night near the airport or right after the longest drive. It absorbs a late flight, a slow pickup, a closed road or bad weather without cancelling a booked campground. Our classic loops show where it fits.

• 9 days (recommended for first-time RV drivers). Add a second night at Oliver Lee or Valley of Fires, for a morning on the dunes and a buffer for missile-test closures [A]. Or split day 6 with a night near Gallup [A].
• Carlsbad Caverns (+2 days). From Roswell it's a day south and a day back [A]. We haven't checked the cave's current entry rules for this page; see the National Park Service before you plan it [A].
• Back the way you came. From Roswell you can return west on US-380 and US-60 through Socorro and Show Low. That saves about 200 miles but still takes 8 days (the depot takes returns only in the morning), repeats day 2's road and skips Albuquerque, Petrified Forest and Meteor Crater [C28][A]. We don't recommend it.
• Less driving: do the Arizona half only. Our 5-day loop covers Lost Dutchman, Meteor Crater and Winslow, with Petrified Forest as an option.

What it costs

Verified prices on this loop (checked 2026-10-28). Camping: Fool Hollow Lake $50 [C20], Oliver Lee about $35 for non-residents [C14], Bottomless Lakes $35–40 [C14], Enchanted Trails $45–50 plus tax [C19], Homolovi $35–40 [C21] and Lost Dutchman $50 [C25], plus reservation fees of $3.50–3.60 a night [C14][C20]. Casey's in Socorro doesn't publish prices [A]. That's roughly $330 for seven nights [A]. Entry for two adults: VLA $20 [C1], White Sands $25 per vehicle [C11], Space History museum $16 [C10], UFO museum $14 [C16], nuclear museum $48 [C18], Petrified Forest $25 per vehicle [C22] and Meteor Crater $58 [C23], about $210 in total [A]. The America the Beautiful pass ($80 for U.S. residents, $250 for non-residents) covers only the two national parks here [C11][C14], so it doesn't pay off on this trip alone [A].

The big items are the RV and fuel. At about 1,500 miles, a Class C that does 8–10 miles per gallon burns roughly 150–190 gallons [A]. Check your rental's mileage terms: on a trip this long, mileage fees can cost more than the campgrounds [A]. Put your own dates, vehicle and fuel price into the trip cost calculator (choose 8 days and about 1,500 miles).

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