Highway campgrounds or a motel bed near a small town stop

What to take away

The overnight decision on a small town route comes down to two things: where you can eat tonight, and where you want to be at seven tomorrow morning. Everything else, including the view, is secondary.

Highway campgrounds are worth naming

Sites on a main road often make better bases than they sound: easy to reach late, easy to leave early.

The BLM's page for Burro Creek Recreation Site in Arizona describes a campground, picnic area and desert garden in a canyon at 1,960 feet. A paved access road reaches it a mile and a half from a signed turnoff on Highway 93, sixty miles northwest of Wickenburg.

The fee is fourteen dollars per night for an individual site and fifty for the group site. The page notes that the area is desolate in the warm summer months and much better from October through April.

The reservation detail on that page is the useful lesson. Some numbered sites take reservations through the federal booking system with at least seven days notice, while others remain first come first served. That mixed arrangement is common, and it means checking the specific site number rather than the campground name.

Valley of Fire State Park near Overton, Nevada, charges non-residents about $25 per night plus a $10 per vehicle entry fee. The Atlatl Rock Campground has electric and water hookups and showers.

Dead Horse Ranch State Park near Cottonwood, Arizona, runs about $20 to $35 per night depending on hookups. Sites book through Arizona State Parks, often up to six months ahead.

Goblin Valley State Park near Green River, Utah, costs $25 per night and charges a $15 day-use fee per vehicle. The campground sits among hoodoos and books through Reserve Utah.

Lava Flow Campground at Craters of the Moon near Arco, Idaho, is $15 per night, first come first served, with 51 sites and no hookups.

Motels in small towns worth naming

Take a motel where the town has an evening meal you want, where the forecast is bad, or where the next morning starts with a long drive you would rather begin showered. In small towns the choice is often one or two properties, so call rather than assuming.

Ask three things: the total price including taxes and fees, the cancelation deadline, and whether the room has heating or cooling that works in the season you are visiting.

Motel 6 in Winnemucca, Nevada, typically runs $55 to $85 per night and allows pets.

Super 8 by Wyndham in Rawlins, Wyoming, typically costs $65 to $95 per night and includes breakfast.

Best Western in Baker City, Oregon, typically runs $100 to $150 per night and sits near I-84.

Days Inn by Wyndham in Tucumcari, New Mexico, typically costs $50 to $80 per night on Route 66.

AmericInn by Wyndham in Chamberlain, South Dakota, typically runs $90 to $130 per night and has an indoor pool.

The fire safety question

A federal lodging standard exists. The GSA page on fire safe hotels says federal lodging rates may only be set using properties certified as fire safe under the Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act of 1990.

The rules require hard wired smoke alarms in each guest room. They require an automatic sprinkler system in each guest room if the property is more than three stories high.

You are not bound by that rule as a private traveler, but it gives you a specific question to ask an older small town property, and a reasonable one.

Choosing between them

Where to go next

Which towns justify a stop at all is covered in which small town stops make sense. For the things travelers usually discover too late about these places, see what first time visitors miss.

Common questions