Directions to the ATF from Tucson

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There are essentially four main routes which one can take to drive from Tucson to the ATF site, listed in Table 1 below.

1. Safford Route: This is the quickest route to the ATF site, but contains a number of curvy mountainous sections. Due to the presence of deer, elk, and antelope along this route, it can be somewhat dangerous to drive at night.

2. Show Low Route: This is only nominally longer than the route through Safford, but is by far the most scenic of all the routes. Recent improvements to the roads through the Salt River Canyon and to I60 near Springerville have made the roads on this route of similar quality to the route through Socorro.

3. Lordsburg Route: This route is similar to the Safford route, but avoids the curvy mountainous sections. It is 49 miles longer that the Safford route, but takes only about 30 minutes longer to drive.

4. Socorro Route: This is the longest route one can take to the ATF site, but is probably the safest as it is completely on interstate freeways and state highways.

The driving route one takes to the ATF site is ultimately a matter of personal preference, but one should consider seriously the safety aspects of that choice.

Since the Safford and Lordsburg routes go through less populated territory where gasoline may be hard to find, Table 2 lists some logistics of the gas stations along this route.

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The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.