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Blanding, Utah is a city in the midst of some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. You’ll want to visit Blanding and use it as a hub for exploring Natural Bridges National Monument, Monument Valley, the Four Corners area, Lake Powell, the archaeological finds at Cedar Mesa, Goosenecks State Park, and the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park.

Weird Fact: Blanding, originally called Grayson, was renamed in 1914 in exchange for a donation of 500 books to the library.

The Blanding supercharger is 75 miles from Moab-UT, 127 miles from Farmington-NM, 226 miles from Holbrook-AZ and 249 miles from Flagstaff-AZ.

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The supercharger is at the town park, visitor center and town museum. The museum is on the local history and the visitor center is staffed by nice local residents that can answer just about any question on the local area. In inclement weather they invited us to use a room off the visitor center for our picnic lunch. A guy with a pickup and travel trailer managed to block 3 of 4 supercharger stalls the second time we were there. The first time we had quite an audience when we pulled up and plugged in. Last spring Teslas were pretty unusual in Blanding.
 
We charged there in April. The art shop across the street has coffee - hard to come by in Southern Utah. Managed to make from here to Flagstaff with only a quick boost at the Monument Valley RV Park. The boost was probably not necessary, but the Navajo Flatbread at Gouldings was worth a stop.
 
I have a Model S 85 and am planning a trip to southern Utah from Monterey, CA. I was curious about driving from the Holbrook, AZ supercharger to the Blanding, UT supercharger. EVtripplanner shows 218 rated miles. I'm just curious if there are any issues or gotchas that I should consider. Doesn't appear it would be an issue. I plan to make the drive in mid April. Thanks for any feedback.
 
I have a Model S 85 and am planning a trip to southern Utah from Monterey, CA. I was curious about driving from the Holbrook, AZ supercharger to the Blanding, UT supercharger. EVtripplanner shows 218 rated miles. I'm just curious if there are any issues or gotchas that I should consider. Doesn't appear it would be an issue. I plan to make the drive in mid April. Thanks for any feedback.

Just be aware that country is very beautiful, lonely, and empty of infrastructure. A large part of the route does not have cell phone coverage. Plan accordingly! A cooler of beverages and/or a jug of water is a good idea.

Last spring, when I drove Flagstaff to Blanding, I called up some RV parks in Bluff, UT. At least one was very friendly and said that they would be happy to let me charge at their 14-50, 50 Amp, RV outlet. Because it is about 1,800 feet of climbing from Bluff to Blanding, and there is almost nothing in between, that is a great, "last chance to charge" location. The new energy prediction function works very well. If I were you, I would make a couple of phone calls to see if I could find a backup charge in Bluff, and play with the energy prediction graph before that section so you know how to use it well, and can make an intelligent decision on whether or not to get a top up charge in Bluff.

All that said, with a 97-98% charge (those last 2-3% take forever, and it's quicker to just drive a little slower) in Holbrook, you should do fine. Have a great trip!
 
rogermm: We went from Gallup to Blanding. Much of the road is wide open and subject to high winds. There are no RV parks or other charging opportunities so be very careful of your range. In poor weather--high winds that turned into blowing snow--I set the cruise to 50 mph. I have seen a number of people post about driving from Flagstaff to Blanding through Monument Valley. The timing was not right for us to try this.
 
I drove Holbrook to Blanding (228 miles through Chinle) and used 215 charging miles. On return trip, I drove faster and it was hotter and used 232 miles. No infrastructure whatsoever between the two points. Avoid driving any more than 3 miles on the interstate out of Holbrook (take Indian roads to Chinle). No need to go to Gallup.
 
To go between Moab UT and Page AZ (273-miles), making a short stop at Blanding seems like it would be a necessity. Shouldn't this SC need to be bigger? Crazy busy? Do people take a different route?
I did the Page to Blanding route in April a couple years ago. That stretch alone was a little concerning thanks to a cold morning start, overnight battery cold soak, elevation, and some winds. And no high power charging options anywhere on that route. At Bluff, it seemed like I was going to make it to Blanding, but I stopped in Bluff anyway for lunch and a little level 2 charge. (BTW, Blanding was empty that day.)
 
To go between Moab UT and Page AZ (273-miles), making a short stop at Blanding seems like it would be a necessity. Shouldn't this SC need to be bigger? Crazy busy? Do people take a different route?
US 191 through Blanding is not a major route like the Interstate highways. For non EVs, US 160 is a much more used route to get to Mesa Verde National Park, Monument Valley and Flagstaff, although Tesla hasn't put any Supercharger Stations on it yet.

Moab, Blanding, Farmington and Gallup were all four stall Supercharger Stations that were part of the first transcontinental Tesla route that opened nine(!) years ago. (Four to six stall fast charging stations were a big deal in 2014!) That route reportedly follows the route taken by Elon Musk on a family vacation years earlier, which is why it goes by national parks and through such scenic country.

Moab, gateway city to Arches National Park (now reservation only from April to October) and sprawling Canyonlands National Park, is a major tourist destination. Hence, the recent opening of a new V3 Supercharger Station in Moab. Gallup was expanded several years ago because it is on I-40 and was getting heavy use and long lines.

Blanding and Farmington remain fairly obscure and less used. I've seen Blanding full only once and have never seen a line. Not that it couldn't happen with so many more Teslas on the road nowadays.

Blanding is the gateway city for Natural Bridges National Monument and the new Bear's Ears National Monument, which surrounds it. Both are pretty obscure compared to the major national parks.

-My two cents, as a local who has lived in the Four Corners area for decades.
 
Regarding travel between Blanding and Northern AZ, consider Bluff, UT also/instead. It's a free CCS / chademo station for those of you with an adapter and compatible vehicle.

I charged at Bluff during the eclipse. Two Chargepoint CPE250 units, each name plated for 62.5kW, but can power share if only one is in use up to 125kW, or 200A, whichever is lower. So with Teslas you're looking at high sixty to low eighty kW range. Definitely better than nothing, but plan on this being a long stop if headed southbound, or a bailout when headed north bound. Odd installation sandwiched between the state highway and the DOT yard, but there's stuff to walk to including a park, restaurants, convenience store / gas stations, etc. It is on the wrong end of town to check out the new resort they're building, or Twin Rocks Cafe though. Cell phone coverage is really inconsistent, I highly recommend having the Chargepoint RFID tag with you instead of relying on the cell phone app to start your session.

Same type of installation at Monticello, UT, but in that case the museum it is attached to is worth 10 or 15 minutes of walking around looking at the odd collection of antique Americana they have in and around it.
 
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