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G'day to all, 

Could any one suggest a good travel route from Los Angeles to El Paso via Grand Canyon and Carlsbad Caves although other routes from the Grand canyon to El Paso would be considered.

 4 of us in total and will be driving in a sedan.

 Thank you 

Hi,

The Route you take would depend upon how much time you have and what else you'd like to see.  I would recommend a couple of other stops, time permitting.

From LA take I-10 East towards Riverside/San Bernadino.  Then hop onto I-15 North to Vegas.  From Vegas take State Route 93 to drive across the Hoover Dam.  93 will take you down to Kingman to I-40.  If you aren't interested in seeing Vegas and Hoover Dam, you can skip that detour and get onto I-40 directly from I-15.

Vegas http://www.usatourist.com/english/places/lasvegas/index.html

Hoover Dam http://www.usatourist.com/english/places/nevada/hooverdam.html

SR 93 and I-40 intersect at Kingman Arizona.  At Kingman you have the option to head north to Grand Canyon West.  This is where the Hualapai Nation has built the Grand Canyon Skywalk - a glass walkway that will allow you to "walk on air" over the Canyon.  The Hualapai is a Native American tribe and the Skywalk resides on their Reservation, it is not a part of the National Park.  Directions and more information is here:  http://www.destinationgrandcanyon.com/map.html

Grand Canyon West http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/arizona/GrandCanyon/GrandCanyon-WestRim.html

Just east of Kingman, old Route 66 branches off of the Interstate.  Many of our readers are interested in driving 66.  And we repeatedly tell them that very little of it exists.  This section in Arizona is one of the few preserved miles of the highway.  It is the section we recommend people do drive if they are interested in experiencing the history of this road.  Route 66 meets back up with I-40 at Seligman, AZ.  Whether you take 66 or stay on 40, head east to Williams AZ.  There you can take Route 64 north to the main entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park.  This entrance is at the South Rim and the most visited area of the park.

Route 66 http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/arizona/Route66-Main.html

Grand Canyon NP http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/arizona/grandcanyon/GrandCanyon-Main.html

From the Grand Canyon, backtrack south on Route 64 to I-40.  Take I-40 East to Flagstaff.  From there take 89A south to Sedona.  From Sedona take 179 South to get onto I-17 South.  If you are not interested in seeing Sedona, you can get onto I-17 directly from Flagstaff.

Sedona http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/arizona/sedona/Sedona-Main.html

Continue following I-17 South to Phoenix.  In Phoenix follow the signs to get onto I-10 East to Tucson.  Near Tucson Arizona is the Saguaro National Park.  Saguaro are the giant cactus' that most of us are familiar with. 

Phoenix http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/arizona/phoenix/Phoenix-Main.html

Tucson http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/arizona/tucson/Tucson-Main.html

Saguaro NP http://www.nps.gov/sagu

From Tucson continue on I-10 East into New Mexico.  At Las Cruces I-10 will join with I-25 and head south to your final destination, El Paso.

I hope this helps.  I've included a lot of extra stops.  But since they are all short detours or stops on the route, you can bypass or not stop at whatever won't fit into your schedule.

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Michelle offers a lot of good suggestions, but here are a few more.

 If you want the easiest, and quickest route, just go south from the Grand canyon to Route 40 and take it across to Albuquerque, then take Route 25 south to El Paso with a sidetrip along the way to Carlsbad.

If you want the most scenic route, I would consider heading northeast from the Grand Canyon to Monument Valley, then a sidetrip north to Moab, Arches National Park, and Canyonlands.  From there, you could backtrack down to Route 666 and go through Durango Colorado with a stop at Mesa Verde National Park and the Durango Silverton Railroad.  If you head south through Taos and Santa Fe, you will see some of the beautiful mountain lands of New Mexico.  South of Albuquerque, you can go through White Sands National Monument, and Roswell, home of the space aliens, before stopping in Carlsbad on your way to El Paso.

Be Careful in El Paso, I hear that the Mexican drug wars in Juarez are spilling across the border.