USA Summer Road Trip - Advice please!!

Alpha_Plus · January 9, 2010

Hi Everyone.

My family is headed to the States from Australia for part of your summer. I am looking for spectacular places to visit. If you could please post your views on the greatest areas in the general vicinity of the plan below. Please be specific - don't just say Yosemite National Park because it is huge. And if you have a photo of what you are talking about please post that too!!

I will post a more detailed route later, but we are landing in LA, heading North on a round trip. Some of our hopefull destinations are:

California: Seqoiua National Park, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento, up the I5,

Oregon: Crater Lake National Park, up to the columbia river and west to Portland,

Washington: Up into Mt Rainier National Park, through Seattle, to the North Cascades Nat Pk with Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan

Canada: Vancouver Island (relatives), Straight across to Banff and Jasper then back down the the US.

Montana: Glacier National Park then down to Wyoming

Wyoming: with Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

Then we have options so please advise:

Utah: Salt Lake City and then across to Grand Junction, CO
or straight down to Colorado

Colorado: skipping denver going down the western side of the state. Through 4 corners

Arizona and Utah: Grand Canyon, Canyonlands and Arches (either here or on our way through from Salt Lake City) and Zion National Park
Driving through Las Vegas on our way back to LA.

That's the general idea - but looking for more destinations and stunning locations!

Thanks.

torags · January 9, 2010

Those are a lot of miles.

My way north from LA would be :

head northeast to Death Valley to Stovepipe Wells for dunes (see Darwin Falls when there)

North on 395 - stop at (Mono Lake early light)Yosemite - keep north to Lake Tahoe (see Emerald Lake)

East to San Francisco on Rt50. I wouldn't stop in Sacramento

Plenty to do there. Get to the Marin Headlands for sunset. Go a little south for the Peninsula coast

Going north you might like to catch the Sonoma wine country on the way to Washington
Have a good trip

Marcy · January 9, 2010

how long are you planing to stay - are you driving ? that a lot of territory to do - we travel for 6 months each summer in our rv and we do about 1/2 of what you are describing - this summer we are doing a loop up calif - to oregon then over to north Utah to Montana then South Dakota then back down to the page area - but it will take us 6 months -

ryan the geek · January 9, 2010

I can help with the Oregon/Washington part. I work out there a lot and spend most weekends out and about!

If you are into day packing ( no camping ) there are endless places to go. Crater lake is beautiful, they have a 700 foot vert hiking trail that takes you down to the actual lake (moderate to difficult as far as steepness). The one road around the lake is closed during the spring and fall (snow still present), but you will have to check there web page for dates.

Town of Bends has some cool lava tubes, but I personally love route 101 up the coast of Oregon. Newport has a aquarium, some large dunes further north, and many light houses along the way. You can go east to Portland at cannon beach.

I'm not a city person so I don't care for Portland downtown that much, but its very easy to get around downtown. If you keep heading east you will drive into Columbia Gorge, this is a day packers dream. There are dozens and dozens of trails and beautiful waterfalls. Mt Hood is very popular for skiing and just visiting (big wineries on your route there).

In Washington Mt Saint Helen's is very popular (non active volcano) and Rainer is just as beautiful as Mt Hood, with many trails and breathtaking views.

Haven't been to Olympic park yet, but hope to get time next week to head out that way!! Oh and Seattle is very nice, but a little to upscale and trendy for my liking (like San Fran and LA).

If you want to see some pics you can check out my Smugmug account, my landscape and nature galleries have a lot of pictures from Oregon area.

Good luck and have fun!! Its gorgeous out there..

Nikonic1 · January 9, 2010

Out of the way of you current plans but Zion National Forest would be awesome to see. Echo Canyon and other slots are unreal.

Alpha_Plus · January 9, 2010

torags wrote:

Those are a lot of miles.

My way north from LA would be :

head northeast to Death Valley to Stovepipe Wells for dunes (see Darwin Falls when there)

North on 395 - stop at (Mono Lake early light)Yosemite - keep north to Lake Tahoe (see Emerald Lake)

East to San Francisco on Rt50. I wouldn't stop in Sacramento

Plenty to do there. Get to the Marin Headlands for sunset. Go a little south for the Peninsula coast

Going north you might like to catch the Sonoma wine country on the way to Washington
Have a good trip

Thanks torags, we will see what we can fit in. Unfortunately we've only got 8 to 9 days up the coastal states.

Alpha_Plus · January 9, 2010

Marcy wrote:

how long are you planing to stay - are you driving ? that a lot of territory to do - we travel for 6 months each summer in our rv and we do about 1/2 of what you are describing - this summer we are doing a loop up calif - to oregon then over to north Utah to Montana then South Dakota then back down to the page area - but it will take us 6 months -

We'll be driving and tenting around. Unfortunately we can't do it every summer like you have the luxury to be able to do and aren't retired either. We'll be doing the 5000+ miles in just 6 weeks so we can't see it all - just the best spots hopefully.

Alpha_Plus · January 9, 2010

ryan the geek wrote:

I can help with the Oregon/Washington part. I work out there a lot and spend most weekends out and about!

If you are into day packing ( no camping ) there are endless places to go. Crater lake is beautiful, they have a 700 foot vert hiking trail that takes you down to the actual lake (moderate to difficult as far as steepness). The one road around the lake is closed during the spring and fall (snow still present), but you will have to check there web page for dates.

Town of Bends has some cool lava tubes, but I personally love route 101 up the coast of Oregon. Newport has a aquarium, some large dunes further north, and many light houses along the way. You can go east to Portland at cannon beach.

I'm not a city person so I don't care for Portland downtown that much, but its very easy to get around downtown. If you keep heading east you will drive into Columbia Gorge, this is a day packers dream. There are dozens and dozens of trails and beautiful waterfalls. Mt Hood is very popular for skiing and just visiting (big wineries on your route there).

In Washington Mt Saint Helen's is very popular (non active volcano) and Rainer is just as beautiful as Mt Hood, with many trails and breathtaking views.

Haven't been to Olympic park yet, but hope to get time next week to head out that way!! Oh and Seattle is very nice, but a little to upscale and trendy for my liking (like San Fran and LA).

If you want to see some pics you can check out my Smugmug account, my landscape and nature galleries have a lot of pictures from Oregon area.

Good luck and have fun!! Its gorgeous out there..

Thanks for the input Ryan,

I checked your smugmug - where is Silver Falls? It looks great! What is the water flow like in summer?
We aren't city people either much so we'll spend most of our time in the national parks.

Alpha_Plus · January 9, 2010

Nikonic1 wrote:

Out of the way of you current plans but Zion National Forest would be awesome to see. Echo Canyon and other slots are unreal.

Thanks Nikonic1, I think we are planning on seeing Zion so a visit to Echo Canyon may just be on the list

Have you got any pics of that area?

ryan the geek · January 10, 2010

Alpha_Plus wrote:

Thanks for the input Ryan,

I checked your smugmug - where is Silver Falls? It looks great! What is the water flow like in summer?
We aren't city people either much so we'll spend most of our time in the national parks.

Silver falls i off of I-5 when heading to Portland. Its about 30 min drive off of I-5 around Salem Or.

I read about it from my backpacker mag, rated for a "Family" hike. There are easy cut offs if you don't want to hike the entire trail. And I rate this trail as "easy" for steepness.

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_211.php

denisegoldberg · January 10, 2010

If you're going to Zion National Park, might add Bryce Canyon NP too - http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm.

And I highly recommend Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area - http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/. It's just a few miles west of Las Vegas, and it's spectacular.

As far as the Grand Canyon goes, I much prefer visiting the North Rim.

Covering all of the destinations you have listed and giving yourself a reasonable amount of time in each spot would take well over your planned 6 weeks. Yes, I know, you are traveling far just to jump from Australia to the west coast of the United States. But I would highly recommend scaling back the number of places. Leave yourself some room to dream for another trip.

--- Denise

Alpha_Plus · January 11, 2010

denisegoldberg wrote:

If you're going to Zion National Park, might add Bryce Canyon NP too - http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm.

And I highly recommend Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area - http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/. It's just a few miles west of Las Vegas, and it's spectacular.

As far as the Grand Canyon goes, I much prefer visiting the North Rim.

Covering all of the destinations you have listed and giving yourself a reasonable amount of time in each spot would take well over your planned 6 weeks. Yes, I know, you are traveling far just to jump from Australia to the west coast of the United States. But I would highly recommend scaling back the number of places. Leave yourself some room to dream for another trip.

--- Denise

Thanks Denise,

Yes, we are going to Bryce Canyon as well, it must have skipped my memory when I made the list. Red Rock Canyon looks good! Thanks for the suggestion!

Have you got pictures of the North Rim, that's in the Grand Canyon right?

We are going to be quite rushed - you are right - we won't be able to see everything everywhere. I will be back to see more later for sure.

Thanks for your input!

torags · January 11, 2010

North rim

The north rim is awesome but not as photogenic as Bryce. After Bryce I found everything else boring. It's about 200 miles round trip to get you back on a road for the rest of the trip

Consider this this as a trip planner to/from Bryce.

Rt15 from LA to RT9 east thru Zion (it's on the way to Bryce). North on Rt89 to Rt 12 east to Bryce. Take Rt12 west when leaving to Rt89 south to Rt14 west thru Cedar Breaks Natl Park (to avert a second trip thru Zion). Then Rt15 south. Stop in Vegas - you have to, there's nothing like it.

CWSkopec · January 11, 2010

If you're coming through Colorado near the Four Corners area, Mesa Verde National Park shouldn't be missed! I was there as a kid with my dad and it is truly remarkable. Cliff Palace is an absolute must see if you're in the area.

North Rim of the Grand Canyon can also be quite remarkable, but I can't compare it to Bryce as that's still on my "Need to Visit" list.

Tango · January 12, 2010

where ever you do go, stay there for the day and plan hikes to go on.

Bryce Canyon is always amazing to see, but like I was saying, go on the hikes!

Howitzer · January 12, 2010

In the Portland area, a few things you could consider...

From Portland, head up US 26 to Mount Hood. Stop at Timberline Lodge, see where the shining was filmed (at least the outside parts). You could stop at Ski Bowl too, they have a big ass cement slide that's open during the summer, which is pretty fun.

After Timberline head north up highway 35 to Hood River, nice little town with some decent breweries, and the best wind surfing in the world.

Head back highway 84 towards Portland, and get on the Historic Columbia River Highway and see numerous falls and parks and other cool stuff. Multnomah Falls is a must see.

another option is to head to highway 101 on the coast.. its a fantastic drive and plenty of good food.

Sam · January 12, 2010

You can go everywhere and see nothing or you can limit where you go and see much.

I would recommend you make a list and prioritize where you want to go. You can have a few back up locations just in case you get through a particular location faster than scheduled.

If your near Mono Lake I highly recommend a side trip to Bodie. Bodie is the largest ghost town in America.

If you are anywhere near Page Arizona think about a visit to Antelope Canyon.

While Yosemite is spectacular I avoid it during the summer because the crowds are too much for me.

Yellowstone is fantastic, but usually crowded in the summer so make sure you make reservations for a camp site, or motel. (applies to Yosemite as well)

Have fun in America!

Sam

Alpha_Plus · January 14, 2010

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! This is our current route, heading north from LA.

CWSkopec wrote:

North Rim of the Grand Canyon can also be quite remarkable, but I can't compare it to Bryce as that's still on my "Need to Visit" list.

Those pictures of the North Rim are fantastic - Top effort!

Sam wrote:

If your near Mono Lake I highly recommend a side trip to Bodie. Bodie is the largest ghost town in America.

If you are anywhere near Page Arizona think about a visit to Antelope Canyon.

Thanks Sam, Bodie does look interesting as does Antelope Canyon!!

Thwack · January 14, 2010

I'll second the recommendation for Bodie. It's right off Highway 395 along the eastern side of California.

That's also close to the Tioga Road/Tuolumne Meadows part of Yosemite. Plenty of great trails around Toulumne Meadows and I would expect it to not be as crowded as the Valley Floor area of Yosemite. During the week is less crowded than a weekend in the summer (that will be true at any National Park).

If you weren't so rushed for time, I'd add Devil's Postpile as well.

Sounds like a great trip. I hope it works out.

Howitzer · January 14, 2010

I checked out your route. From Bend Or, you should instead go north to Madras and then go west over mount Hood via US26. the view is much more spectacular.

Tango · January 14, 2010

Alpha_Plus wrote:

Antelope Canyon!!

Antelope Canyons will be a great stop. Will you do both Upper & Lower Canyons? (they are close to each other but are separate including fees to get in).

Dont miss Horseshoe Bend!!! its right down the road from there, its easy to get to and a heck of a spectacle to be seen!!!

When people are going to Bryce Canyon I always suggest in seeing "Thors Hammer", the trail goes right next to it and its another "Dont miss".

Zion has many trails to be taken, but "Dont Miss" upper Emerald Pool!!!
Take the Lower falls route so you can walk under the middle falls. (very low volume this time of year, but still cool). Also, "Dont Miss" the Great Arch Overlook Trail. (besides, going in the tunnel to get there is cool)

USA Summer Road Trip - Advice please!!

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