long trip

The state park near the Fruita entrance to Colorado National Monument is the James Robb unit of Colorado River State Park. We have stayed there multiple times when visiting the Grand Junction area. Some FHU sites, some W/E sites, all paved, and a number with nice shade. We really like it, especially as it is a easy day's drive from Denver.

Farther south on US 550, we have also stayed many times in the Elk Ridge Loop at Ridgway State Park. Paved, 30/50A only sites in the trees with scattered water faucets and a dump, but the loop below the dam has FHU sites. Great location to camp in mid-late Sept. for photographing mountainsides of gold aspen trees in the San Juans around Ridgway, Siverton, and Telluride.

If you want additional campground and sightseeing suggestions in western Colorado, see my blog HERE.

In general, if you want to see stuff other than mile markers and exit signs, stick to the older US route system. We're planning a trip to the PNW in August/September on US2 across the very top of the country. We did US50 to Kansas City rather than I-70 and US98 across Florida's panhandle rather than I-10. Much more relaxing but you need to take into account the occasional excursion through a downtown area.

thanks for the great info and being right on point with what we have in mind

Since the OP specified they want to take their time and avoid cities it sounds like they want to see things rather than travel on interstates. This is how we always traveled. Does it really matter if you go slower and perhaps go out of your way a little?

I would recommend that this trip begin at least by the end of August because you'll have some mountain areas & you want to be out of them by the 3rd week of Sept. Have your Senior Pass for entry into national park/monument areas or purchase the America the Beautiful Pass which will give you a year's entry. You'll see some beautiful color getting into September.

So.... here's a rough route and you can add or subtract. Perhaps you've never seen some of these sites:

From Dallas take OR 97 south to 26 east. Stop at John Day and explore. The state park is very nice. At Boise, ID take 55 north a short distance to 21 to Stanley, ID and view the beautiful Sawtooth Mountain Nat'l Rec Area. Then take 75 south through Sun Valley, ID to 93 east and tour Craters of the Moon Nat'l Monument in Idaho.

Then take 26 to I-15 to ID 30 to WY I-80 to 191 south at Green River, WY. Drive 191 through Flaming Gorge Nat'l Rec Area south to Vernal at Dinosaur Nat'l Monument. Take Hwy 40 east to 64 east to Rangley, CO. At Rangley take 139 south to I-70 to Grand Junction, CO at Colorado Nat'l Monument. There's a nice state park at the park road entrance on the Colorado River with hookups.

Then continue south taking CO 50/550 to Ridgeway, CO and pick up 62 to 145 at Telluride. Take the free chair lift for a great view of the area.

Continue south on 145 to Cortez, CO and tour Mesa Verde Nat'l Park. Take 160 east to Pagosa Springs. Spend a night or two and take in a awesome soak in the immaculate small pools of varying temperatures overlooking town and the river. We easily spend 2-3 hours here. Pack a small cooler.

From Pagosa Spring head south on 84 to Chama and Abiquiqu, NM. In this area are Taos, Santa Fe (it will be chili roasting time along the street corners - great smells and food). Bandelier Nat'l Mon. is also great to tour along with Los Alamos.

From Santa Fe take 285 south to Carlsbad Caverns Nat'l Park. We've stayed at Brantley Lake State Park to tour.

Then continue working you way into Texas via the Hill Country and on to Louisiana.

It's one thing to cross the open spaces of Utah without using freeways, and quite another to pass through a major city using the surface streets.

The fastest route Google Maps gives me bypasses most the the SLC area by taking I84 to I80 (just a bit of Ogden). Later it passes through Denver, and Dallas.

If I tell it to skip 'highways' (ie freeways), it adds about 5 hrs to the drive, and avoids even those cities. A non-freeway route through a major city will not be fastest. The non-freeway route through Oregon and Nevada to NM looks interesting, using roads like US95 and 93. It even avoids the Colorado mountains, though the use of UT14 east of Cedar City UT is a bit questionable (for RVs).

Choosing a route across the plains east of the Rockies (I25) is quite different from choosing one across the semi-desert of eastern OR, NV and UT, and th across the Rockies.

Matt_Colie wrote:
Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. Charles Kuralt

I love this quote.

Matt

While I love the Charles Kuralt travel series, he stole the quote from John Steinbeck: "When we get these thruways across the whole country, as we will and must, it will be possible to drive from New York to California without seeing a single thing. Read "Travels With Charlie", a great travel book.

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. Charles Kuralt

I love this quote.

Matt

OK, here goes an example:

Take I-84 to intersection with I-80 E.
to intersection with I-25 S.
to US 87 in Raton, NM
In Amarillo take US 287 to near Wichita Falls
Take US 82 E. @ Henrietta, TX to Texarkana
In Texarkana take I-49 South to Louisiana

I believe this would be the fastest route.

Small adjustments could take you by Yellowstone, and a major adjustment could take you by the Utah and Southwest Colorado sites.

Another small adjustment on the original route could take you by Santa Fe and Northern NM sites.

US 82 avoids the congestion of Dallas/Fort Worth.

If you aren't in a hurry, why would you want to miss a city? They are part of countryside. Some are crowded and some aren't. Some have interesting things to see right from the interstate.

My advice would be take the side roads as much as possible. Use Interstate and major highways to bypass the cities.

Maybe someone else can advise you on the best routes.

I like to use roadsideamerica.com when traveling. Maybe something of interest will be along your route.