Southern CA to Nashville via Utah National Parks

After reading the posts about all of the great things we would not have the time to enjoy we have decided to just take I40 to Nashville and take take in some of the old Route 66 sites along the way. When we return home in September/October we hope to spend time in the Utah National parts. Thank you to everyone who provided us with information and ideas for our trip.

Busskipper
It is not confusing at all. Guess we are trying to put a little too much into the trip out to Nashville. There are so many places we want to see and always afraid we won't see them all. We are retired but our plans to sell our home and just take off for a couple of years have been delayed due to family concerns. We are able to take large blocks of time so try to put as much as possible into those. Last trip was 3 months. This time we are taking 5 months. We have no planned itinerary other than the CMA Festival in Nashville in June and the FROG rally in Indiana in August. Thought that would give us lots of time to see some of our bucket list places. Thanks for your comments/suggestions.

icotta wrote:
We are unable to leave Long Beach CA before May 16. We have reservations in Nashville beginning on June 5 (we are going to the CMA Music Festival). We have friends in Alabama that we are going to visit for a few days after the festival before heading to the northeast. We have until the middle of August to be in Goshen IN for the FROG Rally and hope to visit Maine, spend a few days in Vermont to see family. From there no real itinerary as we travel to IN. When we leave IN the one thing I know we want to do is to visit Mt Rushmore (bucket list). We don;t have to be back home until the middle of October. Thought about going through Seattle and home on I5. May need to save Colorado for another trip. There are so many paces we want to see so we watch the weather and see where it is best and that is where we head.

The reason we try to avoid steep, long pulls (besides the low mpg) is that August our truck overheated and lost power going over the SNs on I80. We realized that we had the air on and quickly turned it off. Didn't have any real issues the rest of the 3 month trip but most of that was in lower elevation areas.

If you can ever time your visit to Colorado in the Fall the rewards are GREAT.

BOL,

One more that might inspire your trips.

We are unable to leave Long Beach CA before May 16. We have reservations in Nashville beginning on June 5 (we are going to the CMA Music Festival). We have friends in Alabama that we are going to visit for a few days after the festival before heading to the northeast. We have until the middle of August to be in Goshen IN for the FROG Rally and hope to visit Maine, spend a few days in Vermont to see family. From there no real itinerary as we travel to IN. When we leave IN the one thing I know we want to do is to visit Mt Rushmore (bucket list). We don;t have to be back home until the middle of October. Thought about going through Seattle and home on I5. May need to save Colorado for another trip. There are so many paces we want to see so we watch the weather and see where it is best and that is where we head.

The reason we try to avoid steep, long pulls (besides the low mpg) is that August our truck overheated and lost power going over the SNs on I80. We realized that we had the air on and quickly turned it off. Didn't have any real issues the rest of the 3 month trip but most of that was in lower elevation areas.

2gypsies wrote:
If you want to see these awesome parks you're going to have to do some of the mountain roads. After you do a few it'll be a lot easier. Remember - everyone had to drive them for the first time. :)

Thank you. I have read your post from March on traveling Utah's NPs and the routes you have listed seem to be good for us. Not sure that we would go through Escalante or not or take the lower route. Would we be able to see the parks in 8 days?

icotta wrote:
We are planning a trip to Nashville from southern CA starting the middle of May 2016 and would like to visit the Utah National Parks on the way. I have read various posts but have not found any that talk about the best routes once you leave Moab going east. Any suggestions on I's vs highways would be greatly appreciated. We have about 3 weeks to make it to Nashville so want to be able to see some sights along the way.

icotta wrote:
These seem like some great places to visit. Thankk you!

2gypsies wrote:
If you want to see these awesome parks you're going to have to do some of the mountain roads. After you do a few it'll be a lot easier. Remember - everyone had to drive them for the first time. :)

Let's see if we can understand the Mission of this trip?

Leaving California, San Jose or LA? Through Vegas or over the Mountains?

Without including any real stops Just San Jose to Vegas to Denver to Nashville = 2,500 miles lets add a few side trips or zigs and zags to see things - like the National and State Parks along the way) and we will likely add 700+ miles so now we are at 3,200 + Miles or 10-12 days of just Driving. (with the trailer 350 miles is a long day)

Headed to Nashville, For the most part the sights are in the SouthWest (Utah and Colorado) so By the I's it is a choice of I-80 - I-70 - I-40?

Mid May, This is a great time to Visit/Travel - just remember that it may start to get warm in Utah, but the highest mountain passes of Colorado may still be covered in snow.

Visiting, Utah National Parks, (Zion - Bryce - Capital Reef - Canyonlands - Arches)Link
- Need to remember that Utah has Many Beautiful State Parks

Leaving Moab Route East, This part of the trip is the biggest question in my mind????? - So IMHO you really need to focus on fewer thing on this trip out (Utah) - hoping there will be a return trip? (Colorado) - So when I look at this I think about three possibilities, leaving Moab.

(1) South on 191 to Monument Valley or Cortez (Mesa Verde NP) or Canyon de Chelly NM, getting on I-40 to Nashville - this route is a sort of valley, no high mountain passes route and as low as possible.

(2) West on I-70 going over the Rockies by going through the Eisenhower tunnel - Possibly stopping along the way to enjoy some of the Mountain Hospitality, in a Ski resort along the way (Vail - Breck)

(3) Sliding off at Minturn to take Route 24 to Leadville and Buena Vista, coming out in the Springs and taking some of the many non interstate routes towards Nashville.


3 weeks California to Nashville, - With this I always ask? Can we get more time? Can we leave right after work o Friday and get a jump on the trip and call this 24 days not 21? can you just get more time, another week?

Last thing is will you be driving back???? if so Colorado is great later into the Summer and Fall.

Hope this is not too confusing - this will be a Great New Adventure!

icotta wrote:
...We are planning a trip to Nashville from southern CA starting the middle of May 2016... We have about 3 weeks to make it to Nashville so want to be able to see some sights along the way...

Stockton to Nashville is 2250+ miles by the most direct interstate route, which is mostly on I-40. Driving about 320 miles per day, that is 7 days just for travel. Going through Utah and Colorado will add miles and travel time. We have spent more than a month in each of Utah, Colorado and New Mexico and still have places that we want to visit. You will have to pick the areas that interest you the most and likely pass others by. If you also have time on the return trip, I would suggest taking a Southern route East and then taking a more Northern route through Colorado on your return West.

If you want to see these awesome parks you're going to have to do some of the mountain roads. After you do a few it'll be a lot easier. Remember - everyone had to drive them for the first time. :)

These seem like some great places to visit. Thankk you!

I agree that the Upper Colorado River UT-128 Scenic Byway is a great scenic drive. You can do it as a day trip from Moab and also take in Sago Canyon. If in your travels you go through Hanksville, take a short detour to Goblin Valley State Park.

If you do not want to take I-70 and other routes through Colorado, head South from Moab on US-191. Along the way to I-40 are Edge of the Cedars State Park, the Dinosaur Museum, Natural Bridges National Monument, Bluff Fort, South Fork of Mule Canyon and House on Fire, Hovenweep National Monument, The Valley of The Gods, Sand Island Petroglyphs, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

Along I-40 there is a lot to see. In Grants, NM area there is the Mining Museum. Just South of I-40 West of Grants are El Malpais National Monument, El Moro National Monument and the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano. Acoma Sky City is said to be the longest occuppied location in the U.S. They give tours of the pueblo and there is an RV park next to the casino. In Albuquerque, the Pueblo Cultural Center and Petroglyph National Monument are worth visiting in my opinion. Santa Rosa is an old Route 66 town and has the The Blue Hole and Santa Rosa Lake State Park which has a nice campground. Tucumcari is another old Route 66 town and still has dinners along Historic Route 66 and numerous murals painted on buildings plus other attractions like the foundry and dinosaur museum at the community college. In Amarillo, there is Palo Duro Canyon State Park and the Big Texan on Old Route 66.

Further East, there is the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Memphis has a lot to see and do including Graceland.