Trip West

Howdy!

Get yourself a National Parks Pass and end enjoy. Arches,Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion, Grand Teton, Death Valley, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Canyon Land, Capital Reef, Crater Lake just to list a few. All you need is time.

“Happy Trails”
Chiefneon

Thanks. I’ll check out that post for ideas

ready2rock wrote:
We’re planning to head west this fall. On the list is Grand Canyon and Denver, Co. we’re leaving from Southside VA. Any suggestions on best route or routes not to take any suggestions on sights to see along the way? Thanks in advance.

Reading ahead work very hard at getting all four weeks and all 5 weekend long drive and more to do than you can even imagine.

Look at the post 2020 September post that is running now for a lot of good ideas - not sure what you would like for the drive out as it will still be warm in August - any chance that you start in the second week of September. It will be cooler and you might catch the Aspen turning Gold.

We leave from Annapolis taking I-70 to Indianapolis then to Hannibal And RT 36 to Denver.

Hard to type this on the phone so will check back in the AM.

Hope this Helps,

4 weeks is plenty of time to see Denver and Grand Canyon. A week to get west and a week to get back. But you can’t tarry much along the way or spend much time at other attractions. Assume you will average 50-55 mph on good interstate quality highways including time spent for rest, fuel, and food stops. Less on secondary highways. Now use google maps to find total round trip miles. And do the math to see how many hours that will be actual highway time. Figure how many hours you can comfortably travel a day. That will tell you how much sightseeing time you will have.

Not enough time!
Try staying off the interstates. Try Route 66, yes some of it is interstate.

Sorry. We plan to leave va last week of August and are planning on 3-4 weeks out.
Thanks

Time of fall (early or late) and length of trip would be helpful in getting better answers.

To enjoy what you see, don’t try to see too much on one trip.

"head west".....West is a BIG area. You don't say how much time you have for this trip. If it's a month, for example....I would get out west expeditiously. The whole southwest quadrant of CO is fantastic in the fall, possible elk rut season and mountainsides full of golden aspen trees, San Juan Skyway scenic byway, etc. Almost every road in this section of CO is scenic.

In addition look up Grand Circle...all the parks in northern AZ and southern UT deserve your attention and enjoyment.

These suggestions would include Denver and Grand Canyon. But "West" is so much more. Northern parks like Yellowstone and Glacier (fall may be too late), the whole Pacific coast and also inland parks like Yosemite, Crater Lake, Mt. Ranier, etc.