4+ months in the West

4runnerguy wrote:

PJ30 wrote:
Our planning is at the stage of do we go clockwise to Seattle from San F or anti-clockwise? (For personal reasons we need to do San F by late April/mid-May.

While there may be other reasons to go the opposite direction, I've always found that heading south along the coast is best. You're on the ocean side of the highway and it's much easier to get into the scenic pull offs along the way.

You may find yourself doing something other than a loop (maybe a figure 8?) as some places (like Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Yellowstone, Mt. Rainer and Yosemite) are best done in June or later, while other places like Zion, Arches, Big Bend(?) are definitely better in the mid to late spring (think April). Can get pretty hot in June and July in So. Utah.

Maybe if you have to be in SF April/May, do the Utah parks on the way out to SF, then turn back, do the Grand Canyon, then north to CO, up through WY and MT, over to Seattle and the coast, then south along the coast at least all the way through OR. Head inland somewhere in CA and visit Yosemite, Mt. St. Helens, Redwoods, Crater Lake (OR), etc. Up to Tahoe, back across UT and CO and head back to GA.

Thanks! We had almost come to the 8 shape ourselves albeit for different reasons and in a different direction. Having driven the Skyline and Blue ridgeway in Fall the access to pull offs sounds a brilliant idea! I will plug those changes into our route planner.