4,603 miles 8 states 1 month some reflections

[4X4Dodger]

I just finished a month-long trip thru 8 states totaling 4603 miles. The purpose of this trip was to meet our friends from England Mick and Marg who were flying into San Francisco from New Zealand and visit some National Parks and have the quintessential American Road Trip experience.

Here are a few of my observations:

GRAND CANYON

Dinner at El Tovar Lodge at the Grand Canyon was a wonderful experience as an "end of trip" celebration. The Duck was excellent as was the service.

Sunrise at Mather point with a fresh pot of coffee in tow! Dont sleep in.

Mather Campground was very nice although a little tight. Dont take much bigger than a 31 foot anything. The rangers never even looked at my rig.

GC was overwhelmed with visitors from overseas. It does your heart good to see so many people from ALL over the world coming to see the wonders of our National Parks.

Monument Valley

Gouldings Lodge and RV Park at Monument valley turned out to be one of our favorites. Great views, nice sites and the Navajo Staff were excellent to a person. (CW should get the person who did staff training here)

Watching "Stagecoach" with John Wayne at the tiny theatre and going thru the Museum there are all worth while. An iconic American Landscape.

The Breakfast Buffet at The View Hotel restaurant overlooking the valley is worth it for the setting alone.

ARCHES AND CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARKS

Arches National Park and Canyon Lands NP were stunning in their size, landscapes and sheer immensity...Definitely go there.

If your fear of heights can be conquered drive the Schaffer Trail Road down into Canyonlands. It's a narrow dirt switchback road crawling down the sheer face of the canyon. No words can do justice to the madness of this road. At many points if I had opened my door to step out I would have fallen straight down nearly a 1/4 mile. Some of the switchbacks were so tight that I had to back up my Dodge and get a tighter turn to get around the corner. There are some wider places to let other cars coming up the road pass but you must keep a lookout for them way ahead. Before driving this road go to the Schaffer Trail Road Overlook for a stomach churning view of the road as its winds its way down the canyon.

The best RV Park for easy and quick access to the parks is ArchView RV Park.(The Parks were full) Moab the nearest town has some great restaurants but is frightfully crowded and traffic can be very bad.

Definitely hike to Delicate Arch. It can be a challenge for those who are not too fit but if I made it most could do it. It's well worth the effort.

Bisbee Arizona

Bisbee is a jewel of an 1800's and early 1900's town in far southern AZ. Do not leave until you have the Blueberry/Walnut pancakes or anything else on the menu at the Bisbee Breakfast Club.

While the small RV park at Queen Mine is all gravel and nothing to write home about it was clean and had great views and was walking distance to old Downtown Bisbee. This is a place I could spend a week or more easily.

We of course did many more things and went more places but this post is not intended to be all encompassing. Just some short impressions of some of out favorites.

[D_E_Bishop]

We took the Shafer trail road a few years ago and the DGD was a little nervous but her brother, the DW and I loved it. We took our Sidekick which is stock and didn't find any need for four wheel drive. That road is a blast to drive. The next time we go, I'm going to stop and take lots of pictures.

We did meet a tour driver as he was headed out in his big ol Burb and we said high and then he sniffed the air. He commented he didn't smell brakes so I asked him if had been having trouble and said we'd help if he needed it. He was not amused but his tour group was.

If I still had it, I'd take our 1971 VW Class 2 down there just to see the look on folks faces.

[tragusa3]

Chock Full o' Nuts wrote:
4603 miles in 30 days = 153 miles per day on average. I'd say it's pretty amazing that you saw as much as you did. Not my cuppa tea, but diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

Our trip last year was 6k miles in 40 days = 150 miles/day average. We found it very relaxing. Not rushed at all. Diff'rent strokes. 🙂

Thanks for the posts and pictures. We'll have to go back to Canyonlands just for that road! We took a similar one from the other side of the canyon (Chicken Run and Hurrah Pass).

[4X4Dodger]

lbrjet wrote:
My wife said no. We went down the Burr trail road into Capital Reef and up the Moki Dugway but she drew the line at Canyonlands. That picture doesn't do it justice compared to actually standing at that spot looking down.

You're right NO photo can do that road justice. Next time I will make a movie.This time I was busy just driving. My passengers were not inclined to lean out and take photos.

[4X4Dodger]

Chock Full o' Nuts wrote:
4603 miles in 30 days = 153 miles per day on average. I'd say it's pretty amazing that you saw as much as you did. Not my cuppa tea, but diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

As I pointed out we were with friends from England who were on a schedule and needed to fly to NYC on the 19th. They also wanted to see as much of the American west as possible in that time.

It would not have been my choice to go so quickly either but it's what was necessary. I didnt mention that while my truck was being fixed in Cheyenne WY I drove a rental car roundtrip to San Francisco to pick them up. We had to completely change around our itinerary at the last minute due to the repair. But we still had a great trip. And they got an experience that they would not have had any other way.

[4X4Dodger]

intheburbs wrote:
Shafer Trail was awesome! We drove it in our Suburban 2500 last year. Amazing trip. I highly recommend it.

Yes, it has switchbacks, but it's not a white-knuckle drive. I loved it. We're going back.

The speck in the lower center, on the trail? That's a Jeep.


Parked on the rim - several hundred feet down off the passenger's side:

Thanks for posting those great pics. Yes while it's not a particularly White knuckle drive for me I realize it may not be for everyone and so I tempered my statement a bit. I didnt want to over encourage" those that might not be too comfortable with that kind of road. And for the record the two women in the truck wanted me to stop so they could get on the "inside" of course at the first switchback they were again on the outside. They were less than impressed.

It's a great drive for sure.

[filthy_beast]

Golden_HVAC wrote:

Grand Canyon is a big hole in the ground, and I have been there many times. The north rim has many more trees, and I hope to spend a summer there, exploring the area in a suitable tow vehicle. Marble Canyon was also great, and a location for a proposed but never built dam, just before the entrance of Grand Canyon.

Fred.

We have been to the Grand Canyon numerous times and love Mather Campground and we do at least one trip to pay "Homage to the Hole"! We have also been to the North Rim, a lot of times we go to places just to hang out in a park that we like.

[lbrjet]

My wife said no. We went down the Burr trail road into Capital Reef and up the Moki Dugway but she drew the line at Canyonlands. That picture doesn't do it justice compared to actually standing at that spot looking down.

[Chock_Full_o__N]

4603 miles in 30 days = 153 miles per day on average. I'd say it's pretty amazing that you saw as much as you did. Not my cuppa tea, but diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

[intheburbs]

Shafer Trail was awesome! We drove it in our Suburban 2500 last year. Amazing trip. I highly recommend it.

Yes, it has switchbacks, but it's not a white-knuckle drive. I loved it. We're going back.

The speck in the lower center, on the trail? That's a Jeep.


Parked on the rim - several hundred feet down off the passenger's side:

[Me_Again]

4X4Dodger wrote:

If your fear of heights can be conquered drive the Schaffer Trail Road down into Canyonlands. It's a narrow dirt switchback road crawling down the sheer face of the canyon. No words can do justice to the madness of this road. At many points if I had opened my door to step out I would have fallen straight down nearly a 1/4 mile. Some of the switchbacks were so tight that I had to back up my Dodge and get a tighter turn to get around the corner. There are some wider places to let other cars coming up the road pass but you must keep a lookout for them way ahead. Before driving this road go to the Schaffer Trail Road Overlook for a stomach churning view of the road as its winds its way down the canyon.

DW still has not forgiven me for taking her down this hill and across the valley back to Moab. Lady in the bar while she was orderring a stiff drink told her I should have taken her up the hill!!! But that seems like the chicken thing to do!

Chris

[Golden_HVAC]

I was in Moab in October of 2003, and took a morning drive along highway 128 towards the interstate, and turned around at the Colorado bridge and went back to my campground. It was daybreak and lots of clouds in the air! I got some fantastic cloud shots, with them hanging around the canyon walls.

Arches and all that area are wonderful. I also drove south to Monument Valley, when the campground was where they built the hotel in 2005 or 06?. I woke up to the 'mittens' just outside my windshield!

Grand Canyon is a big hole in the ground, and I have been there many times. The north rim has many more trees, and I hope to spend a summer there, exploring the area in a suitable tow vehicle. Marble Canyon was also great, and a location for a proposed but never built dam, just before the entrance of Grand Canyon.

I am looking forward to visiting the bridge over the Grand Canyon, that is actually built outside of the NP, to the west on a Indian Reservation. However they still need to build a better access road, and a campground at that site. Then I will visit.

I am happy to hear that you enjoyed all your travels. Might be a little late to say the air museum in Tucson is also great, showing off some WW2 and 1960's aircraft, along with other air history. I enjoyed Tomestone and Bisbee while sightseeing in that area in November - many years ago. The mine in Bisbee is really cool, like 60F. Nice on a hot day!

Fred.

[More_To_See]

Some really nice observations. The mention of "breakfast buffet" and "view" over at Monument Valley makes me want to head that way right now.

[Dog_Folks]

Wow! That is a lot of miles in a short time!!

[MNRon]

Thanks for the images 4x4, making me long to be on the road out west! We'll have to put those places on our future list.