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Western US road trip destinations

dmention7

dmention7

Hater
So Nanami and I have been talking about doing a ~10-15 day road trip out to the west coast and points in between for some time now. Turns out my cousin is getting married in Cheyenne, WY at the end of June, so I think we are going to go for it this summer. Aside from the obvious Grand Canyons and Black Hills and Yellowstones, anybody here have any suggestions for lesser-known destinations out west? I know the OR/WA area pretty well, but that's about it. We will probably be doing some camping, but may also stay a couple nights in a larger city like Seattle or Vegas depending on the route we settle on.
 
Picklz

Picklz

SUDO Make me a SAMCH
The 'extended' hoover dam tour is pretty neat, get to walk down inside the tunnels in the dam and stuff and it's not far from Vegas if you end up spending a night there. The Grand Canyon Glass walkway observation thingamajig (I think that's its name anyway) is only a couple hours from Vegas as well and looks like a pretty cool way to see the Canyon.

The Sedona area of AZ is awesome - hiking, four wheeling, etc. We rented a big 4 person Tomcar when we were there and spent all day driving the off road trails and viewing the scenery, very beautiful place.

The redwoods in Northern CA are also something I've always wanted to go check out. Lake Tahoe is supposed to be pretty amazing as well.
 
Workdawg

Workdawg

NARWHAL
Picklz said:
The Sedona area of AZ is awesome - hiking, four wheeling, etc. We rented a big 4 person Tomcar when we were there and spent all day driving the off road trails and viewing the scenery, very beautiful place.
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If you like hearing your woman scream (in terror, as opposed to pleasure; though I took pleasure in her terror, so maybe both?), I highly recommend renting a Tomcar and hitting up the "advanced" trails... muahaha.
 
Picklz

Picklz

SUDO Make me a SAMCH
We went with this company - http://www.atvsedona.com/sedona-atv-rental

They have a bunch of different vehicles / rental packages - the full day was nice for being able to kind of go and see whatever we wanted at our own pace - there were tons of trails and some sights we didn't make it to even with a full day.

I highly recommend the 2 person buggy or 2 person tomcar as it gives you some shade which you'll most certainly value if you're there in the summer. That place provides a nice cooler full of water - they'll even give you an extra one if you want to bring your own beverages/food with - they'll refill you on water anytime you stop back. They also provided some details on some more off the beaten path type attractions including a hidden cave that was a little sketchy to get to but pretty awesome. They give you normal trail maps as well as a picture book that shows what some of the trail intersections and such look like, overall they seemed like a top notch operation.

The trail that was the best (or worst if you ask the girls LOL) was Diamondback Gulch, the direction we traveled on it the first 1/2 was so-so, scenic and nice but nothing amazing, then about 1/2-2/3 the way through you get some pretty serious terrain - huge hills w/ 2-3' tall 'steps' you have to navigate up or down, we were spinning the tires bouncing up and down trying to get up about the last 1/2 of one of the hills, dan and I were LOL'ing and the girls were petrified, it was fantastic lol.
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
LOL I feel like that's the kind of thing that'd be awesome if you have two couples... But if it was just you and your missus, it would just result in some serious stinkeye and the silent treatment.
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
My dad mentioned something about the Road to the Sky in Glacier National Park being worth driving. I haven't looked into it too much yet, but anybody here driven that road?
 
Picklz

Picklz

SUDO Make me a SAMCH
I remember hearing about that road from various family members that drove it during their family vacations, those non adventerous types didn't seem to be too fond of it lol, never been on it myself though.
 
S

spek1098

Guest
Funny, must be the year of the western roadtrip. We picked up a cozy little 15ft RV trailer for our road trip out west during the last week of June and the First week of July. We are planning a more northern route, with planned stops at Glacier National Park, Banff, and Vancouver. If time permits, we'd like to go down to Cali and stop by Redwood NP and Yosemite NP.

If your going up through Yellowstone, I'd recommend a route the brings you throught Jackson, WY and by the Grand Tetons. Tons of wildlife in the Teton Valley plus if your are looking for a spirited hike, Jackson Hole is a great place to go. You can hike up the mountain (7-10 miles) and ride tram back down for free or pay $25 and ride it up with a hike down the mountains. Amazing views from the top on a clear day.

If you stop by the Black Hills, I'd recommend one of the tours at Jewel Cave National Monument.

Jay, is there any places you'd recommend to visit for someone going through OR and WA for the first time?
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
Last minute planning as usual. Anyone have any first hand experience with campgrounds in the badlands and yellowstone areas? Otherwise I'll probably just throw a dart at the map and pick the nearest national park campground. lol
 
Jana

Jana

New Member
dmention7 said:
My dad mentioned something about the Road to the Sky in Glacier National Park being worth driving. I haven't looked into it too much yet, but anybody here driven that road?
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I visited Glacier two summers ago, and went through the whole park. It's amazing, and the Going to the Sun road (I think that's what you meant) is very beautiful. Tons of camping options & hiking. My sister went last year again, and this year they are doing nothing but camping out there. It'd be a good park to hit.
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
We were going to hit Glacier, but we had to cut back from 2 weeks to 1 week. and just weren't able to squeeze it in unfortunately :(

I think we're going to try again next year though with some better planning, and make it out to WA/OR, heading through Glacier.
 
Picklz

Picklz

SUDO Make me a SAMCH
If you have the time the 5-10 mile or so drive south off of 70 to Breckenridge is worth it, awesome little town with some brewpubs, shops, etc. You can take the lifts up to the top of breck and eat at the challet up there on peak 8, etc.
 
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