Road trip planning. Need sightseeing advice.

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dja4260

dja4260

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Greenville, SC via Chicago, IL
My girlfriend and I are traveling to San Fran end of July for a wedding. We have 2-3 weeks for travel. We plan on traveling the north end of the country on the way there (West) and the south (East)home. We plan on camping at national parks and other camp sites as much as possible. If we skipped cities its because we have traveled there in the past. Please add must see locations!

Below are the list of stops we have planned thus far and would like to add more.

Google earth trip

Trip west
Minneapolis, Mn- We have friends to stay with and visit.
Badlands national park & Mount Rushmore, SD- Camp out
Yellowstone national park, Wy- Camp out
Salt lake city, Ut- Motel/Hotel downtown
Yosemite national park, Ca- Camp out
San Francisco, Ca- Wedding

Trip East
Death valley, CA- Drive through and or camp
Las vegas, Nv- Hotel on strip
Albuquerque, NM- Downtown hotel
Denver, Co- Camp or hotel
Kansas city, Mo- Hotel
Galena, IL- Hotel
Chicago, Il- home

We have to be at the wedding but other then that we can stay multiple days at locations if needed.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
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See more of southern Utah, Navajo res. Monument Vally/Lake Powell/Capitol Reef area.Salt Lake city is Just another large town.
 
SLC- Do Temple Square and head to “This is the place” monument. The Mormons are a fine people and their exodus to Utah is well known.
Yosemite-Are you going over Tioga Pass? I would hope so and plan for it. If staying in the Valley, make the drive to Glacier Point. Great View.
Death Valley-In July??? Are you crazy? I hope there is a cool spell going on. I was a Park Ranger there one summer. HOT!!!! Camping? I’d pay the money and stay at Furnace Creek and have a cool room. If you are really going there, make sure your car is ready for such an event. I would make sure you stop at Dante’s View, on the east side, about 5000’ and a great view of the valley. Scotty’s Castle at the north end of the floor is nice. Badwater is always fun, but please make sure you have lots of water. There is NO cell phone coverage in DV. DV is a great place, but at that time of the year, don’t thinking about camping. It is normally way too hot.

From Las Vegas to Albuquerque, I would consider hitting the Grand Canyon (North or South rim, depending on how you are heading. East of Flagstaff is Meteor Crater and before NM is Petrified Forest. I love the red rocks of MN.
 
Well, Denver really isn't that scenic. If you can stay in Estes park or Winter Park that would be a big upgrade. Denver is about 50 miles east of the Mountains and IIRC closer to 70 to those cities on the edges of RMNP, but even sidetracking 15 miles to Boulder will give you a better view.

I know at that point in your trip going backwards may not be of interest, but that would be my recommendation.

Also, not sure what's in Galena. I'd stay in St. Louis or make the push all the way home. What's KC to Chicago, 10 hours tops?
 
You may want to consider checking out the Lake Mead recreational area outside of Vegas, along with the Hoover Dam and you're only a few hours from the Grand Canyon.
 
Zion and Bryce in S. UT. Simply mindboggling. Pictures cannot possibly do it justice. Take your hiking shoes. If you only budget a couple of days, you'll want to go back for a week. I've been twice and want to go again.
 
+1 grand canyon unless you've seen it or don't want to see it. If you wanted to I would recommend this, you can make this loop in 1 day if you wanted to in NM stopping about 1-2 hour at each place, white sands then carlsbad caverns (then optional cause there's not much to see here but at least you can say you were there and also on the way back north to I40 is roswell). And if you haven't already been through MO, I would recommend going through branson instead of kansas city.
 
I discussed the grand canyon with the girlfriend I just forgot to add it to the list.

I have no problem skipping a major city if nothing stands out in the area. I listed simply "Denver" because I'd never been there or in the state of Colorado.
 
On the New Mexico leg of your trip I would head further south to see White Sands National Monument which is very unique and on the way down enjoy a day at the lake and jump in the hot springs at Truth or Consequences.

http://www.nps.gov/whsa/photosmultimedia/duneimages.htm

ABQ is the biggest city in NM but not a ton of things to see/do in my opinion. Also hit Santa Fe if you appreciate art, the whole town is basically an art gallery! Drive safely and enjoy.
 
North of Flagstaff, after visiting the Lowell Observatory there, I pitched a tent in Sunset Crater park. It's a cinder cone valcano U can walk up. My tent was right next to 20ft high hardened lava flows, really cool! Better than a hotel!
 
Your update just took away most of my suggestions, but it added the Utah redrock country, one of my favorites. You also added Estes Park, which you might like more than Denver since you live in a city.

Know that you're missing the best of Wyoming and the gem that is Great Basin N.P., and your trip is heavier on country that's hottest in July. If you plan on mostly driving through, that's not much of a concern, but carry lots of water on hikes.

My suggestions:

You could go to Great Basin and camp at Wheeler Peak campground, elevation 9886 ft., if you gave up Bryce.

Expect Yosemite Valley to be crowded. It's probably best to have reservations, whether in a lodge, a campground, or a hotel outside the park. California members may have better advice about this. Spend time up in the high country if you can, and check out Mono Lake on the way east.

You can spend at least two nights around Moab, and you'll wish you had more time. North of Moab, take Utah Highway 128 up to I-70 instead of the bigger 191. 128 is one of the most scenic drives in the country. There are also several BLM campgrounds along it.

In Colorado, if you exit I-70 toward Winter Park and Granby, you will loop around through Rocky Mountain N.P. over Trail Ridge Road and still end up in Estes Park.

You'll be in the high season for national parks. Without reservations at the busier ones, you might have trouble getting a campsite if you pull in at the end of the day. Check the adjacent national forest and BLM (Bureau of Land Management) lands for campgrounds. In a pinch, you could do "dispersed camping"--Check the regulations for each area. For example, some national forests will let you camp anywhere within a certain distance from a forest road as long as you're x miles from a highway.

Most of all, have fun!
 
Expect Yosemite Valley to be crowded. It's probably best to have reservations, whether in a lodge, a campground, or a hotel outside the park. California members may have better advice about this. Spend time up in the high country if you can, and check out Mono Lake on the way east.

I agree with this! Mono Lake is just a beautiful sight! Check out the high country no place like this area in the world. I do not have a recommendation on two where to stay because I just passed threw on the way back from Lake Tahoe to San Diego and ate at a restaurant outside the Yosemite park area.


If you have the time before you have to be in San Francisco I recommend Lake Tahoe. It is a 3 1/2 hour drive and it is something I recommend.
 
Check out a beach either N or S of the Bay area while you're in town.
Camping in Yosemite is reserved all summer long by now. I'd do the day-tour, photo ops of the Valley and focus on a hike to Senitnal Dome and Taft Point instead of the crowded Glacier Point parking lot (better views and 1/100th the people) Try to get a campsite up in Tuolumne Meadows - July is great weather and 1/2 the sites are first come, so you can get a site easily mid-week usually.

See the big trees - either Mariposa Grove in Yosemite or check out the coastal redwoods.
 
If you do Hoover Dam they have guided tours of the dam. Also you can walk across the recently opened Hoover Dam bypass bridge where the views are breath taking. Whenever we drive to Vegas there are always people walking on the bridge enjoying the view.
 
Once I finalize my leaving date and lay out the plan I'll start reserving sites. Most likely in the next few weeks. If I'm unable to get a site then I'll stay somewhere and travel to the park.

I'm starting to think I won't have enough time in the 2 weeks I'll have to truly enjoy and take in all the sights.
 
Going from Chicago, I'd honestly go to Buckingham fountain, and drive as much of old rte 66 as I could. See the old stuff, stay in the old novelty hotels, etc. awesome drive. You'll see painted desert, petrified forest, etc.

When I got into CA, I'd head towards 29 palms and see the parks there.

From LA, head up PCH, get to SF, do your business and keep going, sooner or later head back east and see some more.
 
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