Road trip through western U.S.

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Originally Posted By: Squirrelee
See the Hoover Dam if you're in the area.


In which case you may as well see Las Vegas, but with kids you may want to do it before evening hours. Go to one of the lunch buffets.

I can never get enough of the Grand Canyon.

Another quick stop you can take is the Montezuma Castle Ancient Ruins.
 
Originally Posted By: AdmdeVilleneuve
If you will be in Colorado, then I will throw a vote in for Mesa Verde NP, near Cortez, CO. It would be roughly midway between Royal Gorge and Grand Canyon, NP. If travel time is a concern, the routing will be something you have to look at closely in CO and AZ; quite a bit of travel on two-lane US or State highways.

02SE is correct about National Park popularity. Most big parks have been setting new attendance records every year. I was at Arches NP, UT, briefly last Wednesday because I was travelling northbound on US 191.
Amazed at the amount of people and traffic in the park. Not overflowing like in the summer, but some parking lots out at the attractions were nearly full.


I haven't been to Moab in about twelve years, and it's sad to hear how covered-up Arches is getting. I wish they could set up a shuttle system to alleviate traffic and parking problems.

VeeDub, is your plan to take an interstate and see what's close by, or would you want to take back roads and long side trips? A lot of the really interesting places to actually spend some time are away from the interstates.

I'll also recommend Mesa Verde, and/or the less dramatic but still interesting ruins at Canyons of the Ancients nearby. (Consider that it takes at least 30 or 45 minutes to get to the actual cliff dwellings once you enter Mesa Verde.) Depending on how you go through Colorado to get to Mesa Verde, you could stop at Great Sand Dunes NP or Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP. There's a hot spring-fed pool in the town of Ouray that the kids might enjoy. From Cortez, you can choose to go south to the Four Corners and the Grand Canyon or north to the Moab area and other SE Utah sites. The most dramatic views of Monument Valley are on US 163, going south into the Navajo Nation from Mexican Hat, UT.

If you take I-70 across Colorado: Dinosaur Ridge on the west side of Denver might interest the kids. It is right near Red Rocks park and ampitheater (worth a visit if there's no concert that night) and Bandimere Speedway. At Idaho Springs, you can take a side trip to the summit of Mount Evans. Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction is a miniature version of what you'll see around Moab. Continue on into Utah and take Utah 128 into Moab--that's one of the most scenic roads in the country in my estimation. There are several things to see briefly right off the roadsides around Moab, like petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks. The local free paper should have info and a map. If Arches is packed, maybe Canyonlands Island in the Sky would be less so. Otherwise, drive south to the Needles district. Be sure to stop at Newspaper Rock on the way. (Both Canyonlands units are a good ways off the highway, on out-and-back roads rather than loops.)

However you go, have a great trip. If you're going to stop at more than a few National Parks, it will be worthwhile to by an annual pass Parks Pass or get a free pass if you have a 4th grader Every Kid in a Park
 
national ww1 museum in k.c. excellent place to visit as we mark 100 years after "the war to end all wars." plus can get some great bbq.
 
Ride the narrow gauge from Durango to Silverton Colorado, stay in the historic Strater Hotel. Enjoy the narrow gauge steam out of town the next morning and drive across Red Mountain Pass to Silverton,
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Ouray and Ridgway and then to Telluride, Rico and Dolores across Lizard Head Pass. If you have seen the first "True Grit" movie, you will recognize the country west of Ridgway. The opening scenes were filmed in Ridgway. Visit Mesa Verde National Park and head down to Four Corners, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.When we were going to the Telluride Bluegrass celebrations forty or so years ago, this part of Colorado had not been discovered and was still almost deserted. Not anymore. You can hike to any Fourteener in the state and meet people coming and going.
 
Starting with what I know now, I'd never make it to So-Cal
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I'd do the north rim of the Grand Canyon in that lost bit of AZ. Pipe Springs national Monument shares a Visitor Center with the Ute Indian petroglyphs which is a docent lead tour only. Nearby camping at their campground is nice. Good views of GC can be had at various points. Much more rustic w/o all the tourists. https://www.nps.gov/pisp/index.htm

Sedona is nice, but Jerome is nicer in some ways
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome,_Arizona

Mesa Verde and Walnut canyon are not far away. You already got Meteor Crater.

Glenn Canyon highway bridge is pretty cool. Boulder Dam (Hoover) is cool.

Barstow is not much, but the southern end of the Colorado River delta should be nice with all the water we had this year.

The Big Five in UT could eat up your whole trip and then some.

So much to see and do, you might as well quit working and just hit the road
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Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
Originally Posted By: Kuato
After Kansas you'll need a break....
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Pike's Peak is very neat to drive up and down and has stunning views. Just West of Colorado Springs on Route 24. There is also Garden of the gods on the way up, as well as some other things to see.

You might want to look up Bishop's Castle, a little off the beaten path of I25 going south but might be in the direction you are headed.


What about the Royal Gorge? Worth a visit?


Never been there so cannot comment; as mentioned above the view is supposed to be spectacular ... I iust couldn't justify paying a toll for a view ...
 
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
So I am going to drive from the St. Louis to Southern California in late June. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips about "must see" destinations on the way out there. I'm thinking Colorado must have some cool places and I'm interested in specific recommendations. Will probably hit the Grand Canyon. Anywhere else?

Thanks

If you're bringing the whole family, then the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, CO, is worth a side trip. The zoo is built onto the side of Cheyenne Mountain. The Springs is already at about 6000 feet, so as you walk up the zigzag path through the zoo (which is modern with modern habitats for the animals), even in summer you might get some misty fog or light rain. Check out the Wolf Woods: You go into a theater that looks up the side of the mountain into the wolves' enclosure, and you can watch them as they move among the trees -- but they can't see or smell you, so they behave quite naturally.

There's also the North Pole/Santa's Workshop. It's open a good part of the year, not just in December.

If you travel a bit farther south, there is Great Sand Dunes National Monument, mentioned above. Actual sand dunes are ringed by snow-capped mountains; if you look away from the peaks, you'd think you were in Saudi Arabia or something.

In New Mexico, there's Santa Fe and Taos, and Bandelier National Monument with a hiking trail that leads you down to the headwaters (or close to it) of the Rio Grande.
 
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