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Need some opinions on different routes for a scenic drive, and over night camp spots from Phx to Oregon (Crater Lake). Will be traveling with a 5 and 6 y/o during summer months.
Here are some beautiful places to consider (if you don't mind taking a somewhat long way to get there).
I'd consider going north to Flagstaff, on up to Kanab, UT, then continue north to Salina, UT, then northwest to Delta, UT. From there, head west to Ely, NV, then on to Reno. From Reno, you can head north to Lakeview, OR, then back to the west to Klamath Falls, or you can head west to I-5, then north US 97 to Klamath Falls (I prefer the former route). From there it's a short drive to Crater Lake.
This route would take you past the Grand Canyon (either rim or both of them), Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Great Basin National Parks. There are also several state parks, national monuments, national forests, and other public lands along this route that I consider very scenic. If you want to avoid the hassles of camping in the National Parks, there are quite a few USFS campgrounds along or near this route to consider.
I feel that for scenery, this route would be spectacular. Not only would you be close to several National Parks, but the scenery along the way is beautiful, too.
I'm not sure what you have in mind as far as the amount of time you'll have, but I do know a few places to camp along or near this route, and can suggest a few other places, though I haven't been to all of them.
How far do you plan to travel each day, and how many days will you be traveling? This will help determine the best route to take, and where the best places are to stop along the way.
There are so many options for travel between Phoenix and Crater Lake that it is difficult to pick a route that would be "the" best one. I've traveled most of the roads in the route I suggested earlier, which is why I made that suggestion, but there are plenty of other routes that are probably just as scenic, or possibly even more so.
I do think that heading up through Utah would be a great start, especially if you've never been up that way before.
I'm told that Interstate 17 from Phoenix to Flagstaff is beautiful, though I've never driven it myself. You can also take the detour on Highways 179 and 89A to visit Sedona, which is famous for its scenery.
From Flagstaff, Highway 89 (and 89A near the Grand Canyon) offers plenty of scenery with numerous detours to National Parks and monuments. If you stay on 89, it passes Lake Powell and the southern end of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, where 89A takes you through the Kaibab National Forest, and closer to the Grand Canyon's north rim.
Near Kanab, you can see Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, and a little further north, Zion National Park. Even further north, is the road (Hwy. 14) that goes to Cedar Breaks National Monument (west of 89), then north of that road is the road (Hwy. 12) to Bryce Canyon National Park (east of 89).
Just a little south of I-70, us 89 passes by Big Rock Candy Mountain. It's an interesting and colorful rock formation alongside the highway, and would probably be good for a photo-op.
Once you get up into central Utah (around I-70/Salina area), however, you end up with numerous choices for how to get to Crater Lake. A little way east of Salina, along Gooseberry Road, there is a nice USFS Campground (Gooseberry CG). It doesn't have the greatest amenities, but it's set in an aspen grove and has a creek nearby.
Great Basin National Park is west on US 50. I haven't camped in GBNP, but I've been in some of the campgrounds, and I would like to go back to camp there. I particularly liked Baker Creek Campground. It is somewhat primitive, but has what I need.
US 50 also takes you to Ely, NV, and Cave Lake State Park. There are nice campsites there, with more amenities (flush toilets, hot showers) than the others.
I'll post more later about some more of my suggestions.
This sounds awesome. We do like to be near water also. How many days would you suggest it would take to get there at a nice pace? Have you been through the Cali way? Maybe up through Utah back down through Cali?
Planning a trip like this, for me, is often difficult, because I want to see as much as I can in the limited amount of time I have for the trip. I often feel rushed because I try to squeeze too much into the time I have, but at the same time, I've loved all the trips I've taken because of everything I've been able to see. I end up with a lot of places that I plan to go back to in the future, when I'm not so rushed.
Keep in mind that most of the southwest is desert, so plan to take along plenty of water. Two gallons per person, per day, is the recommendation I've heard. I haven't used that much on my trips, but it's still good to have in case it's needed. I usually carry a few cases of bottled water because of the convenience, and when it starts to run low, I pick up another case or two at a Walmart or grocery store along the way. I usually get ice at the same time.
I'm guessing you live in the Phoenix area, so I would suggest spending the first day driving up into Utah. Since Sedona, Flagstaff, and the Grand Canyon are relatively close to you, perhaps you should save those for a future trip, when you only have a few days to go.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah would be, in my opinion, a good first night's stop. I've been there, but haven't camped there. The campground has decent amenities (water, flush toilets, showers, etc.), according to one of my guidebooks, and it's a pretty area in my opinion. It is a popular place for OHV recreation, though, so reservations would be a good idea.
From there, it's just a short drive north to Zion National Park, where you can spend anywhere from a few hours to several days, and just barely begin to see it all. I'd recommend at least driving through the park, and if time permits, stopping for a while to take in the sights. Near the east entrance, there is a place where the kids could see a small buffalo herd. I'd head back out to the east, and continue north on US 89.
If you left Zion early enough, you could visit Bryce Canyon later the same day. If not, there are several campgrounds in or near Bryce Canyon (reservations suggested, if accepted) where you could camp, then visit the park the following day. Seeing both parks in one day is possible, but somewhat rushed, in my opinion. I've done it because I was on a tight schedule, but if time permits, I'd suggest the better part of a day for each of them. There are also some campgrounds in the Panguitch area northwest of Bryce Canyon (I've never camped there, but Panguitch Lake seems to be a popular place to camp). I'd spend the night in this area after visiting Bryce Canyon (if you do so).
I'd spend most of the next day driving north on US 89 to Salina, then taking US 50 west across Utah and on to Great Basin National Park, where I'd spend the next night. I haven't camped there, so I don't know what amenities the campgrounds offer. You could see some of the park that day (depending on time), and more of it the following day. You could spend a second night there, or, if you wanted, you could head up to Cave Lake State Park near Ely, NV to spend the next night. The campgrounds there have showers and flush toilets, so it's a nice place to stay if you need to get cleaned up. While in Ely, you could visit the Northern Nevada Railroad, and if you wished to do so, you could even take an excursion train ride there.
From Ely or Great Basin N.P., you could continue west on US 50. That portion of the highway is called the "Loneliest road in America," because it is not heavily traveled. I was reading recently about a promotion where you can get a Hwy. 50 "Survival Guide" and have it stamped in every town along the way, then you can submit it for a certificate signed by the Governor of Nevada. It might be a fun thing to do.
Lake Tahoe would be a good place to stop for the night, and there are numerous camping opportunities there, but I haven't been to any of them. It's a beautiful place, and might be worth spending a day or two to see. Reno is another place you might wish to spend the night.
From Reno or Lake Tahoe, I'd suggest going north on US 395 to Susanville. My earlier suggestion was to continue north to Lakeview, OR, then west to Klamath Falls. After looking at maps of the route, I think I'd revise that and suggest taking Highway 139 from Susanville to Klamath Falls. I haven't traveled this route, but it appears to pass through some beautiful country. The other alternative is to take Highway 89 from Susanville to I-5, which takes you past Lassen Volcanic National Park. I haven't taken this route either, so I can't make any suggestions about where to stop along the way. From the junction of Hwy. 89 and I-5, you could head north on I-5 to Weed, CA, then take Highway 97 north to Klamath Falls. This latter route would take you around Mt. Shasta, which dominates the horizon.
From Klamath Falls, it's a short drive up to Crater Lake. A nice place to camp near there is Jackson Kimball State Park (OR). Of course, there is also camping at Crater Lake, but if it's filled up, Kimball State Park is a nearby alternative.
As for returning through California, see my ideas below. Many consider the central valley (~Sacramento to Bakersfield) to be boring, because it's about 300 miles of farmland. In order to avoid the central valley, I've given some consideration to alternatives.
Here's a quick summary of what I recommend for the drive to Crater Lake:
Day 1: drive to Kanab, UT; suggested camp at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Day 2: visit Zion N.P.; Travel to Bryce Canyon N.P.
Day 3: visit Bryce Canyon N.P.; stay a 2nd night (if time permits)
Day 4: drive to Great Basin N.P.
Day 5: visit GBNP; drive to Cave Lake State Park (NV) (if time permits)
Day 6: drive to Reno/Tahoe area
Day 7: drive to Crater Lake
If you followed this plan, you would only have a few days to get back to Phoenix. You could cut out a couple of these days (as indicated), to either have more time at Crater Lake, or to have more time for the return trip.
For the return trip, You might consider heading back to Susanville on one of the routes mentioned above, then continue south on US 395. When you reach Kramer Junction, you could then head east on Hwy. 58 to Barstow, where you could then take I-40 east to Arizona. From I-40, you could take US 93 back to the Phoenix area. Some stretches of this route might be considered boring, but I find it to be more scenic than taking I-5 through the central valley, and it avoids the traffic and congestion of the L.A. area. There are some interesting detours along this route, too, if time permits (Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, Death Valley - if you dare, Mitchell Caverns, and Oatman).
Places to camp are a little more scarce along this route, but they do exist. I'd suggest maybe camping somewhere around Walker, CA for the first night of the return trip. I don't have any campground suggestions for that area, though. The next night, you could camp somewhere along the Colorado River. You could then head the rest of the way home from there.
Also in the future im interested in a Yellowstone road trip, do you think that this way through Utah would be on that iternerary also? Wondering if i should just go that route when i go at that time?
I love taking that route through Utah, so taking it to Yellowstone would be a good option. There are some other routes that would be comparable, though, so it's tough to choose. Taking 89 all the way up is one option. Taking 89 up to 70, then heading over to 10, north to Price, then taking 191 up is another possibility. There are several other routes that will take you up to I-70 that are also worth considering if you have the time. When the time comes for you to go to Yellowstone, you could almost select any route you want and it will take you through some gorgeous scenery.
I love driving through Utah, since most of the state is very scenic. The same goes for Wyoming, as well as Arizona.
I am hoping that there will be some other responses to your original post, since what I've posted only represents my particular preferences. I'm sure there are some other possibilities that I haven't thought of.
Edit: for travel books, the first thing I would suggest is contacting each state's travel bureau. Most states offer free vacation planning guides that have decent maps of the popular attractions, as well as information on places to stay, local attractions and events, and so on. Many states let you request these guides online, so I suggest that you try looking them up online first.
As for other books, Moon publishes a book called "Camping Utah" that is a great book for finding campgrounds throughout Utah. They also have a book called "Montana, Wyoming and Idaho Camping." It doesn't cover any of these states completely, but it does cover a decent area surrounding Yellowstone. Quite a few of the national park guides are pretty good, and they give a decent overview of what to expect from each park. One that I have is Fodor's "National Parks of the West."
Finally, if you're a member of AAA, you can get maps and tourbooks free with your membership. I'd recommend these for the states you wish to visit. They also offer regional camping guides, though they are far from exhaustive. Many of the campgrounds I am familiar with were not listed. For what it's worth, AAA also offers travel planning services, that I believe are also included with a membership, but I can't comment about that service since I've not used it.
Last edited by jdavid93225; 06-28-2011 at 01:39 AM..
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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When on your Yellowstone adventure, do western Colorado (Durango . Silvertown, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Flaming Gorge) and eastern UT (Aches, Canyonland, Park City, Bear Lake, Lava Hot Springs, ID) as a round trip loop.
For 10 day Crater Lake, I would do South Rim GC, Las Vegas (for red rock park and Valley of Fire) and western UT, Then across NV (night drive) to Great Basin NP, on to Tahoe / Reno / then Lasson NP, and Lava Caves, then up to Crater Lake, Down to Diamond Lake and follow Umqua River to Roseburg, OR.
Then, either out to Coos Bay and South along coast, or south to Oregon Caves, then west to coast (Redwoods). Stop at Welcome to the Historic Samoa Cookhouse - Since 1890 on California's North Coast for neat pictures and fun meal (which I can no longer afford, so I just do the museum). (ALWAYS safest and best to travel left coast southbound)
If you don't want to do SF (which I do several times / yr), then you can cross from Petaluma through Napa Valley and head to Yosemite and Sequioa NP.
BE SURE to buy a National Park pass at your first park or federal area.
Have a blast.
I often traveled the boring stretches at night when with small kids. I hit LOTS of public swimming pools and libraries, so driver can get some sleep while kids play. Motels can also be cheaper during the day (only) and the kids can use the pool while the driver naps.
We often did these long trips via a very s-l-o-w, hot, noisy, non-AC, VW camper van. The kids got squirt guns to keep cool and to douse parents as required. The camper van had sink and fridge + poptop, that was VERY handy.
We used a Home School 'guest -home-directory' to stay in private homes ($20) for family, includes one meal. It was VERY nice to add to our adventures, as they each had kids of their own and lots going on. (Often a farm / ranch / RV camp...). It really made our trips special and we continue to be in touch with hosts, 20+ yrs later.
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