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Hello everyone. My wife and I are planning a vacation for next summer. What we want to do is fly into Denver, rent a car, and proceed to drive this route over the course of 2 weeks:
We are into adventure sports: hiking/backpacking, kayaking/canoeing, primitive camping, etc., so those are the kinds of activities we will be looking for. For lodging, the plan will be an improvised mix of camping and cheap hotels (no reservations except for those occasions when we will be at a place where it is necessary). I am posting a thread on each City-Data forum for the five states we are hitting in the hopes that locals or those who have previously vacationed in these areas might be able to point out places not to be missed, whether it be attractions, restaurants, camping areas, etc.
A little clarification on the route: we are wanting to stay off the interstates as much as possible. It has been my experience that a vacation doesn’t really start until you get off the beaten path. The specific stops on the map are not so much stops as they are locations to keep us on our desired route.
A few places we definitely want to hit:
-Grand Canyon
-A night around Area 51 (no, I don’t believe in aliens and all that but I’ve always wanted to camp a night out there)
-Rocky Mountain National Park (we visited there this summer so will be looking for more obscure things to do this time around)
Aside from that, nothing set in stone…just whatever is on our route and interesting.
As far as timeframe, we can go at pretty much anytime once my wife is done teaching for the year. Any recommendations as to when? We didn’t find Rocky Mountain to be very crowded in early June, which was a nice surprise. Is early June the best time for all of these locations, weather-wise and avoiding-the-crowds-wise (speaking in a relative sense, realizing that summer will have crowds no matter what)?
Any and all thoughts welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!
Looks like quite a trip! Two weeks just doesn't seem like enough; that's easily 4, and probably 5, full days straight driving.
Few observations:
Taking the 285 Southwest out of Denver is a little scenic, but in my experience it's not worth the extra time it takes to go through Conifer, South Park, etc.
If you want to see things like Taos, etc., would recommend taking I-25 S to Walsenburg and hopping over that way.. still near the Sand Dunes, etc., and get to see arguably more in less time. Colorado Springs is also more worth a stopover than any analog on the 285.
Hoover Dam's Bypass isn't yet open, so expect delays.
Sounds like you'll have a great time. Most important advice: Once you've arrived, buy and PACK WATER. Everywhere on this map is a right sorry place to be with a broken down car and no water, especially in the height of summer.
The Painted Desert / Petrified Forest is about an hour east of Winslow and really worth
an afternoon. I enjoyed the Petrified Forest more, but then I live out here and see
red rocks all the time.
Also in Holbrook is the world famous Wig-Wam Motel. It's only 5 minutes out of your
way and well worth the stop.
Winslow has the famous corner (restoration should now be finished) and also La Posada,
an incredible hotel originally built by the Santa Fe Railroad and restored with $14-15,000,000
of personal funds by the new owners. If you can break your trip in a manner that allows
you to stay there, you'll love it. Very reasonable..Really great restaurant, also, but a
bit pricey compared to the hotel itself.
I recently rode the Harley from ABQ out to Death Valley and back along much of
your route and have a bunch of photos of the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest,
Wig-wam Motel, La Posada, etc. posted in an online album..
Thanks for the comments, Zoidberg and Mike. That's exactly the sort of insight I'm looking for. I do wonder if 2 weeks is enough. I guess it will come down to where all we want to stop and what we want to do. Google says the route is about 2200 miles and about 2 days of driving. I find Google tends to be way off in driving times (usually over, in my experience), but do you really think this is 4-5 days of driving? Maybe using the interstate a bit more is a good idea. You can see why I am planning this a year in advance! Thanks again!
2200 miles of driving in 2 days is 1100 miles/day (duh). That means that if you drove for 12 hours a day, you'd have to average over 90 mph, with no stops. That is no vacation.
you need a break in that trip and now could you pass up Chama, NM or Pagosa Springs?
well I take that back looking at your route but you sure are going to miss a lot with that agenda.
2200 miles of driving in 2 days is 1100 miles/day (duh). That means that if you drove for 12 hours a day, you'd have to average over 90 mph, with no stops. That is no vacation.
I guess I should have done the math....
I have to say, I'm sitting here laughing my ass off at the idea of driving 90 mph for 12 hours straight in some maniac attempt at a vacation.
Okay, let's see...2200 miles over the course of 14 days is 160 miles per day. Let's put that at 3 hours of driving and figure on 8 hours of sleep and 2 hours for meals. That leaves 11 hours a day for "vacation stuff." Of course, averages mean nothing in the real world. Fact of the matter is, we need to decide where all we want to stop, how long we want to be there, and then determine how long this is going to take. Two weeks is my ideal but I could stretch it longer if needed.
There is too much to see for a two week trip. I'd recommend going immediately after Labor Day because that is when the families with kids go back to school and the campgrounds clear out. The wildflowers in the higher altitudes are usually at their peak.
It's hard to tell from this map, but are you coming down through Leadville and Buena Vista in Colorado? We've vacationed in that area several times over the last 15 years. It's a very scenic area. Leadville is an old mining town. There is a really neat mining museum. I believe there are a couple of old mines to visit. The town has some interesting shops. You drive along the 14ers (mountains over 14,000 feet as you drive down into Buena Vista and Salida. We always enjoy eating at the Casa del Sol in Buena Vista. There are a lot of old mines, ghost towns, and gemstones in the area. One thing we enjoy is swimming at the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs and also going up to the water slides. St. Elmo is an old ghost town further down the road. They have some chipmonks that will crawl all over you and eat sunflower seeds out of your hands.
You need to spend some time at the Great Sand Dunes and wade around in Medano Creek. Campsites fill up early. You need to get there in the morning to grab a spot. Weekdays are best.
Santa Fe has a lot of shopping and great food. We tried out Tomasitas last time we were there. The Shed is also supposed to be excellent. Of course there is plenty of shopping and the native Americans sell jewelry in front of the Governor's Palace on the Plaza. The Tram in Albuquerque is a fun afternoon.
We enjoyed the Grants area. We stopped and saw the lava tubes and various volcanoes. El Morro had Inscription Rock which is a nice little piece of history. There is a pueblo ruin there also. El Morro National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)
We made the trip to the Grand Canyon last year. Unless you plan to hike, I wouldn't plan for a whole lot of time there. It's beautiful, but there isn't a lot to do there unless you like watching stupid tourists climb out on rocks where they aren't supposed to be climbing. If you want to eat at the restaurant, you need to make reservations in advance.
Barringer's Meteorit Crate, the Petrified Forrest, and places like that are basically drive through. You need to see them so you can tell everyone you have been there.
Thanks for your thoughts, Sarahsez. That sounds like a lot of stuff we would be interested in. I'm beginning to realize we would need to do variations of this trip for the next 20 years to even begin to scratch the surface of all there is to see out there! Anyway, I am tweaking the route and will see if I can work in some of your suggestions. Some people on the Colorado forum have suggested we fly into Las Vegas and do a shorter loop that, as far as Colorado is concerned, would only incorporate the southwestern corner. It's just so hard to choose! But, again, thank you for your thoughts.
Some people on the Colorado forum have suggested we fly into Las Vegas...
Didn't know Las Vegas had commuter flights?
Certainly looks like an ambitious trip to me, and one that will give lots of opportunities to see the major attractions but little time to enjoy "smelling the roses" (or pine scented air) along the way. As for the Grand Canyon, it's not somewhere to just stop and add your photos to the literally millions already taken. It's a place to spend the day enjoying the way the canyon changes character throughout the day. Hopefully there will be huge thunderheads in the afternoon, being as it's summertime. Since the south rim area has limited access to personal vehicles, it's necessary to take shuttle buses to see many of the view points. That alone consumes time.
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