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I am planning a road trip from Seattle's SeaTac Airport down to San Diego, CA by way of Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway in June/July 2017. I shall then be driving back up to SeaTac Airport by way of Death Valley, Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks and then back to SeaTac by way of the I-90.
I am allowing a time frame of 14 days to complete this proposed road trip ( 21st June until 5th July). Can anybody tell me that I'm allowing enough time to this trip and can anybody tell me of any interesting routes to take going through Nevada and Utah and then once I leave Yellowstone are there any interesting routes I could take to get back to SeaTac Airport instead of following the I-90 all the way back through Montana, Idaho and Washington State? Any information on driving this proposed route would be great fully appreciated. Many thanks.
I am planning a road trip from Seattle's SeaTac Airport down to San Diego, CA by way of Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway in June/July 2017. I shall then be driving back up to SeaTac Airport by way of Death Valley, Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks and then back to SeaTac by way of the I-90.
I am allowing a time frame of 14 days to complete this proposed road trip ( 21st June until 5th July). Can anybody tell me that I'm allowing enough time to this trip.
Google maps has that route at approximately 57 hours and 3,600 miles.
How many hours a day are you planning to drive?
How much non-driving time are you planning (hiking, winery tastings, zoo, visiting friends, etc.)?
Do you want side trips off that route? Leavenworth WA, Mt Rainier WA, etc.
I am planning a road trip from Seattle's SeaTac Airport down to San Diego, CA by way of Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway in June/July 2017. I shall then be driving back up to SeaTac Airport by way of Death Valley, Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks and then back to SeaTac by way of the I-90.
I am allowing a time frame of 14 days to complete this proposed road trip ( 21st June until 5th July). Can anybody tell me that I'm allowing enough time to this trip and can anybody tell me of any interesting routes to take going through Nevada and Utah and then once I leave Yellowstone are there any interesting routes I could take to get back to SeaTac Airport instead of following the I-90 all the way back through Montana, Idaho and Washington State? Any information on driving this proposed route would be great fully appreciated. Many thanks.
Probably not, unless all you want to do is drive through all those places without seeing much. I've spent a week in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, and another week in Yosemite. But we like to get out the car and hike the trails and see things most folks don't. I could see the trip from Seattle along the coast taking awhile. There's plenty to see and places to stop, not to mention side trips to Lassen and the Redwood parks. I would spend little time at Death Valley and see King's Canyon and Sequoia parks instead.
There's not much in northern Nevada and driving through it just feels much longer than it is. Idaho is a beautiful place with chains and chains of mountains, and I would go up and see Ketchum and Sun Valley, as well as the Coeur d'Alene area.
That time frame will also be the peak visiting time for those parks, so plan on sharing them with a lot of folks.
I plan on driving around 250 to 275 miles a day during the trip and we plan to stay in b&b's or motels along the way. We do intend to stop and walk around during the day to stretch our legs, but we're of an age that wouldn't be up to taking long hikes along trails, etc. Any information on the availability of b&b's and motels along our proposed route would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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That's a very short timeframe to really be able to appreciate all that those locations offer. We have been to Yellowstone and several times, Yosemite many times and each requires 4-5 days to see and experience everything. Death Valley has a few interesting places such as Scotty's Castle but half a day is enough. If you are so limited, drive more hours in the dead zones like the Nevada desert, one of the most boring drives in the USA. We recently drove from the Seattle area to the San Francisco Bay area, then to Lake Tahoe, spent a week and returned the same way. We did about 7 hours driving at a time.
Coming back from Yellowstone on I90 is actually not a bad drive, fairly scenic but not much to do. I would stick to it and make the trip fast, again allowing more time at Yellowstone and perhaps other sites near it such as the Buffalo Bill Center in Cody, Wyoming, and Craters of the Moon National Monument in Arco, Idaho.
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