6 week West USA Family driving trip

Old May 30th, 2016, 11:14 PM
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6 week West USA Family driving trip

We are a family of 4 planning a 5-6 week driving tour of west USA, next September, with moderate budget and keen on nature and not shopping or too many cities. My guide book has suggested this itinerary, but I'm worried that it involves too much driving. Can anyone suggest parts that we could perhaps fly or eliminate?

We are coming from Australia, arriving in LA where we will stay a few days for the kids (11,14).
Then- drive to SF, redwood National park, Bend, Portland, Seatle, Glacier national park, Yellowstone, grand Teton national park, Boulder, Denver, San Juan mountains, Mesa Verde Nat park, Taos, Sante fe, Albequerque, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite and back to SF.

I've no plans as to how long to stay in each place or how many stops I'll make between places.
I'm open to all your suggestions and tips. Thanks.
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Old May 31st, 2016, 02:06 AM
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Hi Kazza,

You lucky Aussies with the long vacations!

In looking at your list, one thing jumps out. If you have no real interest in cities, then why are so many major western cities on your list? Are there sepcific things you have great interest in in the cities listed? If not, no reason to drive all the way from Bend Oregon to Portland and Seattle.......and why include Denver and Boulder?
Is this really meant to visit Rocky Mtn Natl Park?

Another thing that pops out is the glaring ommission of the Utah Natl Parks. I would add those in favor of cutting New Mexico all together! The Utah parks would make a much better loop in combination with everything else too.

3 days LA
2 days driving to SF
2 days SF
1 day Redwoods and drive to Bend (personally I would do the Gorgeous Oregon Coast rather than Bend. Bend is nice and beautiful, but not really unique among your list)
1 day drive to Montana? Maybe too long and need a stopover in Washington or Idaho.
3-4 days to Glacier Natl Park
1 day drive to Yellowstone
7 days Yellowstone and Grand Teton Natl Parks (not too much time here and a chance to have a vacation from your vacation)

And on and on, Im out of time for suggestions roght now!

One important thing to consider is time of year and weather. If Sept, that is late for Yellowstone and especially Glacier. You might seriously consider flying there first and starting your trip. Otherwise, by the time you get there, you will experience closed facilites and maybe even roads with winter weather.

Another important thing is finding lodging. Do you mean Sept of 2016? If so, you are already very late to get reservations inside the parks! If you mean 2017, you can make res a year out.
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Old May 31st, 2016, 03:55 AM
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I agree with Dayle that you should put Glacier and Yellowstone at the beginning of the trip. Look into flying from Australia to Seattle, WA or Portland, OR (or perhaps on to Kalispell) and then going to Glacier then Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

Drive down to Colorado and go to Rocky Mt. NP and Mesa Verde, etc.

Next visit Moab, UT and spend time in Arches and Canyonlands NPs (both awesome).

Then perhaps, north rim of Grand Canyon, Bryce NP, Zion NP, Vegas if you must, Death Valley, LA, up the coast to San Francisco and fly home or head back to Seattle or Portland to fly home if you want to do a loop.

If you want to do the New Mexico areas, head there after Moab then go across on I-40 and visit the south rim of Grand Canyon and on to Vegas and up to Zion and Bryce or just head through Death Valley to LA and up to San Francisco. Expect Vegas and DV to be very hot even in September/October.

As Dayle also said it is late for lodging in parks, but people do make reservations a year in advance and cancel when they find they can't make the trip, so call everyday for a spot.
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Old May 31st, 2016, 04:05 AM
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Thanks so much Dayle,

I don't mind the cities, the ones I've listed are in the guide I'm reading.

I've been to SF, so actually don't feel the need to revisit. Hubby loves Portland and wants to stay there a few days.
Yes I'm looking at 2017.

Will consider Oregon coast...
Thanks for info re Yellowstone and time of year. Perhaps I'm best to fly there from LA and then drive south.
I'm also keen to drive some sections in a RV, but not sure which section of the trip is best suited to this.
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Old May 31st, 2016, 12:30 PM
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RVs are not at all well suited for cities, if you want to rent one, do it when visiting some of the National Parks.
Make sure you understand the costs involved, they can easily run $150 per day and get about 10mpg. You normally have to pay extra for dishes and linens. Also unlike rental cars they do not come with unlimited mileage, most give you a 100 miles per day allowance and charge maybe 32 cents per mile above that. Lastly you cannot park them anywhere but must pay for a designated campsite or RV park. There are a few places to stay for free or low cost like BLM lands or National Forests, but some of those places may not have toilets or only pit toilets.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2016, 02:08 AM
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Thanks emalloy, I'm not sure how I'd get to all these places if I need to go straight to Yellowstone, I'd end up back tracking at some stage.

jamie99, I may forget my idea of using a RV, it may be too much hassle. Thanks.
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Old Jun 5th, 2016, 10:54 PM
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Ok, I've had a rethink....I reckon I was trying to cover too much ground, and I will reluctantly give up Yellowstone.
Now I'm thinking of flying to LA and spending a few days there, finishing with time at Disneyland, then perhaps flying? to Las Vegas and hiring a car. Then driving to Grand Canyon and loop around to Yosemite.
I want to drive the coast from Seattle to LA, but I'm not sure the best way to do this without backtracking.
Any suggestions please are welcome?
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Old Jun 6th, 2016, 12:01 PM
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Again, I hope you plan to include the Utah Parks when you do your loop. This would fit between the Grand Canyon and Yosemite.
A shame to miss Yellowstone.
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Old Jun 6th, 2016, 08:54 PM
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Thanks Dayle, yes planning to visit Utah parks after GC.
I just wasn't sure how to fit Yellowstone into the trip, given that I'd need to travel there first due to weather.
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Old Jun 7th, 2016, 03:38 AM
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Advice please regarding route....
Which do you think would work best as a general itinerary?

1) Arrive LA, drive to Seattle along coast, fly back to LA and drive to Grand Canyon, Utah NPs, L Vegas, Yosemite, San Francisco and then fly home.

2) Arrive LA, drive to Seattle, fly to SF, drive to Yosemite, Vegas, Utah NPs, Grand Canyon and back to LA to then fly home,
Or

3) Arrive LA, fly to Seattle, drive to SF, Yosemite, Vegas, Utah, Grand Canyon,and back up to S Francisco via the coast, but avoiding LA.fly home from SF.
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Old Jun 7th, 2016, 05:20 AM
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Door number 3 IMO if you really must drive that whole coast. Vegas could also be given a miss except as a pass through.
You have missed the Rockies completely--nothing like them in the world.
The coast drive, in spite of wanting it (and it's your trip) may be the outlier.
And I will mention as I have on other threads that have young children, they can get "caught up" REAL quick on nothing but scenery--they do not relish seeing those mountainsides of yellow aspens (you would see in Colorado) much more than once.
If you did a loop from nothing north of SF on the coast to Denver, down to Santa Fe, on to Arizona/GC, up through Utah, over to Yosemite and down to LA or back to SF, you would have a truly beautiful trip.
Personally, I consider Yosemite a wonder of the world. If you can fit in Yellowstone/Tetons you will have yet another wonder.
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Old Jun 7th, 2016, 05:24 AM
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I guess I replied on another thread to another post. We have done a 6 week trip with children (14,12,10) many years ago now that was wonderful.
One other thing you might you might try to include either in Utah or Colorado are dinosaur sites which are awesome and wonderful for kids AND adults.
We did a dinosaur tour with our grands around Denver. There are several out near Gunnison and on into Utah.
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Old Jun 7th, 2016, 01:42 PM
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Thanks Gretchen, we really want to go to Portland.....is the drive north of SF going to be much the same as the south from LA along the coast?
Would you recommend leaving out Seattle?
We considered Yellowstone, but I truely don't know how to fit it into my itinerary. It seems too far away? Plus the weather.
Yes happy to just pass thru Vegas, 1 night perhaps.

I'll take a look at that loop over to Denver from SF. I appreciate your input.
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Old Jun 7th, 2016, 09:39 PM
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My advice: Fly to Portland from wherever. See Portland and then take the train to Seattle. See Seattle and then take the Amtrak Empire Builder overnight to Whitefish MT. See Glacier NP (rental car from Whitefish or Kalispell).
Return the rental car and take the train back at least as far as Spokane.
Fly out of Spokane to Salt Lake City and rent another car to visit the southern Utah National Parks.
The Oregon coast is much nicer than the California coast south of San Francisco.
The Amtrak and rental car option with one flight will save a lot of driving miles.
One more nice thing about an overnight long distance Amtrak trip is that you are not paying for a hotel room and you are getting to your destination while you sleep.
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Old Jun 7th, 2016, 10:23 PM
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Instead of using cities as your point of reference on your itinerary, consider using the national parks that dot the west (Lassen, Humboldt Redwoods, Crater Lake, Arches, Mesa Verde, etc.).
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Old Jun 8th, 2016, 12:21 AM
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tomfuller - do you really prefer the coastal drive from Astoria to Port Orford over LA to SF? I guess so many people do the latter, so I assumed it was superior.

Thanks so much for your input, I'll definitely take a look at the options you suggest.
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Old Jun 8th, 2016, 12:25 AM
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Yes Michael, as I'm at the early research stage, and I'm not very familiar with the area - so I was looking at cities to navigate the region. I will read up on those parks you have suggested. Thanks.
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Old Jun 8th, 2016, 03:20 AM
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Kazza,

I think Michael's advice to use the parks are your planned destinations rather than cities is excellent advice. Your itinereary has completely stumped me from the beginning when you said you were not interested in cities, yet had so many major cities listed in the plan with no specific reasons for visiting them!
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Old Jun 8th, 2016, 07:46 AM
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do you really prefer the coastal drive from Astoria to Port Orford over LA to SF?

I consider the northern half of this drive uninteresting. The Oregon coast is beautiful, but it limited in time, I would choose Crater Lake and driving near the Three Sisters over it if doing the Big Sur drive.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...981132189/show

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...451299838/show
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Old Jun 8th, 2016, 01:48 PM
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Thanks Michael.

Now I'm thinking that after driving the Big Sur it's best if I fly from SF to Portland and then dive down the Oregon coast and loop around via Crater Lake, Bend and back to Portland.

Then fly back to SF and drive out to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Utah parks, Grand Canyon and finish in LA.

Hopefully I can comfortably do this in 5-6 weeks?
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