Hi.
We are a young couple that are planning to make a two and a half month trip by car to national parks in the West. We're starting in Yellowstone NP and continuing south, we would like to get info about a recommaded travel plan.
We want to make backpacking trips and canoeing trips each for a few days.
Please help with recommendations and tips.
We are thinking of ending the trip in Mexico for two weeks, any advise appreciated
Thanks alot
Lori

I go to the easrtern sierra every year and it is a blast. Yosemite is great, but it's like disneyland. In the eastern Sierra you get the wilderness and a lot of unique terrian. Hiking, camping, fishing and long quiet hikes are aboundant. check out www.395.com - highway 395 is the highway through the area. We stayed in mammoth lakes- a nice base from whcih to explore. With Tioga pass open (hwy 121) you can poke into yoseimte from the east... also death valley is close by. enjoy!

Yellowstone -- be sure to drive out the northeast entrance on Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge Montana & back. America's most spectacular scenic byway (different views each way),

to Grand Tetons NP/Jackson WY area,

to #287 Wind River Range route towards Denver -
to Rocky Mountain NP, CO,
to Denver to Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, CO,
to Ouray / Silverton / Durango (Million Dollar Highway) - take a jeep ride in the area from Ouray

to Mesa Verde NP, CO

to Dinosaur NM
to Arches NP, Utah
Moab area, Utah
Canyonlands NP
Capitol Reef NP -- take a boat/jeep ride tour in the Canyonlands/Moab area

(these next two are absolute musts - spectacular!!!)
Bryce Canyon NP -- take a 1/2 day horseback ride down into the canyon
Zion NP

(you'll notice there are many other sites in this area - many of the state parks are great too)

to Las Vegas
to Grand Canyon south rim

to Sedona area (if you wish)

to Canyon de Chelly NM AZ

(there are so many other areas of Arizona to look into as well - depending on your time constraints)

into New Mexico (many national monuments here & areas people rave about -- but sorry I can't help you there - haven't been yet)

to Carlsbad Caverns NP NM (a must do)

to Big Bend NP, TX

to San Antonio TX (the famous Riverwalk, the Alamo & missions tour)

& to Mexico


This is just a very brief outline of a route -- to get you started. There is SO much to see in the southwest. You'll love it! Glad you have so much time.

Check out the national parks website www.nps.gov/parks to plan your route & see what the various parks are all about.

Pick up a national parks pass at your first entry gate which gets you into all of them for $50 & expires in one year. Well worth it.

With that much time it would be a shame to miss Glacier N.P. It's one of the most spectacular parks in the U.S. with fabulous hiking

I agree with Connie...definitely go to Glacier NP. Also try to visit Olympic NP (Hoh Rainforest), Mt. Rainier NP, Mt. St. Helens NP and Crater Lake NP. The lattter two won't take as much time, but are worth at least a day or two. Sounds like a wonderful trip; having that much time would be heavenly!

Hello from Northwest Montana!!
Living only 32 miles to Glacier park I have to agree with Connie. Come on out!!!
For more info.
www.nps.gov/glac/home.htm

We had two months last year and saw many of the parks. I would agree that you should see Glacier and if you can work it out, the NW parks of Ranier, Olympic, Mt. St. Helens, and C rater are worth the time.

If you're going to do Big Bend, you'll want to avoid it in the summer due to the extreme heat. The best time to visit is in October once it has started to cool off in the autumn.

One minor problem: you cannot drive an American rental car into Mexico. If you have your own car, you'll need to purchase Mexico car insurance before you cross the border.

You are sooooo lucky to have so much time. My husband, son and daughter and I have taken many trips out West since the first one to Rocky Mountain NP and Colorado Springs in 1993 and we have been to most of the places mentioned in the other posts except for southern Utah ( we will eventually get there I'm sure). Maybe it wil help if I tell you generally what we did in the span of 8-9 days for each of these trips to give an idea of what we packed in! We spent a week between Colorado Springs and Estes Park (RMNP), Fort Collins, CO. that included driving from St. Louis, MO in that time span. We also did a 9 day driving trip in 1995 which took us to Golden, CO, Provo, UT, Salt Lake City, UT (Antelope Island and Bear Lake on the way to Jackson Hole are great), Jackson Hole (whitewater trip on the Snake River and hiking in the Grand Tetons), Yellowstone NP, (south end of park only on this trip) out the East entrance to Cody, WY, Mount Rushmore, Badlands and back to St. Louis. Another year we flew to Boise, ID then drove to Glacier, spent two days there including the Waterton section in Canada, drove south through Montana to the north entrance of Yellowstone, saw the whole park this time and went out West entrance. Then we went back to Idaho to the Sawtooth mt. area where we took a whitewater trip down the Salmon river, then back to Boise to fly home. In 1996 we flew to Reno, NV, went to Lake Tahoe for two days, drove to Yosemite and spent a day and a half, then on to Montery via San Juan de Battista ( neat town with great Mexican restaurant, Jardines de San Juan, great mission and near San Andreas fault area), two nights in Monterey including a drive to Big Sur, Carmel, Aquarium in Monterey , Pebble Beach drive. We then went to Santa Cruz for a day on the beach and stayed in a hippie town in the redwood forest between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Then we spent two nights in San Francisco. From there we went back to Reno to fly home. This year my husband and I are going with friends (kids are grown up, boohoo) to AZ and NM. Our 8 day trip will be flying into ABQ, NM, driving to Sedona (Petrified Forest and Painted Desert among other highlights on the way). Two nights in Sedona, then to Grand Canyon for a night with part of two days to explore, then Monument Valley, Four Corners, Mesa Verde, Taos and Santa Fe. If you do your research and plan carefully you can see so much and some days will include 2-3 hundred miles of driving but with beautiful scenery and many stops along the way to break up the trip. And you have much more time than we had. We did all of these combined in 5-6 weeks and you have twice the time so you can do it all and more at a more leisurely pace. From all I have read, you could add another week or two for Southern Utah area. You could also spend more time in California and see all of the wine country which is so accessible from San Francisco if you enjoy that type of thing. Have fun!

Here's another vote for Glacier National Park. We went approx 5 years ago and had a great time. My husband did a lot of fly fishing and I hiked, biked and just enjoyed nature. The hikes they have are great....and it's not overrun with a lot of people. We saw a lot of bears, other wildlife...try to work it in, you'll be glad you did.

I have to add a vote for Joshua Tree National Park in southern california. The park includes parts of both the Mojave and Colorado Deserts, so you can explore both ecosystems. Lots of great hiking.
I would agree with the recommendations for ANY park in Utah. We've been to so many of them and have never been disappointed.