We are going to have five days to drive from Pismo Beach back to Colorado. We plan to camp along the way. Any suggestions as to route and "must-sees" along the way? We are traveling in mid-June.

Colorado is a big state so it might help to know where in Colorado you are going. It would really help narrow down the things to do.

Some of the options you have would be Zion National Park, Bryce National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, the Moab area which has Arches National Park & Canyonlands National Park. If you want a more southernly route, you might do the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde National Park and Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Utahtea

I'm sorry, I needed to explain a little better. We live in western Colorado so we are familiar with Colorado. The part of the country I am more interested in for this trip, Utahtea, is Calif, Nevada, and Utah. Instead of heading straight back from Pismo Beach, I arranged our trip so that we could stop and see a few sights and maybe do a little camping along the way back home.

Thanks!

We enjoyed our few days camping at Great Basin.

http://www.nps.gov/grba/

Hi rubyselbow,

The reason for asking where in Colorado you lived, was to know where you needed to end up in Colordo to narrow down which route to tell you to take.

With either route, I'd do Zion National Park & Bryce National Park. If you know the dates you can make reservations at each park, if you don't have dates, then both also have first come first serve campgrounds, but you really need to be there early in the day to get those.

If you are going to Grand Junction, CO then I'd add Capitol Reef and Moab Area (Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park)

If you are going to Cortez, CO, then I'd add Lake Powell near Page, AZ, Monument Valley Tribal Park and Mesa Verde National Park.

I can give more detailed information if I know which route you are planning.

Utahtea

We are coming back through Grand Junction and are really interested in the Moab area. Thanks for the info!

If you know the dates you will be in Moab, then you could make reservations in Arches National Park at the Devils Garden Campground. http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/camping.htm The Willow Flat campground at Canyonlands Island in the sky district only has 12 sites and you have to bring in your own water...but the views nearby are out of this world! I hear these fill up fast. There are plenty of private campgrounds in Moab and there are a lot of BLM campgrounds on both Hwy 128 and the Potash Road with primitive campsites along the Colorado River.

Utahtea

Thanks for the info!