Jcnollef

I am not looking to spend a great deal of time in any of these places. My goal is to enjoy the drive and the scenery without hiking and camping or anything like that. Here is my proposed itinerary with a extra day or two for a leeway depending on how interested I am in certain sites. Looking for constructive criticism and why this wouldn't be plausible. What could be cut out to make it a better trip? Thank you.

Day One
Central PA to Chicago, IL 10 hours
Day Two
Chicago, IL to Sioux Falls, SD 9 hours
Day Three
Sioux Falls, SD to Badlands National Park, SD 4 hours
–2 hour loop at Badlands
To Mount Rushmore/Crazy Horse, SD 2.5 hours
–1 hour at Mt. Rushmore (cool at night)
To Rapid City, SD 1 hour
Day Four
Rapid City through Devils Tower to Billings, MT 6 hours
Day Five
Billings, MT to Yellowstone, WY 2.5 hours
To Grand Teton/Jackson Hole to Idaho Falls 3 hours
Day Six
Idaho Falls to Salt Lake City, UT 3 hours
Day Seven
SLC to Bryce Canyon/Zion 5.5 hours
Zion to Las Vegas 2 hours
Day Eight
Las Vegas to Red Rock Canyon 30 min.
(2 hours at Red Rock, 13 mi scenic drive open at 6AM)
Red Rock Canyon to Hoover Dam 1 hour – 1 hour at dam (opens at 9, $7 to park)
if skip LV, Red Rock, and Hoover Dam, Zion to Flagstaff, AZ 4 hours
Hoover Dam to Flagstaff, AZ 3 hours
Day Nine
Flagstaff, AZ to Grand Canyon, AZ 1 hour (see sunset and sunrise)
Grand Canyon, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ 1 hour
Day Ten
Flagstaff, AZ to Sedona, AZ 1 hour
Sedona, AZ to Albuquerque, NM 5 hours
Day Eleven
Albuquerque, NM through Oklahoma City, OK to Tulsa, OK 9 hours
Day Twelve
Tulsa, OK through St. Louis, MO to Indianapolis, IN 9 hours
Day Thirteen
Indianapolis, IN to Central PA 9 hours

rjasnumberonefan

I've looked over your itinerary and would love to comment and encourage it before others here shoot down your plan. (I see you are new to the forum and therefore may not be familiar with many of the posters.) I travel much like this. Very aggressive with little down time. I sometimes wonder what others would think of my plans if I listed them here. hahaha
That said, I only have problems with days 5 and 7. The area covered on those days could be slowed down drastically by wildlife on the road in Yellowstone, tourist traffic in any of the parks, and mileage totals. It could be I am not understanding daybreaks because day 6 seems way too easy.
Otherwise, the trip seems doable to me. I believe others might differ. I have just a few questions.

Are you travelling alone or with a companion? Drives this long each day are hard with open stretches and no chit chat.

Do you LOVE driving? Because you have almost 2 weeks of daily driving with no let up.

Have you driven distances like this before on trips or just vacationed in one area? Most trip sites recommend 400 miles per day and yours seems to be closer to 500. 13 days of 500 might push someone who hasn't done this before on a smaller scale of like 3-4 days worth of long drives.

Are you ADHD or an insomniac? I ask because you would need the ability to rise early and push through with little sleep to get that mileage in per day. 9 - 10 hours a day of driving doesn't seem like alot until you... Add in breaks to stretch, eat, take a picture or two. Allow for traffic, detours, animals, etc.

I think it is doable if all criteria checks with you.

I plan trips keeping under the 800 mile range per day. Some think this is crazy. I love driving...day after day the sights out the window change and I never tire of it. I allow 8-10 hours driving AND include sightseeing parks on the same day. My theory is, I have until I check into the next nights stop to kill, so why do I want to check into my hotel at 4pm to rest when i can rest along the way and pace myself until sleeptime? I am ADHD, as is my daughter who travels with me. We don't expect the average person to keep up on our schedule so we gave up inviting anyone who isn't as ADHD as we are. haha

I think your trip looks to be one that would give you many happy memories.

LindainOhio

I really think you need at least 2 days in both Yellowstone and the Tetons.

boom_boom

Well, doable, but I think some of your drive times are too optimistic. Example, map shows 81 miles between Flagstaff and Grand Canyon, you only allow an hour. That's not a freeway and in the park speed limits tend to be lower.
I've made that kind of trip in the past and the only regret is that I didn't take advantage of cheaper gas and younger age more often.
But, agree that 2 days in both Yellowsstone and Grand Teton would be worth cutting a couple of other sites.

tomfuller

I agree with Linda about extra time in Yellowstone.
Maybe skip Las Vegas and just go through Valley of Fire and the west side of Lake Meade to stay at the Hacienda 2 miles from Hoover Dam. A tip about Hoover Dam - drive across the dam to the Arizona side. Go past the first parking area up to the second or third which are free. When you leave, stop at the parking area (free) where you can walk up to the walkway that is on the dam side of the big new bridge (US 93).
On day 1 you might want to stop in South Bend instead of Chicago.
Drive through Chicago early in the morning and you can plan on making it to Mitchell, SD. Spend a few minutes in Mitchell to see the Corn Palace at least from the outside.
What month is this trip planned for? How many hours of driving vs. how many hours of stops during daylight?
Where in central PA? (I used to live in Mifflinburg).

peterboy

Not my idea of fun but everyone is entitled to their own vacation.

Jcnollef

Thanks for the helpful replies! I've already adjusted my itinerary to stay in Jackson, WY and skip Idaho Falls. I've also decided to do sixteen days instead and make sure I leave 2 and a half to see Yellowstone. I actually enjoy driving for the most part. A couple nine hour days in a row are a bit daunting, but will be worth pushing through to have more time at the destinations. Planning on doing this in May.

Tomfuller- I'm from Northumberland. Very familiar with Mifflinburg!

I now have an extra day to work with and not sure which park to add it to or to just leave some leeway. This is kind of how its working out as of now. Thank you so much.

½ day at Sedona
1 day at GC
+ another ½ day at one or the other
1 night in Las Vegas
1 day at Zion
½ day at Bryce Canyon
2 ½ days at Yellowstone
1 day for Devils Tower/Mt. Rushmore/Crazy Horse
½ day at Badlands National Park

Jcnollef

Looking to do my second trip out west and just found this post from two years ago. I ended up only doing the southern route of this trip, but made it all the way to LA/San Diego and a few other NPs in the southwest and back in 12 days with plenty of time to see everything I desired. Was a great trip and I look forward to hitting the northern stops this September.

emalloy

Jcnollef,

Are you on the trip now?? Give us a TR.

RVvagabond

IF you drive faster, that will allow time to visit Petrified Forest that is magnificent. Even faster, see Meteor Crater. Both are east of Flagstaff.

Vaga

Ozarksbill

Yes, many of us have driven West. I am afraid you are a bit rushed and will need to re-examine the trip so as to allow more sightseeing and resting. You are covering so much territory...and much of the West isn't that scenic. But along the way some sights demand more exploring. No time for hiking? It is amusing that you have allocated exact projected times for everything. Stop, smell the roses!