Salt Lake City to Northern California or Oregon trip
 

Hello there: I want to take my parents on a road trip when they come to visit me in Utah in August 2015. I have taken to southern Utah and California in the past, and want to do something different with them to get them away from the extra-hot temperatures down south. I was thinking maybe going to Northern California or maybe venture into Oregon. We have about 8 days to do the round trip.

My father has limited mobility due to a hip replacement surgery, so I want to keep away from destinations that require hiking or excessive walking. Any suggestions on destinations will be greatly appreciated! GG in Salt Lake City

You can do The Redwoods,Oregon Coast, and Crater Lake with very little walking required.

>>I was thinking maybe going to Northern California or maybe venture into Oregon.<<

If you want to get away from the heat in No. California or parts of Oregon, you'd have to go to the coast. Otherwise you could hit VERY hot temps (right now (at nearly 8PM in the Sacramento Valley) it is over 100F.

So - the northern CA and/or southern OR coasts and the Redwoods. There are lots of places where the scenery is accessible right from the car or from with very short walks. But it is also very high season so a lot of places will be booked up by now, especially on weekends.

Another option would be Lake Tahoe -- warm but not generally hot -- not nearly 100F. You could spend the entire time at Tahoe. There you can drive around the lake for terrific views, take a paddle wheel boat across the lake, etc. And there is so much accommodation around the Lake you should be able to find availability.

What is your budget?

We are expecting temperatures here in Oregon near 100 later this week and early next week.
High in the Cascades (above 5000' el.) it will be a bit cooler.
For Oregon I'd suggest Crater Lake NP.
For California, I'd suggest Yosemite or Kings Canyon/Sequoia.
The drive across the desert will probably be hot until you start to climb up out of Reno toward Tahoe.
SLC to Sacramento is a solid 10 hour drive (655 miles).

spirobulldog and I were posting at the same time.

As for Yosemite - in August? No accommodation and definitely not cool. The Valley is low altitude and gets HOT.

I'd forget about anywhere inland except maybe at high elevation like Tahoe or Crater Lake (Over 6,000 feet). There is more for a family to do at Tahoe than at Crater Lake.

I would rather not drive so many hours in just 8 days.

Have your parents been to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Jackson?

Thanks everyone for the great ideas and tips! Please keep the ideas coming!

Thanks everyone for the great ideas and tips! Please keep the ideas coming!

Maybe head east to a high altitude location in Colorado north or west of Denver.
Winter Park/Fraser is pretty nice.

YOu could go to SW Colorado, such as Durango, there are the San Juan mountains there which are beautiful. It's about 6000 ft. Durango itself is a cute small town and there is that train ride you can enjoy (to Silverton). now Mesa Verde nearby isn't a good place without walking, it seems to me, but there are some Indian ruins just across the border in New Mexico that are basically flat. I went there as a day trip from Durango. It's only about 70 right now in Durango, and it does get in lower 80s often, but it's not like some of these other places due to altitude and the mountains. Durango is only about 400 miles from SLC, about 7 hrs by car.

In fact, even Santa Fe, NM isn't that bad due to altitude, it's only lower 80s recently. That town is relatively flat and the center is small. I did combine that with Durango, if you want a road trip.

here's a map of some of the ruin sites, I think I'm thinking of the Aztec http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/map.html