Hi!

I'm planning a trip around the US, but I've never actually done this before, so I would love to hear your input...

This is what I have planned so for:

Day 1:
8am Pittsburgh to Louisville – 392 mi – about 6 hours 19 mins (arrive around 2 pm – eat lunch and hang out for a couple hours)

4:30 To Mammoth State Park (94.4 mi – about 1 hour 36 mins)– arrive around 6pm Mammoth Campground (1/4 mile) Set up camp and hike around a little before dark.

815 - Campfire Program


Day 2:
Mammoth State Park

8am hike
10:30 Caving – 3pm

Hike around a little.

5pm for Nashville, TN (94.1 mi – about 1 hour 37 mins) arrive round 6:30pm

Nashville Hostel - Music City Hostel


Day 3:
9am Nashville to Land Between the Lakes (88.9 mi – about 1 hour 36 mins) arrive around 10:30am Elk & Bison Prairie

12pm on toward St. Louis Arch (240 mi – about 3 hours 53 mins)
arrive around 4

Then off again by 6 to Katys Roadhouse (125 mi – about 2 hours) around 8PM. Set up camp and sleeeeep.


Day 4:
7am off toward the Badlands!! (760 mi – about 10 hours 53 mins) Arriving around 6pm.

Set up camp at Cedar Pass Campground

sleeeep.


Day 5:
8am hike in the Badlands (-9am) in the morning up to Wall Drug (25.8 mi – about 27 mins)
(-11)for a peak then (83.8 mi – about 1 hour 29 mins) to the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway (70 miles)

Camp at ____


Day 6:
8am drive to Wind Cave National Park
(41.0 mi – about 56 mins)

12pm Devil’s Tower (159 mi – about 2 hours 55 mins)

On to Lander (343 mi – about 6 hours 3 mins) Motel


Day 7:
Sleep in a bit.

Laundry!!

By 11am, on To Flaming Gorge Dam (182 mi – about 3 hours 55 mins) by 3 for a quick view.

Camp.


Day 8:
Up for the sun, and on to Canyonlands (300 mi – about 5 hours 49 mins) arrive by 1pm

Camp in the area.


Day 9:
Up with the sun again. Arches and around till 1ish.

Then around the Canyons of the Ancients and to Four Corners (158 mi – about 2 hours 51 mins)

And on toward Gallup, NM (by 125 mi – about 2 hours 25 mins)


Day 10:
And on to Amerillo, Texas (424 mi – about 5 hours 55 mins)

slice of Ugly Crust Pie at the Midpoint Café, then lunch at Golden Light Café. Next, Cadillac Ranch
outdoor musical drama TEXAS

Camp: Palo Duro Canyon State Park


Day 11:
And on to Lafayette, Louisiana
(755 mi – about 12 hours 3 mins)
hostel

Day 12:
Lafayette, Louisiana - tour the bayou..

Day 13:
Jackson, Mississippi

Day 14:
Tuscaloosa or Birmingham, Alabama

Day 15:
Atlanta, Georgia

Day 16:
Up to the Smoky's - drive and hike through the park

Day 17:
Smoky Mountains area..maybe Asheville, NC?

Day 18:
On to Shenandoah NP for a drive through the scenic lands with stops for 2-4 mile hikes throughout.

Day 19:
finish up my trip all the way in Portland, Maine, where I'll stay to visit with family and then head back about a week later.





Is there anything that you would recommend I add and/or leave out?

I'm having trouble planning the deep south section of the trip. Where should I stay in Mississippi and Alabama. what should I do there? In Georgia? Louisiana?

Also, I've never done a road trip, and this one is all on my own. Is this too much driving? What should i be sure to bring in terms of the camping part? I used to camp all the time, but it's been a loooong time, and I've never gone by myself. Am I being too ambitious?

Can my car even make it? It's a 2000 Honda Civic hatchback (no A/C, but I'm used to 13ish hour long drives I the new england summer heat, and I'm planning on bringing tons of h2o)

Basically, I need some honest encouragement, input, and ideas.

I think that some of your driving time estimates are overly optimistic. To average 60+ miles per hour for many hours at a time is unrealistic. You must factor in time to get gas and use a restroom, even if you plan to eat in the car while driving.

"Day 1:
8am Pittsburgh to Louisville – 392 mi – about 6 hours 19 mins (arrive around 2 pm – eat lunch and hang out for a couple hours)

4:30 To Mammoth State Park (94.4 mi – about 1 hour 36 mins)– arrive around 6pm Mammoth Campground (1/4 mile) Set up camp and hike around a little before dark."

Mammoth Cave is in Central Time Zone so you will have an extra hour.

So you can stop at Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace near Hodgenville. Its only a few miles out of the way. It takes about 1/2 an hour to tour the place.

That's quite an ambitious project!

Me thinks you're going to be really tired of the inside of your car by the end.

If you're a baseball fan, the Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat Factory and Museum is a good way to pass a little time in Louisville...... or if baseball isn't your thing, then you can always drop a few $2 bets at Churchill Downs and tour their museum.

I know folks are in trouble when their drive estimates are >>6 hours 19 mins<<, >>3 hours 53 mins<<

Just NOT possible to plan down to the minutes like that. It looks like you simply took the mileage and divided it by some number to get your drive times - and it looks like you used 70 mph which is nuts. You are not taking into account traffic, city speed limits, construction, rest stops or anything.

You plan will likely fall apart early on.

I don't think your overall scheme is that bad and it's apparent you've done some homework in coming up with places to see.

Having said that, I've got 2 general comments:

1. I agree with the others that your time estimates are too optimistic. For ex, I'd plan on a good 14-15 hrs from Amarillo to Lafayette. You're either going through Dallas then Shreveport down to Lafayette or through Dallas to Houston then over to Lafayette. Your estimate IMO doesn't take into account traffic delays (especially if you hit rush hour), construction, rest stops, etc.

2. When are you planning to do this? If you hit the southern portion in the summer, you'll be miserable and very tired without AC. The heat and humidity in the south is nothing compared to the "new england summer heat".

<When are you planning to do this?>

Sorry. Didn't pay attention to your title. So if it's summer, my comment stands.

Yuo ned to take into acount that most highways in the US have a speee limit of 65. Near cities and incertianother areas it's 55. But as soon as you're off the highway al betsa re off - and depending on conditions/traffic you might be lucky to do 40.

I think you driving time estimates are way too short - and you've left no time for pit stops. (And in heavy traffic it can take 20 to 30 minutes just to get gas at a highway stop.)

Also - you're geting into camp grounds awfully late - and many fill up in the summer. Assume you have necesary reservations or yuo may be slleping inyour car.

As for th esouthern part ofyour trip - just be aware that inhgh summer it will be VERY hot and humid. Don't know where you're from - but expect high 90s and very damp. (No way I would sleep anyplace wihtout AC - no matter what you paid me.)

Day 19 I have no idea how you'll do given the many major cities you'll need to navigate around.

Given your schedule, you don't have much time built in to actually pause if you enjoy some place, or come across a festival. it seems like an awful lot of windshield time in a relatively short amount of time.

I've driven the roads from St. Louis up through SD, WY & down through UT, and you will be pressed to make some of those days fit in your itinerary, but that leg seems do-able.

Wyoming takes a long time to drive from corner to corner, and your route isn't all interstate, so you'll be slowing for those small towns.

We've tent camped the past 2 summers, Yellowstone & Colorado. Setting up your tent will take some time. Practice setting up & taking down at home if you haven't used your tent much. I recommend an air mattress with air pump with battery or car charger. Not having to worry about the state of the ground is well-worth it.

I recall the Flaming Gorge campground to be particularly filled with prickly plants, but it's been many years since we camped there.

It looks like you are planning around heat, however, I can vouch that the Black Hills & Wyoming may be chilly in the evenings, depending on where you camp.