2 Guys from Europe,going on a small road trip

[illusion]

We are two guys coming over from Europe in September this year. Some of the trip is pretty much set, but a lot isnt.

We are starting in Las Vegas (LV) 2 September and ending it in LV 16 September
Going to pick up a car in the Airport and stay in LV for 3 nights (we are landing late on the 2 September). After that we are pretty much free, but I like to plan a little to have some ideas what to do/see.

So this is what we have for now:

Driving to Hoover dam->Oatman->Kingman->Follow RT66 to Williams(1Night)->Grand Canyon (1day+helicopter tour)->Lake Powell (renting jet skies for a day)->Kayenta-> Monument valley->Four Cornes->Durango (down the million dollar highway)->Montrose-> dont know?

I kinda would like some input on this trip;

What else to see/do?
Does the route look ok?
What to do after Montrose?

I would really like to go all the way up to mnt Rushmore, but I am not sure if we have the time for it?!

So please post any opinion/suggestions on this trip! :)

[Southwest Dave]

hi there, it's a great area to explore,and one that deserves time.by going to rushmore i think you will be too rushed to enjoy anything.with 3 days in vegas a night in williams and i would strongly recommend another night at the grand canyon or just outside,to give it any justice,1 nr /on lake powell and then a stop after m/valley and your half way through your 14 days.
is there a reason for heading to montrose? i don't know that area and can't comment but from m/valley up through mexican hat and you come across a whole load of utahs finest national parks. heading towards hanksville on the 95 and then towards torrey on hwy 24 would take you through capitol reef n.p. and onto scenic hwy 12which is a fantastic drive.bryce canyon is an "out of this world" place and beyond there zion n.p.,a great place to explore with a drive through red rock canyon and up the mount carmel highway through the tunnel carved into the mountain to get to zion.
i hope that may give you some options [even if you return from montrose you could use this route,possibly through moab and arches n.p. but i think you'll get stretched for time],but that trip makes a nice loop and it's a comfortable drive from zion back to vegas.
if you have time a trip to death valley is well worth it also.
HAVE A GREAT TRIP!!

[illusion]

The reason for doing Durango- Montrose , its said to be a very scenic road. Part of the road is called million dollar highway.

Thanks for the heads up on the scenic byway 12. How far up north could i reach before turning back to LV? Someone said I also should take a drive up the pikes peak, is it worth it?

There is two things we really want out of this trip;

1. Grand Canyon
2. see the "back bone" of America (small towns, empty roads, places that havent changed much)

We both know that we are going to spend some time in that car, we want to be a little on the road and see the country side..
If it was up to me I would have spent a lot more time, but I only have 14 days . There is so much to see and so little time..........

[Southwest Dave]

How far up north could i reach before turning back to LV? Someone said I also should take a drive up the pikes peak, is it worth it?

thats an open question realy,how long do you want to spend behind the wheel?
as an example to get near to pikes peak from montrose is going to take around 5 hours one way. i can't say wether it's worth it,but from what i've heard it's a place i want to visit [maybe you'll be able to tell me,lol!].
another place i would like to visit,which happens to be along the way is the black canyon of the gunnison
i would suggest that when looking at your mapping you add plenty of time to the travel estimates.they do not allow for any lunch,gas or viewing times. on our first visit we were amazed at the things to see and do between A and B. it is very easy to turn a 4 hour trip into an 8 hour one if you truly want to see "back bone of america" rather than driving through it.

[illusion]

The biggest problem is that you never know how long time it would take.. Also I dont want to have the whole trip set, just want plenty of options. I guess when we finally arrive I could just throw any plans out of the window, because then it would have changed.. :)

Dont think any of us have any problem driving hard a couple of days if there is something worth in the other end :)

Well we just have to wait and see how far we can go... Just paid for the trip and it felt so good..Feeling like a kid on Christmas eve again..

[Southwest Dave]

there is so much to do and see it can make your head spin. the main thing is to make sure you have enough time to return to las vegas from your furthest point.[that'd be 2 days from pikes peak without much stopping realistically.]it would obviously be ideal to be here half way through after leaving vegas.
i think your first part of the route then onto pikes peak and possibly back by scenic hwy 12 would be adding up to around 2000 miles,and makes a great loop so no doubling back on yourself. say for instance you had 8 days parked up, [2 in l/v ,2 in g/c,2 in colorado and a couple somwhere like bryce and zion]or at least not covering many miles. that leaves you 6 days covering somewhere in the region of just over 300 miles a day,so it's very doable and should give you a nice overview of the area. these are very rough guides so do your homework,lol!
it's great is'nt it when it's booked and you know it's going to happen

[illusion]

there is so much to do and see it can make your head spin. the main thing is to make sure you have enough time to return to las vegas from your furthest point.[that'd be 2 days from pikes peak without much stopping realistically.]it would obviously be ideal to be here half way through after leaving vegas.
i think your first part of the route then onto pikes peak and possibly back by scenic hwy 12 would be adding up to around 2000 miles,and makes a great loop so no doubling back on yourself. say for instance you had 8 days parked up, [2 in l/v ,2 in g/c,2 in colorado and a couple somwhere like bryce and zion]or at least not covering many miles. that leaves you 6 days covering somewhere in the region of just over 300 miles a day,so it's very doable and should give you a nice overview of the area. these are very rough guides so do your homework,lol!
it's great is'nt it when it's booked and you know it's going to happen

Yes, I am trying to make this loop with out any doubling back. Is the Royal Gorge bridge something to see?

I guess all my worries does end when we start the trip and we then can see how much time we have left... Either way we are going to be stuck in that car for a while, good thing we at least rented a fun car..
I wish September could come any sooner.. :)

[Midwest Michael]

You'll probably find few people who are as anti-royal gorge as I am, but I was extremely disappointed by the place. Its very expensive ($20 per person) and they've made the place so full of touristy trap garbage that its hard to even appreciate the natural beauty. With all of the great things in Colorado, I can tell you that I certainly will never be going back to that particular spot.

[illusion]

You'll probably find few people who are as anti-royal gorge as I am, but I was extremely disappointed by the place. Its very expensive ($20 per person) and they've made the place so full of touristy trap garbage that its hard to even appreciate the natural beauty. With all of the great things in Colorado, I can tell you that I certainly will never be going back to that particular spot.

Thanks for the info! Well I dont need "another" tourist trap, so maybe we would avoid it.