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Hello. My family (me, my husband, and children 8 4 years) would like to drive from Atlanta to Denver and take about 10 days for the whole trip. We would like to get some suggestions on the best route. We would like to find a few interesting places to stop on the way and would like to be able to visit the Denver area. We would also like to camp on the way. We really like to stay in State or National Parks becasue they usually have the best camp sites. I appreciate any advice you can give.
Thanks
Welcome to the RTA Forum! One of the things you'll frequently read people cringing about is the term "Best" when describing a route. One man's best route might be the fastest, while another man's "Best" route would visit every small town along the way.
How much time are you planning to spend on the road, how much time do you want to spend in Denver, and how much time do you want to spend in the Mountains around Denver?
Considering that you are traveling with kids and want to camp in state/national parks - I'd say you should be figuring at least 3 days for each direction of travel - leaving you with 4 days to split up your time in Colorado.
If I were doing the trip, I'd probably head up through Nashville and Paducah to St. Louis, then take I-70 all the way to Denver. Coming back, I'd work my way south through the mountains - like Pikes Peak - going all the way to New Mexico. There I'd pick up I-40 for the trip back East.
Good point about using the term "best".
The route you described and the time on the route sounds perfect. The kids will probably go crazy with too much time in the car so we don't want to stop everywhere but we don't want to go too fast and not enjoy the country.
I would like to stop in interesting places on the way and on the way back to Atlanta. I noticed that there is Mammoth Cave NP in KY. Does that seem like a good stopping point? Any other good places to stay the night on the road?
Mammoth seems like it would be a pretty good spot. I haven't been there yet, but it is on my list of places I'm hoping to get to in the next couple years. The only potential problem I can think of, is that it might be too close to home to comfortably make it to Denver in 3 days. However, if you gave yourself 4 days to get there - spending some time both in the Cave and at the Arch in St. Louis, you should do fine.
As far as places to stay, I generally just pull out the atlas and look for State parks that are near the roads I will be traveling and try to find a couple that I think will be in the ballpark of where I will be ready to stop for the night.