Roadtrip from SF to Denver and back: Is 15 days enough?

Hello. My husband and I are planning our first roadtrip and I am nervous about whether we have enough time to make all the stops we want to make from San Francisco to Denver and back. What we'd like to do is go from:

San Francisco to Sequoia Natl Park to Joshua Tree Natl' Park to Sedona, AZ, to Zion, UT to Denver. We'd like to spend 3 nights in Denver to visit family and friends and then head back to San Francisco.

We have a total of 15 days for this trip. Although we have a limited amount of time, we also don't want to feel too rushed. Is this itinerary too ambitious for our timeframe? And do any of you have advice on a good (potentially faster) route back from Denver to San Francisco?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

You can comfortably make the drive between Denver and San Francisco in three days. Even your roundabout route, hitting all your the places you mentioned, can be driven in four. Spend three days in Denver and that still leaves you 5 days to enjoy your stops and maybe even some side trips. Relax and enjoy.

AZBuck

Hello and welcome,

I would say you have enough time to make the trip, by allowing 6 days travelling either way and 3 days in Denver it should be a nice balance.

However if I was heading down as far as Joshua tree park I would be tempted to continue my journey by heading to I 40 and visit Zion on the way back, creating a loop. You could head for Flagstaff [maybe a detour to the Grand canyon] and Monument valley, [160] towards Cortez and Durango and head into Colorado on the Million dollar highway.

On your return, take I 70 and head for Bryce and Zion, a possibility is to turn off after Green river on to HWY 24 to Torrey and then scenic 12 byway. Then head for home via Tonopah and Yosemite. This would of course depend on the Tioga pass being open at your time of travel.
If you want to stick to your original plan the quickest way back from Denver would be I 80 from Cheyenne through Salt lake city.

A lot will depend on how much time you want to spend behind the wheel against time parked up, but you are sure of some magnificent scenery either way.