Road trip with 2 medium sized dogs- San Francisco to Austin with Utah in between?

Hello,

I'm a 28 year old female moving to Austin in June with my two dogs, I planned to drive there in my jeep starting on June 1st but take my time since I don't need to be there until mid-june. I don't want to drive more than 4-6 hours a day, and I need to do this fairly cheaply, so I just plan to camp along the way instead of staying in motels, plus with all my belongings in the jeep I'm not sure I would feel comfortable leaving it unattended overnight at a motel, and I probably will not want to unload everything either.

1. I am looking for dog friendly/cheap but safe (for a female alone) camp site suggestions along this route, starting in SF, google maps is taking me south and then east towards Las Vegas and than into Utah, from Utah it takes me into south west Colorado and down through New Mexico, I'd like to stop in Marfa Texas on my way into Austin.

2. I've always wanted to go to the national parks in Utah but I think the dogs might make this difficult since I can't afford to board them while I explore, would it still be worth going up there vs. just driving through Arizona?

3. Any suggestions for other must see things that are doable with dogs along this route?

Thanks!

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

It's been a while since I traveled with a dog, but he was also a 'medium sized' English Setter who loved the outdoors. When we would take cross-country RoadTrips, I would make a point of stopping every couple of hours to give him some exercise and check out his new surroundings. Animals are much like children in that respect and the time spent not driving pays handsome rewards in keeping them happy and quiet while you are driving. To give you some general sense of the kinds of places you should be looking for in planning your own RoadTrip, check out the these lists of stops every couple of hours along the major Interstates.

National parks are, in my experience, the most restrictive in where you can take your four legged friends. national forests, state parks, and local parks generally are a bit more open but you should of course expect that you will need to keep your dogs on a leash and clean up after them at all public parks. Whether a given national park is worth a visit will depend on a couple of factors. What is their specific pet policy? For example, Zion only allows pets (leashed, of course) on a single, two mile long trail near the entrance to the park. You will not be able to go farther into the canyon with them since only the park busses are allowed on that road during the summer season - private cars are prohibited. The other thing to consider is whether you have an annual national parks pass ($80) or are paying for each park individually. I might balk at paying $25 for a relatively short hike in the outskirts of Zion, but if I had the annual pass I would find the prospect more enticing. You'll have to check the policy of each national park you intend to visit to see where you can go with the dogs.

And just an aside. If Marfa is on your itinerary, have you considered a stop in Roswell, NM?

AZBuck