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We are planning a road trip from Birmingham, AL to Denver, CO for the summer. Our boys are 17 and 9 and are road trip warriors. They love history, automobiles, baseball, hiking and biking. We will have our bikes with us. We would love recommendations on routes, attractions along the way as we are not in any hurry and any suggestions. Thanks!
Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!
RoadTrips are always better when you can take the time to experience and enjoy the places you're driving through, and the time to drive through more of them. There is quite a bit of history to be relived in the regions you'll be traversing, and plenty of other sites as well. So assuming that you can devote about a week or so to the drive out to Denver and a week or so to the drive back, what I'd suggest you do for starters is to plan on taking two entirely different routes out and back so that you can see as much as possible. As always, there is more than one way to get anywhere and none of them are intrinsically 'best'. Two possible ('good') routes would be the following. I will describe them as a loop in a clockwise direction, but if you and your son have other routes or detours that appeal to you, then by all means take them.
Start by using US-78 to Memphis, then follow I-40 to Little Rock (with a possible detour to nearby Hot Springs National Park) and on into the Ozarks and into Oklahoma. At Warner get on the Muskogee Turnpike (toll) through Muskogee to Tulsa and then the Cimmeron Turnpike (also toll) to I-35 north into Kansas (toll as well, sorry) and Wichita. From there head west on US-400 through Greensburg, Dodge City, and (on US-50) Pueblo CO. Heading north from there on I-25 will take you through Colorado Springs to Denver.
The way back would have you taking I-70 east back into Kansas including Oakley, Ellis, Grandview, to Missouri and Ultimately St. Louis. From there, I-64/I-7/I-24 would take you near Land Between the Lakes to Nashville. Finally, I-65 would get you back to Birmingham.
AZBuck
Thank you for all this help! We plan to reverse the route in order to take in baseball games in St. Louis, Kansas City then Denver. Your ideas on off the beaten path stops are amazing!!!
We will be in CO the week of July 4th. Any suggestions of activities or events we do not want to miss? Many thanks.
Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about this trip in the same thread
Colorado is a mighty large state, with loads to offer. Rocky Mountain National Park, Garden of the Gods (Colo Springs), Dinosaur National Park, Glenwood Canyon area, are just a few things that come to mind when I think "Colorado". Also, your interests will come into play, too. Are you looking for things like concerts, fairs, special museum offerings, or are you looking for hikes or outdoor activities?
Donna
As baseball fans, I'd think you'd want to swing by the Negro League Museum while in Kansas City.
You might also use some of your time in Colorado heading to a minor league game. You could visit either the Colorado Sky Sox (AAA) or the Grand Junction Rockies (Rookie), both affiliates of the Colorado Rockies.