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We are planning a road trip from Denver to Rushmore, on to Yellowstone,
Grand Teton and then to Yosemite and finishing in San Francisco. It seems
that June would probably be as good a time of year although perhaps there is a better time. Unfortunately this could well be the last time we will be
able to visit USA. Two years ago we covered Colorado, Utah and Arizona and would like to see as much more as we can. Is 14 days enough time and what are the must see places en route.
Welcome to the Forum!Quote:
Originally Posted by choirboy
14 days is sufficient to drive that distance, but it might be pushing it a bit, if you really want time to see what those places offer. There are hundreds of posts on this board sharing destination and routing advice to every one of those places. I would suggest using each destination as a keyword and use the search on the top of this page (in the green navigation bar) and also look at the similar threads at the bottom of this page.
As a start I would look at this post about South Dakota, consider purchasing these guides to Montana and Wyoming -- I have used them on recent trips to this area. And look here for some general ideas about road trips in the west, including Yosemite. Also, even though you are already an experienced American roadtripper, you might find this book, written by a British author kind of amusing.
I'm going to disagree with Mark a bit on this one. I think that you can drive your proposed route comfortably in 5 days (if that's all you did - drive it), leaving plenty of time left in your two weeks to actually experience and enjoy the places you'll visit. The time of year you've chosen is a pretty good. Many of the northern parks such as Yellowstone don't open up completely much before March while usage doesn't peak until July. But the earlier you can make it in June the better. My personal favorite time to travel in most of the US is late September to early October, but that's probably out of the question for you.
Besides the 'must see' sites you've listed and Mark's suggestions, there are a few other locations along the way that you should consider visiting. None of the following are too far off your basic route. If you're into caving at all, look at Wind Cave National Park. A little to the east of Mt. Rushmore is a unique bit of geology in Badlands National Park. Devil's Tower in northeastern Wyoming is the location used as the extraterrestrials' landing site in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In southern Idaho, it's an easy and scenic detour to see Craters of the Moon National Monument. But a couple of my favorite hidden gems in that area, Bruneau Canyon and Bruneau Sand Dunes are a bit out of the way and would require some navigation to see and then rejoin your route westward. And as you get near the Nevada California state line think about Pyramid Lake and the Reno & Lake Tahoe areas.
That's enough, I think.
AZBuck