Las Vegas/Durango/Albuquerque/Boulder/Grand Junction/Las Vegas

My wife and I are hoping to do the above trip in the Summer of 2011. We have 6 weeks from July 12th to June 22nd and start with 5 days in Las Vegas. After that we hope to drive the route above seeing as many new sights as possible. We love the desert and the mountains and have been to Denver once before and Las Vegas many times. We hope to stay at least a week each in Albuquerque, Durango and Boulder. The rest of the time will be devoted to catching as many not to be missed places as possible. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in anicipation.
Dave and Susan

elcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Six weeks is an abundant amount of time to have for just poking around, far more than we can possibly fill with recommendations. You can start with some of the major National Parks: Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Chaco Culture, Rocky Mountain, Arches, Bryce Canyon and Zion; add a few well chosen National Monuments: Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, Wupatki, Canyon de Chelley, Yucca House, Petroglyph, and Colorado; throw in a good mix of state, native and local parks such as Valley of Fire, Monument Valley and Garden of the Gods; stop by the odd wildlife refuge, forest and conservation area; and still only scratch the surface in the area you'll be driving through. For local attractions in the cities where you'll be spending more time, just check with the local tourist information office, library or town hall. You will be as busy as you want and can stand.

AZBuck

Hi AZbuck and thanks for the reply. We are just back from spending September in Tucson! We love your town and the places around. Off to do some planning. Cheers from Scotland, Dave

Hi Dave, glad you found your way to the forums !

That's a nice amount of time you have for your trip, I'm jealous ! As Buck said, you won't be short of possibilities and you can create a nice loop, catching some amazing places along the way. Use the search function with key words [top right of page] and you can also scroll down where you will find "similar threads" which in turn will lead you too more, so repeat as necessary. You can also find planning, routes, attraction ideas etc in the tool bars above. Do a little digging around with a good map to hand, and as you build your trip and new question come up, just ask and we will help to fill in the blanks.

If you have the time you might find some ideas from our latest venture helpful.

[PS Can you keep your snow from blowing down South, we just can't cope with it down here ! ;-)

Hi Dave, Thanks for sharing your wonderful travelogue. We were in Denver in July 2000 and took a few day trips. One was to Mt. Evans, the highest paved road in the U.S. You can drive to 14,100 feet above sea level and walk up the remaining 100ft. to the summit. Another was through the Rocky Mountain National Park. Can't wait for Summer!
Cheers from Scotland, Dave
PS.... What snow? ;O)

Coming over to Las Vegas from Scotland in June. This is the first leg of a round trip from Las Vegas to Las Vegas. It seems a bit far for a one day trip and I was hoping someone could suggest a good place to stop over on the way. It looks like we will be heading out of Vegas on the 15 North towards St. George Utah. We could change this plan if this turns out to be a bad choice. We will be staying 10 days in Durango before driving down to Albuquerque.
Cheers,
Dave


Mod note] Please keep all questions regarding the same trip in the on thread, Thanks !

Hi Dave.

Heading up I 15 isn't a bad choice, past Zion NP, the Grand canyon North rim and through Page and by Monument valley, but you do have other options. Another would be to head over the Hoover dam and go by Grand canyon South rim, Monument valley and Four corners. There is very little in the time either route would take.

Whichever way you decide you could take the 'other way' back from Grand junction perhaps ?

It looks as though you prefer to stay for longer periods of time in one spot, but I would consider taking a little more time between your destination points and enjoy the journey in between, and less in time in Durango. An overnight stop heading on I 15 would put Page AZ 'somewhere in between' and heading to the South rim would make Cameron AZ [Trading post] a good spot.

I have merged your threads as it helps a great deal to give meaningful advice when members can see the whole picture.

My mapping software shows the fastest route from LV to Durango is I-15 to UT-9 - then either through or around Zion to US-89 to Page. An option here would be to visit the Grand Canyon North Rim. From Page, you would take AZ-98 to US-160 and follow that past 4 Corners to Cortez and Durango. An option here is take a detour through Monument Valley.

Going the other way, the Grand Canyon South Rim is an option.

I think it boils down to this - how many days are you willing to take to get from LV to Durango, how many hours a day are you willing to drive, and what might you want to see?

Thanks glc. I have a few restrictions which I am trying to fit in. I am now looking to get to Durango fast. Leaving Las Vegas on 17th June and arriving in Durango on the 19th June. Thinking about the route via Flagstaff and Tuba City to Durango. Staying in Durango for about 10 days before travelling down to Albuquerque. From Albuquerque down to Ruidoso NM for a few days and back to Albuquerque until July 7th. Then the Boulder visit followed by Grand Junction back to Vegas via I 70 and I 15 staying a couple of nights in Grand Junction and another two nights in Richfield UT . We may miss out Boulder and go directly to Grand Junction from Albuquerque. How does it all sound. I don't want to rush past everything.
Cheers from a chilly Scotland!

You are looking at right around 550 miles from LV to Durango. You can do this easily in 2 days with some limited sightseeing, and the drive time is pretty close on either major route - via Flagstaff or Page. Those would also be your most economical overnight choices.

If you go via Flagstaff, you could fill up the first day with a Hoover Dam tour, taking a look around Kingman, then taking old 66 from Kingman to Seligman. On the second day, you could go through Monument Valley or visit the 4 Corners tourist trap.

Just curious - why 2 nights in Grand Junction and 2 nights in Richfield? I can think of much better ways to spend your time between Boulder and LV.