los angeles to Dever and back

I am driving from L.A to Denver and back-
I would like to take a different route back-
What route shall I take and what sights should I see on the way?
- where is a good place or two to stay overnight if i drive 2 days >?

thanks

Hi, and Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum.

There are several routes you can take, and my suggesting a route to you would not take into account your interests, wishes and desires. So first things first.

On a large map, see what your options are, the towns and national parks, etc through which and near which they pass. And pick out that which interests you most.

Then come back here and let us know what your interests are, when this trip is to take place, how much time you have, and any other information relevant to the trip, which would assist the experts here to make meaningful suggestions. But only you can lay out the first draft.

Lifey

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

If you only allow 2 days for each direction the truth is you will have little time for sight seeing. You could head up I15 to I70 on the way there and with a one night stop you should look at stopping between Cedar City and Richfield UT depending on what time you get out of LA. If you were to stop twice you could choose Moab with Arches and Canyonlands NP's close by for a second night. Zion NP and Colorado National Monument and Rocky mountain NP would be another couple of options among many.

Coming back you could head to US285 to Poncha Springs and take US50 over Monarch pass and through Currecanti National recreation area, past Black canyon to Montrose and south on US550, AKA 'Million dollar highway', a very scenic drive. With 2 nights available, you could stay around the Durango/Cortez area and then head to the South rim of the Grand canyon via Monument valley before heading back to LA.

This is a spectacular area to drive through and if you have a long enough stay in Denver where you could perhaps lend more time to the journey, it would be well worth it. As Lifey mentioned, look around to see what interests you and get some dots on the map and then we can help to 'fine tune' your trip.

Between LA and Denver via I-15 and I-70, to make it in 2 days you'll be driving about 550-600 miles per day. That would put you either in Cedar City UT or Richfield, as was mentioned above. (There isn't much except Beaver between the two, with more than one choice of motel.) We've stayed at the same place in Richfield (which is exactly 600 miles from our house in San Diego area) for years: Quality Inn. BTW, the I-10 to I-15 to I-70 is the most logical set of routes between the two cities.



Donna

If you can only take 2 days each way, you only have 2 choices, both Interstate-based. One is I-15/I-70, and the other is I-25/I-40, which is 2 really long days, the halfway point is Gallup NM.

Thank you all for the info. There are the details, any thougts??

Getting there, I am planning to leave at 4 am from L.A using the I-15/-I70 stop over at and see Zion and Bryce and stay overnight some place in Richfield and then contiune driving the rest on day 2 to Denver

coming back : Differnt route--I-25 and then go through the Indian country using the 160 and then stop over at the Grand Cyn, North Rim and then back to I 40 stopping at Lake Havasu

Doable???

Thank you for the welcome and great ideas

question on coming back your 2nd paragraph above: after US 550 HOW DO I GET TO THE SOUTH RIM? WHERE IS MONUMENT VALLEY?
thank u

Thank you donna

I think you are trying to do vastly too much, and really overestimating how much you can do in a day.

Zion and Bryce both take some time to explore, and its tough to do both in one day even if you were starting from inside one of them. You want to try to do both and drive 600 miles - which is going to be more than 10 hours of driving. I'd say the best you could hope for is to see Zion on day one, and spend the night right outside Bryce, quickly see it before driving to Denver on day 2. However, you're going to have to rush through both parks so quickly, you will barely have time to scratch the surface. You really might want to think about less is more, and just visit one park - but actually see it instead of racing through to say that you've been there.

If you've only got 2 days, your return trip plan simply isn't possible. Even if you didn't stop at the Grand Canyon or anywhere else, its just too many miles on 2 lane roads to even attempt in 2 days, even with 3 full days the miles would be tough. The route you've suggested is nearly 1500 miles. Ignoring the time, The North Rim is also the illogical choice if you are planning on head to I-40, as that alone would add several hours of driving compared to the south rim. But with 2 days, even visiting the more accessable South Rim is practically impossible and adding Havasu on top of that certainly wouldn't work. You'd still be looking having to drive about 12-13 hours each day before any stops.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by keyvanchan

question on coming back your 2nd paragraph above: after US 550 HOW DO I GET TO THE SOUTH RIM? WHERE IS MONUMENT VALLEY?
thank u

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From US 550 you would take 160 and then CO41 and UT 162 to Bluff and 163 to Monument valley and back to 160. This connects to US89 where you can enter the South rim on AZ64 just past Cameron and exit to Williams and I40. I think, by your route description, you are getting your North and south rim mixed up, the north rim is way off route coming back, the south rim is near I40. Having said that, I agree with Michael and you are trying to achieve too much with too little time, and the route I described earlier would require 2 overnight stops as stated and makes it somewhat irrelevant, unless you find more time.

No way are you going to be able to go from LA to Richfield in one day *AND* see either Zion or Bryce. You need a minimum of 3 days, and if you want to see both parks you need 4 days to get to Denver.

Coming back is even worse - you would need 3 days just to drive anything that is off the Interstates, much less see anything.

I totally concur with the folks that tell you that trying to see Zion and Bryce AND drive from LA to Richfield in one day, is not possible.

LA to Richfield is going to be 10-11 hours of driving. It's at least 600 miles. While computer mapping programs don't need to eat, go to the bathroom, stretch their legs or run into construction or other traffic, real life people in vehicles DO. We just drove that about a week ago, and the traffic was awful between LA and LV. Even leaving LA at 4 am (good idea, btw) you would be in Richfield about 3 pm (remember you lose an hour in NV).

To really see something in Zion, you'll need a full day. Same with Bryce. Also, each park is going to charge you $20-25 for the privilege of entering. Not stopping to see the overlooks would be a shame. Even just driving through Zion would add several hours to your drive.

Coming home I-25 to I-40 would mean Gallup as the half-way point, and still means 650 miles per day on the road. Coming by the US routes (not interstates) will be 3 days, as GLC suggested.


Donna