Road trip from LA to New York

Hi,
I am planning for a trip from LA to New York on a motorbike from 3rd Sept to 16th Sept. I would like to take the most photogenic route, because my aim is to take as many as photos of the beautiful places with the bike as main subject. I need inputs on route 66 and alternate routes.

Currently I am doing a road trip along west coast. Here are some of the photos from this trip:

http://www.xbhp.com/drivervsrider/ep1/extforums/6.jpg

http://www.xbhp.com/drivervsrider/ep...8/IMG_6957.jpg

http://www.xbhp.com/drivervsrider/ep1/extforums/1.jpg

http://www.xbhp.com/drivervsrider/ep1/extforums/4.jpg

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Some great images there and you won't have trouble finding great photo opportunities on your journey. The first thing to consider is that route 66 was by and large replaced by Interstate many years ago and although sections still exist, some can be difficult to follow. Some of the popular sections are to be found early on in your journey through Amboy, Oatman, Kingman and Seligman to Ash fork and then next is Williams. You could start out through Joshua tree NP and up to Amboy and from Williams the south rim of the Grand canyon would be an obvious choice. You literally have thousands of options open to you and the camera so you will have to do a little research and once you have some dots on the map we can help fill in the blanks.

Personally I would be looking at an 'all American' iconic shot of Monument valley with the bike and then perhaps venture into southern Utah. Zion and Bryce canyon and onto Moab [Arches NP] via Utah scenic Byway 12 is a wonderful journey. After the desert and red rocks, you could venture into the Alpine 'lakes and mountain' scenery of Colorado. A couple of many great roads in Colorado would be the 'Million dollar highway' [US550] and the 'Trail ridge road' in Rocky mountain NP, the highest continous paved road in the US. US50 past Black canyon, through Currecanti Rec area and over Monarch pass is also a wonderful ride. If you find yourself on I70 heading through Colorado, check out the small detour to 'Loveland pass' that reaches almost 12000ft in elevation as you cross the continental divide.

That's about as far as I can go 'with you' and there are thousands more options in this part alone, so it's obvious you will have to pick and choose to suit the time available. As more questions crop up, just ask away !

Enjoy the planning !

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

A couple of many great roads in Colorado would be the 'Million dollar highway' [US550] and the 'Trail ridge road' in Rocky mountain NP, the highest continous paved road in the US. US50 past Black canyon, through Currecanti Rec area and over Monarch pass is also a wonderful ride. If you find yourself on I70 heading through Colorado, check out the small detour to 'Loveland pass' that reaches almost 12000ft in elevation as you cross the continental divide.

---

That's of course if they are not closed with a snowstorm or blizzard, which can happen almost any month of the year.

Alternatively you may like to check out route 160 through Colorado, which also has many nearby attractions, scenery and passes. But then, heck!! you'd be hard pushed finding a road in Colorado (west of I-25) which is not a memorable and photogenic drive.

Lifey

Thanks! I will try to map that out on Google Maps and show it here for any tweakings it may require.



Reached Salt Lake today after a 750 kms run from Hamilton, Idaho.

Was expecting lots of boring straights only, but was pleasantly surprised to ride through the rugged mountains in Montana en route. Reminded me of Ladakh back home in the Himalayas:

http://www.xbhp.com/drivervsrider/ep1/extforums/7.jpg

Have to do 800+ kms tommorrow, from Salt Lake to Las Vegas, but here is one more pic from Seattle a couple of days ago:

http://www.xbhp.com/drivervsrider/ep...tonemapped.jpg

Quote:

---

Thanks! I will try to map that out on Google Maps and show it here for any tweakings it may require.

---

You will have to pick and choose I expect, as the routes mentioned are all over the show and were really some ideas for you to look at. It's possible to hit all those spots, but it will depend on how much ground you need to cover each day.

You have got quite a long ride tomorrow, but if you wanted to get off Interstate you could switch to US89 through Panguitch to the Mount Carmel junction, and ride past Checkerboard Mesa and through the Mount Carmel tunnel into Zion NP. The NP fee would apply and it would make it a long day. If you could of spent a night on the way you could have also detoured to Bryce canyon NP.

http://www.xbhp.com/autopictorials/data/1024/allset.jpg

All right! After a couple of days of completing my 6500 kms west coast run on the Diavel I am all set for another roadtrip, this time on a BMW GTL 1600.

I will be going from LA to Pittsburgh and then NYC from Sept 2nd till Sept 16th.

I have made the first few days route as below, i request all of your help to fine tune this and help me further till NYC. My main interest would be to get the best of photos.

Here is the route till


Day 1 : Sept 2 : Gardena to FlagStaff : 772 kms

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Ga...tk&mra=luc&z=6


Day 2 : Sept 3 : FlagStaff to Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge via South Rim :465 kms

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Fl...ptk&mra=pr&z=7

Day 3 : Sept 4 : North Rim to Arches National Park (Maob) : 670 kms

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=No...ptk&mra=ls&z=9


Day 4 : Sept 5 : Arches National Park (Maob) - Dillon, CO : 480 kms


http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Ar...c=6&mra=ls&z=7



Day 5 : Sept 6 : Dillon – Mount Evans – Grand Lake – Estes Park, CO – Cheyenne, WY : 473 kms

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Di...ptk&mra=ls&z=8


Now which route should I head from Cheyenne to Pittsburgh and from Pitssburgh to NYC?

Quote:

---

Now which route should I head from Cheyenne to Pittsburgh and from Pitssburgh to NYC?

---

It all depends on how many days you have and what you might want to see! Via Interstate routes, it's 3 days to Pittsburgh and another day to NYC - and this also involves toll roads.

Thanks, but like I mentioned, I want the most scenic route for photos with the bike. Also will have from Sept 7th to Sept 16th (afternoon) to reach NYC with one day stop at my relatives in Pittsburgh

If you are making good time when you hit up Kingman, you could continue on route 66 through Peach Springs and Seligman. More nostalgic than photogenic, although popular with Bikers and some 'wacky' route 66 memorabilia shops in Seligman.

When you leave Arches NP take the scenic 128 through Castle valley, a lovely ride as you follow the river through the canyon.

From Dillon, take US 6 through Keystone and over Loveland pass to I70, spectacular views !

In my opinion, the scenery can be a bit lacking crossing the Plains on I-70 or I-80, so you may want to head north out of Cheyenne up through the Black Hills and the Badlands. If you are on a bike, I would think a stop in Sturgis is almost mandatory (even though it's Harley-oriented).

I have reached Del Norte today after doing Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. Have completed 1600 in 3 days of riding so far, here a few pictures, i hope you will not mind the jj logo, took the picture directly from my own website in India to save time, if thats an issue please let me know:

http://www.xbhp.com/autopictorials/d...mentValley.jpg

http://www.xbhp.com/autopictorials/d...ontheRoad1.jpg

http://www.xbhp.com/autopictorials/d...randCanyon.jpg

http://www.xbhp.com/autopictorials/d...randCanyon.jpg


Now the main question:

I will be hitting Denver tommorrow after doing My Evans.

I want to go from Denver to Cherokee, NC from where I will do the Blue Ridge Parkway and go to Pittsburgh and then to NYC.

Can someone please guide me which route to take from Denver to Cherokee, which can be the most interesting one? I heard its a lot of flat, but still any interesting things in between for photography?

If you take I-70 to St Louis, pick up I-64 there, that would give you opportunities to photograph some beautiful farmlands, oil wells (Kansas), and the Arch at St Louis.

If you route yourself I-64/I-57/I-24/I-40, you can take yourself to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There are beautiful photo opportunities within that park. Then I-40 can take you into NC.

I'm not a professional photographer, but I do enjoy taking photos of beautiful places. This past summer, I found the farmlands to be beautiful for photography.


Donna

Get off I-40 at TN-66 to Sevierville, then US-441 through Gatlinburg and up into the park. Cherokee is right outside the park on 441.