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Our family is looking to drive from Central CA to Fort Benning in GA the end of June. We are looking for interesting things to check out on the trip. We don't mind going off the beaten path to see some sites!!! Any recommendations are welcomed!! Thanks!
There are a huge number of possibilities but it depends so much on factors such as how long you want take for the trip, what sort of things interest you most, and how far off the direct line you're happy to go.
Here's a few options based mainly on national parks and similar areas (apologies if those weren't the kind of things you were looking for). You'd need to look them up on a map and see what they'd imply in terms of the route, and consult the usual sources for more information about them. I've tried to group them logically as much as possible.
Yosemite NP
Sequoia NP
Death Valley NP
Old Route 66: Needles, Oatman, Kingman
Old Route 66: Kingman, Peach Springs, Seligman (Az66)
Various national monuments in the Flagstaff area
Grand Canyon (south rim)
Palo Duro Canyon SP (near Amarillo)
Las Vegas
Zion NP
Bryce Canyon NP
Cedar Breaks NM
Grand Canyon (north rim)
Capitol Reef NP
Arches NP
Canyonlands NP
Dead Horse Point SP
Colorado NM
I-70 through the Front Range of the Rockies
Rocky Mountain NP
Denver
Bent's Old Fort NHS
Monument Valley
Mesa Verde NP
Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
Million Dollar Highway
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
Hope this helps a bit.
Welcome to RTA!
Is this a one-way trip or round trip? How long do you have to make the journey? What types of things do you like?
John has made a huge list of things that are between here and there. To take that further, get out a large map of the US and look to see what's between the two places. If anything looks of interest, put a sticky note by each. You will see a route start to form. You can also look on this website, in the Map Center, for other ideas (things that may not necessarily be on a huge USA map).
Once you get a good idea, we can help you fine tune your trip. Otherwise, we're just throwing out ideas that may or may not interest you, or that you'd even have the time to do.
Donna
Following on from the above....
Get good maps of all the States you plan to travers. Maps such as are published by AAA (free to members) and Rand McNally. These maps have many more routes and attractions marked on them, than a map of the whole country would have. These also mark the scenic routes which take you off the beaten path.
If you are not already a member of AAA (or any other roadside service organisation) it may pay you to join before undertaking this trip.
Lifey
Thanks! National parks and State parks are great ideas!
Thanks Donna. We are making a round trip for about 12 days. We're planning on camping along the journey. We're up for just about anything and everything from State or National parks to quirky roadside attractions.
Thanks Lifey. I hadn't thought about getting state maps. Great idea! I've been trying to plan via the internet, but actual maps will be so much easier.
I will second Lifey's suggestion that if you aren't already a member of AAA, you should think about joining. So far this year, our membership $$ have saved us a bundle. We've gotten about 20 state maps, 7 tour books (saving us the cost of Fodor's guides for these areas), (sad to say) the cost of two rescues (one tow truck to take our car to the shop when it wouldn't start earlier this week, and a dead-battery call for our truck), and finally, a thick "TripTik" containing routing for our upcoming trip. All this for less than $100, and we're only 4 months into this year's membership.
You will be best off NOT relying on electronic gadgets completely for planning a trip. Electronic mapping programs will give you the fastest route, and correct mileage, but they will never give you the most scenic, and their "travel times" are ALWAYS wrong. GPS can lead people astray, sometimes to their peril. GPS units are pretty decent for finding a specific address in a place, but I've seen ours tell us to turn the wrong way down a one-way road.
Where the Internet is wonderful for trip planning: NPS and state park's websites, finding lodging (including camping) within or nearby same, figuring out what fuel will cost you across the country, and of course social networking (like this forum) for advice. You could also use this website's Map Centre to find those quirky roadside stops, as there are a LOT listed!
Donna
Thanks Donna. I'm looking into AAA tomorrow!
Consider a premium AAA membership. It has much greater towing allowance. Last year I had a master cylinder going on me, somewhere in a State Forest in AZ. Later in Schenectady NY the alternator gave up. In both cases there was considerable distance towing, especially in the first one. I was pleased that my premium membership covered it all.
Lifey
We sat down tonight with a load of maps and guidebooks to set up our route. We will be driving I 10 from CA to Texas, Then taking I 20 to Alabama, then working our way to Columbus, GA. We are leaving on a Friday evening and plan to be in Columbus Tuesday afternoon. Coming home, we are planning to work our way north from Columbus to Memphis, and then pick up I 40 to head East to California. Some of the things that we are thinking about seeing/doing are: Getting our feet wet in the Mississippi River, visiting Civil War battlegrounds/cemeteries, taking in things that make the South 'South'. We would like to visit some Native American sites, The Petrified Forest, and The Grand Canyon. I am looking for roadside restaurants/cafe's, etc. to eat at rather than visiting chain restaurants or fast-food places. We don't mind going a few miles off the beaten path to find such places. Also, we thought it would be fun to eat foods that are representative of the states that we will be traveling through. We will be traveling through Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma. So, I am looking for suggestions of places of interest that would fun and/or convenient to stop for site-seeing and rest breaks. Good places to eat, and things that would make the trip fun and interesting. I have AAA and I have downloaded the Gas Buddy app to my phone. So. Any information on these routes would be helpful. Or if you have alternate route suggestions that would make the trip easier or more scenic that would help too! We are up for pretty much anything. We are not traveling with small children if that helps to narrow things down. Thanks so much!!
You don't have time to get off the beaten path. It takes 4.5 days just to drive from central CA (you didn't say where but I used Fresno) to Columbus GA via I-10/I-20. This is with overnights around Palm Springs, Las Cruces NM, Abilene TX, and Vicksburg MS.
I have to agree with GLC. Trying to leave Friday evening and get to Georgia on Tuesday afternoon isn't impossible, but that's basically a speed run pace. You're looking at being on the road for at least 10-12 hours Saturday-Monday, and at least that much time combined on Friday and Tuesday. That doesn't include and doesn't leave much time for sit down meals or scenic detours off the beaten path. Throw in the fact that you mentioned you planned to camp, and your available hours in the day are even shorter.
Like I said, that doesn't mean it is impossible to make this trip and have a good time. But based on what you are telling us you want to do and what you want to get out of this trip, I would strongly consider giving yourself more time to make these drives, so you you'll be able to include the kinds of stops you are talking about.
As far as making restaurant choices that are unique to the areas you are stopping at, this has been our goal too. The chains do start to taste the same, and the menus get boring.
When stopping for the evening at a motel, ask the front desk. What you'll get in response depends on how you phrase it. One time, we saw that there were 3 places next to/across the street from our motel, but we said, "OK, we see these restaurants, but if you were going to go out to eat tonight, where would YOU go?" and got a delightful recommendation down the road a bit.
Another way, which we used when we found the motel front desk person was really busy, was to check urbanspoon.com. Then we combed it looking for something that was unique to the area with good ratings.
Restaurants and motels change management all the time, making menus-food-lodging choices even more difficult. So here at RTA we have a tendency NOT to recommend anything specific to an area unless we've found that over a long period of time, the quality has remained stellar.
BTW, I totally concur with Michael and GLC....you need more time for the trip if you are trying to see something!
Donna
Thank you for all the input. We are newbies to serious road tripping so this trip will get our feet wet. Here is a question. When I Google the distance and hours it takes to drive, (not factoring in traffic and stops). if you go I 40 from CA to Memphis then south to Georgia, it gives you a travel time of 33 hours. Does taking I 10 and I 20 add miles and time??? I'm a fan of taking I 40 to and from. My son wants to take the 'southern' route going, and the 'northern' route returning. Is there a time difference due to the southerly route being more metropolitan? (By time difference I mean the hours taken to travel, not the actual time zones.) I know we are cutting it close. We do have four drivers, so if necessary, we can push through to get where we need to be in a timely manner.
Thanks for the info. about urbanspoon.com. I will check it out. And yes, we are in Fresno! All advice welcome!! We're looking at this trip as an adventure. I appreciate the help!
Sometimes Google Maps offers different routes in the left margin - drift the mouse pointer over them to see what effect they have.Quote:
Originally Posted by Anita.Sharp
Otherwise, you can drag one or more points on the route Google suggests to the route you want to investigate.
Sometimes you need to tick the "Show Options" > "Avoid Highways" box to stop Google trying to force you on to interstates.
All that's for the old version of Google Maps. I don't know whether or not those things are identical in the new version.
You MUST add 20% to Google drive times to reflect reality - and I don't care how many drivers you have, trying to go more than 600 miles in one day with NO sightseeing or getting off the beaten path is NOT a wise idea.
Fresno to Columbus via fastest route is 2330 miles and will take you 4.5 days. Fastest route:
CA-99/CA-58/I-40 to Memphis
US-78 (I-22) to Birmingham
I-65 to Montgomery
I-85/AL-186/US-80 to Columbus
The southern route adds 60 miles and 3 hours, bypassing LA:
CA-99/CA-58/US-395/I-15/I-10/I-20 to Meridian
US-80 to Montgomery, then as above.