Summer Road Trip: ATL-L.A.

[lauracc99]

I've been looking over the forum and I think it is a great resource. My boyfriend and I are planning a roadtrip out West for this summer. I was hoping if we could get some feedback on this route and some suggestions of what to do in Utah. We really want to go to Yellowstone, so we are willing to do the extra driving to get there. What would be the best, most affordable place to stay in Yellowstone? The miles and hours below are all mapquest/yahoo based. Do the hours seem fairly accurate or will some of the longer drives be even longer? Thanks!

Day 1: Friday, June 9: Atlanta to Louisville
Miles: 420 Hours: 6.5
Day 2: Saturday, June 10: Louisville
Day 3: Sunday, June 11 Louisville to Kansas City (stop over in St. Louis)
Miles: 511 Hours: 8
Day 4: Monday, June 12: Kansas City to Denver area
Miles: 700 Hours: 10.5 (miles is to park)
Day 5: Tuesday, June 13: Rocky Mountain National Park
Day 6: Wednesday, June 14: RMNP to Yellowstone
Miles: 614 Hours: 12.5
Day 7: Thursday, June 15: Yellowstone
Day 8: Friday, June 16: Yellowstone
Day 9: Saturday, June 17: Yellowstone to Utah (Salt Lake City)
Miles: 362 Hours: 6
Day 10: Sunday, June 18: Utah
Day 11: Monday, June 19: Utah to San Francisco (Salt Lake City)
Miles: 735 Hours: 11.5
Day 12: Tuesday, June 20: San Francisco
Day 13: Wednesday, June 21: San Francisco
Day 14: Thursday, June 22: In transit to LA
Miles: 380.5 Hours: 5.5 (SF-LA)
Day 15: Friday, June 23: arrive in LA this evening
Day 16: Saturday, June 24: LA
Day 17: Sunday, June 25: Fly back from LA

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

The travel times listed by Mapquest generally tend to be on the low side, simply because the computer assumes you'll be able to drive non-stop, and in reality you need to stop for food, fuel, stretching, etc.

When you factor those things in, 53-57 mph is generally about the best you can do.

That said, I don't think any of your days are impossible, particulalry with some minor changes. For example, I'd plan to stop in Denver after KC, and make your way up to the RMNP the next morning.

I'd also probably break the Salt Lake to SF trip into 2 days, with a stop at Lake Tahoe or add a little more time and cut down through Yosemite. while there is plenty to do in Utah, you might skip the extra day you've got planned in Salt Lake and plan to spend a day in Yosemite instead.

Finally, you can make the trip from SF to LA in about 6 hours if you stick to I-5, but you'd be missing one of the best drives in the country. I'd strongly recommend driving the Pacific Coast Highway, at least from Monterey down to about San Luis Obisbo, before cutting back to the freeway. Its a drive that's well worth the extra time.

[cool]

Hi,
With 2 days in Yellowstone you wont have an option to stay outside the park. In fact, its better that way.
Xanterra manages lodging in Yellowstone and you have an option to book it online/through phone.

This might help.

We chose cabins with common bath and that saved us some money. Also, it takes lesser time to get ready. Mammoth Springs was the least expensive.

I would suggest you lodge in 2 different places each night and that might help you to spend time on the ground rather than driving around to get to lodging. Its a huge park and getting from one place to another "takes" time.

Staying in Mammoth, you can cover the Mammoth terrace part and the tower falls area(maybe the Grand canyon of yellowstone, if you have the time).

The next day, you can probably cover Norris, Madison, Old faithful area and the yellowstone lake(only lake in the world at that altitude--Guess some 7000 ft) and stay at Old faithful lodge. You can see old faithful erupt from the hotel's lobby. They even have chairs set out for it. Its amazing!

Driving through the park is simply out of the world. If you are anywhere near the Lamar valley, there will be a small hill to your left(if you are coming from tower area) where you can see a lot of people with huge binoculars. Thats one of the famous places to lookout for wolves. We saw a whole family.
You will see lots and lots of bisons and coyotes. Every now and then, on the road, cars stop just like that. That means, have your camera ready - there is an animal spotted nearby....

One place worth mention is the canyon area. There are various points there. Inspiration point, artisits point. uncle tim's trail, red rock point. If you find time, visit all of them. Artists point is a personal fav. Try to make it for the sunset there.

Enjoy!
Guess its been too much on Yellowstone...
Lots of other places to cover as well.

Have fun
Cool

[lauracc99]

Thanks for the replys, they are both a great help. Time to do some more research.