San Fran to Denver

[jjgirl67]

Hi there. I'm thinking about driving with my 4 yr old to Denver Colorado. We're making a permanent move and am considering doing a road trip rather than transporting my car and both of us flying. Of course, it has to be fun to make it worthwhile!

It looks like we'd be going across Nevada but between reno and Salt Lake city is there ANYTHING to see? I'm hoping for campgrounds, fishing, swimming etc. I also thought about going a little south, down through yosemite but again on the way up to Salt lake city don't see a whole lot.

Anyone have any ideas for how to make this trip interesting? I'm assuming that from salt lake to denver it may be more scenic, but don't know!

I'm a single mom and hope this idea isn't too crazy for the two of us to do. Of course, we can always fly...

[Mark Sedenquist]

Of course, it has to be fun to make it worthwhile!

Even a bad day on the road is more fun then being at home. Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum.

It looks like we'd be going across Nevada but between reno and Salt Lake city is there ANYTHING to see? I'm hoping for campgrounds, fishing, swimming etc. I also thought about going a little south, down through yosemite but again on the way up to Salt lake city don't see a whole lot.

This has me stumped -- the route between Reno and Salt Lake is one of my favorite routes, although I prefer to drive US-50 whenever I can. Driving through Nevada is a basin and range geologic & geographic journey and so you will see desert vistas, but not necessarily running streams. However you can see plenty of rushing streams if you drive into the Great Basin National Park.

Staying on US-50 you will join I-70 for a drive on one of the prettiest interstate highways in America and then you will be in the Colorado Rockies.

Have fun!

Mark

[jjgirl67]

I had the impression it was all no mans land and might become very monotonous. What can I say, I'm going through a divorce, everything looks a bit gray from where i'm standing!! I'm hoping a road trip will be just the thing to freshen me up and help me out of the emotional rut.

So you've done the drive then? Any advice on where to stay? Friends keep telling me I shouldn't try camping alone, are there plenty of motels along the way?

Would you tell me exactly which roads you would drive from Reno on in to Denver? I can handle about 5 to 6 hours of driving per day.

Thanks so much!

[PNW Judy]

You're posting in a place where most of us don't believe there are any boring roads. I sure know I haven't found one yet. I haven't driven between Reno and Salt Lake City so I can't comment on that particular route, but I've done Reno-Vegas and have driven through much of Utah. I haven't seen anything boring there yet.

So I'll speak to the camping issue....I've done a lot of roadtripping where I've camped. I've done it with the whole family (husband and 2 kid), but I've also done it solo. And I've done it with just me and both kids. And just me and one of the kids. I've never had any scary experiences. Just use good common sense. You might want to do a search (see the Search function in the green bar above) on "solo camping" and similar terms. This has been discussed frequently here. I'm sure you'll find lots of good tips.