July Roadtrip

[4boys]

our family of 6 will be heading west from philly this summer in our Land Cruiser, we have about 14 days to do as much as possible, we have camped before, and can handle long days in the car ok(trips to disney and st. louis)although i dont want to have long rides on consecutive days, we want to try to see the grand canyon and zion and the likes at not too breakneck pace is this possible in the time frame we have or do i have to shorten the trip up a little. any suggestions would be appreciated

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

From Philadelphia to Las Vegas (a good proxy for your two destinations and becoming more family oriented all the time) is just under 2500 miles. If you were to take 6 days to make the drive each way, you'd only have to average about 425 miles a day. At that pace you'd have time to get out of the car a couple of time a day and explore some of the sights along the way. That would go a long way to keeping everybody interested in the trip, especially if during the planning they each got to pick a couple of stops that particularly appeal to them. You can even take different routes out and back to maximize the new things you'll be seeing without paying too much of a penalty in time and distance. Such a schedule would then leave you 2 days, one to have a good long look at the Grand Canyon, and one for Zion. I think you could also squeeze a few extra days by using the 'extra' weekend at either end of your two weeks to give you 16 days instead of 14, or you could, by pushing a little harder and averaging 500 miles a day, make a one-way crossing in 5 days.

AZBuck

[4boys]

any suggestion on some stops we could make

[AZBuck]

As I mentioned, you could easily do two different routes. The shorter would take you out I-76/I-80/I-76/I-70/ and I-15 between Philly and Las Vegas. Highlights, and just places to stop and get some exercise along this route, include Gettysburg, Cuyahoga National Park, Warren Dunes State Park, the Illinois River Road, the Amana Colonies, stops along the old Oregon Trail, Vail, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park.

For a return trip by a different route, try (for just 100 extra miles) US-93/I-40/I-81/I-66/I-95. Stops on this trip might include the Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Petroglyph National Monument, the Oklahoma Bombing Memorial, Mud Island and/or Graceland in Memphis, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and of course, the many monuments and parks in Washington, DC.

All of those venues are very close to your main routes. In addition, there are many more possibilities within a hundred miles or so that might be worth short detours. And then there are many more state and local parks than we have time or space to go into here. The possibilities are almost literally endless.

AZBuck