May Western RT Ideas

[jdkaplan]

So in my final months of being on the west coast, I would like to tour the major national parks. I'm thinking 2-3 weeks of driving, starting and finishing in Tucson, AZ. I would like to camp or hostile most if not all of the stops. I would also like to hike and be outdoors as much as possible. I know that it gets hot in May, but I'm used to the heat and just wanna get out there. My thoughts include stopping at Zion NP, Arches NP, Yellowstone, Grand Teton NP, and possibly Yosemite and Sequoia. Do you all have any suggestions? must see spots? alarm bells would include distance and travel time. I'm not sure of a clear route either, I'd like to skip Grand Canyon as I was there last summer.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

I did a somewhat similar (while almost totally different!) trip a few years ago. What it had in common with yours was that it started and ended in Tucson, with its northern turnaround point at Yellowstone. But I went up through Nevada and back through Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. The point though is that such a trip is logistically feasible. Indeed, you'll have more time available to you. But the point is not to do what I did or would suggest, but what meets your tastes. I assume you've picked the places you've listed because you want to see them and so you should. Let me then just list a few more possibilities that you'll be passing near. In northern Arizona there's Vermilion Cliffs Monument and in southern Utah the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, both great places for hiking. From Salt Lake City up to Yellowstone, there are a number of great localities along US-89. Be sure to also make some time for some hikes through the Snake River Valley in southern Idaho, particularly the Thousand Springs area between Hagerman and Twin Falls. then there's the whole old mining area east of Lake Tahoe in Nevada, with great old towns like Virginia City. One word of warning. If you're going in May and you want to see Yosemite, you'll have to plan on going around the Sierra Nevada starting around this point as CA-120 over Tioga Pass will most likely still be closed. But still, at the start of spring snow melt, the falls in Yosemite valley are at their most spectacular. Then for your final leg home, you can either come down through Los Angeles to pick up I-10 or stay north of the big city on I-40, making the last turn to Tucson at Topock after crossing back into Arizona and coming down through Lake Havasu City and Parker and using AZ-72 to Salome and I-10.

AZBuck

[glc]

The most efficient route for those exact places is (1)Tucson - (3)Arches - (4)Grand Teton - (5)Yellowstone - (7)Yosemite - (8)Sequoia - (10)Zion - (15)Tucson. You are looking at about a 3500 mile trip.

Other attractions that are reasonable to add are:

(2)Canyonlands
(6)Lake Tahoe
(9)Death Valley
(11)Bryce Canyon
(12)Capitol Reef
(13)Natural Bridges
(14)Monument Valley

This can efficiently be done in about 4000 miles.

Dang - you type faster than me, Buck!