L.A. to Graceland/Teaching long distance driving

[ll18]

I'm sorry if I didn't understand forum etiquette by posting a new thread for my trip from St. Louis to L.A. I did because, to me, it's a totally distinct trip from my trip to Graceland - different part of the country, different participants, different questions - and having St. Louis and L.A. in a new thread title was what made the most sense to me. I must be too literal-minded; if I see a thread with Graceland in the title, I'm not thinking that questions about Kansas are going to be involved.

Again, sorry about messing up.

[AZBuck]

On the return portion of this RoadTrip, I think I'd suggest that you stay south of I-70 through Kansas, and make your overnight stop in Wichita on the way to Pueblo. The Kansas Aviation Museum is open until 5:00 and would make a nice incentive to get there in a timely manner, or you could opt to take your time along the way instead and visit Harry Truman's home in Independence, just outside Kansas City, MO. But in either case, setting out from Wichita the next morning would put you in good shape to take US-54/US-400/US-50 across the plains to Greensburg, Dodge City and Pueblo. I went this way about 10 years ago and stopped in both Greensburg and Dodge City with very different experiences. I really enjoyed Greensburg. This was before the tornado, but they had the "World's Biggest Hand Dug Well" which I climbed to the bottom of. There was also a very nice meteorite museum attached to it which was a pleasant surprise. I would think the well is still open, and I would love to see hoe they've rebuilt the town. Dodge City was a bit of a disappointment, It seems every time I have steak in a cow town I get violently ill, and this was no exception. Still there is a museum and walking tour at old Fort Dodge if you're at all into history. And then Pueblo would put you in a bit better shape to head up the Black Canyon the next day. Finally, you should probably look at spending your final night around Beaver or Cedar City, UT. That would set you up for a brief visit to Zion National Park on your last leg back into Los Angeles.

AZBuck

[ll18]

This is why you all rock! This really gives me some great ideas (okay, maybe except for steak in Dodge City). The Greensburg well is still there; it was rebuilt and is open for tourists again. I really am curious to see all the new LEED certified construction; there's some really interesting architecture. If I get through there I'll try to do a trip report.

I think I'll wait to see how I feel before I decide whether to go I-70 or I-44/US400/50(etc); I'll be ready for either one. It sounds like the lower route wouldn't be too taxing, so that's good.

Pueblo looks like a more convenient stop for my trip forward from there, although there are a few places in Colorado Springs I'd really like to see. They're only about 45 miles apart, so I could swing up to Colorado Springs for the night I suppose. Not sure I'd go through Zion (I'm in an anti-crowd mood), but I'm definitely going to check out the cities AZBuck suggested.

Yay for having choices!!!

[glc]

Wichita to Colorado Springs is still under 500 miles, so you should be able to do that in a long day - as long as you don't spend too much time in Greensburg and other towns. Other than in towns, the speed limit on 400 and 50 is 65, with plenty of passing zones.

The route I like from Colorado Springs back to 50 is US-24 to US-285.

[ll18]

glc - thanks. Why would you use take I-44 through Missouri rather than I-70/Kansas Turnpike to get to Wichita? More interesting sights?

Today, I'm just trying to figure out how to drive to work around the Michael Jackson funeral - I live about half way between the Jackson family home and the cemetery and the news helicopters have been up since 5:45 this morning!

[glc]

No particular reason - it's only 35 miles longer (but about an hour longer) - I-44 gives you some Route 66 history if you care. The Kansas Turnpike is a toll road. If you are in a hurry, take that way. Maybe it's just because I live in Joplin and go to both Wichita and STL frequently and I've driven 44 and 400 quite a bit.

[ll18]

I just found out that a friend may come with me on my trip back to LA. She's never seen the Grand Canyon (or Bryce or Zion). In looking at the map, it looks like we could go from Arches south on US 191/US160/US89/64 to get to the South Rim. We could then drop down to Flagstaff for the drive back to LA. How long does the drive from Arches to Grand Canyon on this route take realistically?

Or, since we'll be up near I-70, we could save the Grand Canyon and visit Bryce and/or Zion before getting on the I-15 back to LA. I remember reading somewhere that the trip down US89 could be very time consuming. Would we be better off going to Zion via I-15?

I think I'd probably have to do a longer day or two of driving from St. Louis and skip my stops in Kansas if we want to gain an extra day in these areas. But that's okay if it means company on the ride home.

I'd really appreciate some thoughts on either route (or some other). Thanks much!

[PNW Judy]

That route from Arches to the Grand Canyon is a relatively easy drive. Decent roads without a lot of traffic until you get close to the GC. It's only about 325 miles and would take you roughly 6 hours to drive. Of course, there are a lot of cool things to stop and look at so your departure/arrival times will probably be more than 6 hours apart. Add to that, once you get onto Desertview Drive, along the South Rim, you will want to stop at all the different lookout points (the first one will be Watchtower). This will also add some time.

Of course, you could go back and do those lookouts the next day if it's late and you're tired. But, even so, driving once you get into the national park will be a bit slower so plan for that.

There's no need to go to Flagstaff. If you leave directly from the Grand Canyon Village area, you can just go straight south to Williams, a bit west of Flagstaff, to pick up I-40.

I've driven US89 and found it a very easy road to drive. I thought it was relatively quick. I think you could easily see both Bryce and Zion before getting onto I-15 and heading toward home.

If you have time, have you considered visiting Arches, then Bryce, then Zion, and then driving around to the Grand Canyon? Your route would look something like this. Of course, whether this works depends on how many days you squeeze out. You would want at least a half-day for Arches and Bryce, a longer day for Zion, and a full day for the Grand Canyon. A decent itinerary might look something like this:

Day 1: Visit Arches in the morning to early afternoon and then drive the 275 miles to Bryce in the afternoon/early evening.

Day 2: Visit Bryce in the morning, If you just do the look-outs to see the amazing views and rock formations, you could probably be done by Noon, and then drive the short 86 miles to Zion, exploring it for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Day 3: Drive the 250 miles to the Grand Canyon Village. If you get an early start, you could even squeeze in time to go visit the North Rim! It's very cool and worth doing. You could still get into the South Rim area by late afternoon and enjoy a few lookouts and watch the sunset.

Day 4: Get up early to enjoy the morning light at the GC...sunrise if you can crawl out of bed in time is great! See what you haven't seen yet, and you could probably be on your way to Williams by early afternoon.

Of course, these timeframes are assuming that you're more into casual walks and not into hiking. If you want to take time to do some more hiking into the various areas, this timeframe might be too tight for you.

Anyway, just a thought, if you can squeeze out the time.

[glc]

Also, if you have the time, instead of taking 70 to 89 to get from Arches to Bryce, take 24 and 12 through Capitol Reef and Escalante.

From a time standpoint, I took this going the other way - I left Panguitch in the morning and got to Bryce shortly after 8am, and spent a couple hours hitting all the lookouts. I took 12 to 24 to Capitol Reef and spent another couple hours. I made it to Moab by dinnertime.

[PNW Judy]

I'm really glad you popped in with that. I hesitated to recommend that route as I've never actually driven it and I wasn't sure how easy of a drive it is. Good to know.