Colorado to California

[lauchi]

Hello, I´m from Spain and I´m planning a road trip with my friends next year. I have some doubts if someone can help me it´d be great!! we want to do the trip during 1 month and I half. I had check in google maps about distance from 1 point to another:
- Denver airport to Rocky Mountain (around 2 hours by car)
- Rocky Mountains to Grand Canyon (around 13 hours by car)
- G.C. to Phoenix (4 hours)
- Phoenix to Las Vegas(6 hours)
- Las Vegas to Death Valley (4 hours)
and from D.V. we want to go to Sequoia bu I can´t find how long does it take by car?and then go to Los Angeles, which rute will be better:
Death Valley-Sequoia-Los Angeles or Death Valley-Los Angeles-Sequoia??

after that, we go to San Francisco, any suggestion??thank you ;D

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Actually, the answer to your question about Sequoia is really, neither. It would make more sense to go from Sequoia to San Francisco and then to LA - and hit Yosemite and the Coast Highway in the middle of all of that.

However, I think your bigger issue is that you seem to be focused on individual pieces rather than figuring out your trip right now.

For example, Rocky Mountain to Grand Canyon can't really be done in 13 hours (despite what an online program might tell you) its really a 2 day drive. However, more importantly, there are about a dozen other national parks between those two points and I'd really think you'd want to consider spending your time visiting several of them.

On the flip side, Phoenix is a long way out of the way for your current plan. Is there something specific there that's basically causing you to add an entire days worth of driving out of your way to work it into your plan?

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

I am a little confused as you mention travelling from RMNP to the Grand canyon in 13 hours yet there are so many attractions in between the two and you have a month and a half to travel. Are you planning on driving just to the points you mention or are you going to take your time and visit other amazing places ? First you should know that mapping program time estimates are way too optimistic and you should add about 20% to those times to allow for fuel and bathroom stops, rest and food. No way will you get from RMNP to GC in 13 hours and to try and do so would have you rushing through some of the most amazing scenery on earth !

Depending on where you start from in DV, it would take 6-7 hours to get into Sequoia NP. Yosemite NP is worthy of consideration as are many other places so I would recommend looking around the forums and road trip planning pages with a good map to study and start looking at all your options, you certainly have time for an amazing trip !

[lauchi]

Hi, thank you for all the advises. You´re right I think it´s going to be better from Sequoia to San Francisco and then to LA.
I cheked in google maps about trip´s duration but you´re right, it should take longer from Rocky Mountains to Grand Canyon......can you suggest me nice some places to visit in the way from RM to GC?
I have to go to Phoenix because we´ve to pick up a friend of us who is living there for a while and then continue with our trip, I know is far away from our plan.
which one is "the coast highway"? "I-5S" or "Cabrillo Highway"??
Definetly I need a good map, I´ll have a look in your foros, thank you for your help!!

[Southwest Dave]

can you suggest me nice some places to visit in the way from RM to GC?

There are many options, Black canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado National Monument, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Mesa Verde NP and Monument valley are just a few. There are wonderful drives like the 'Million dollar Highway' with mountain towns and hot springs. You can search around the forums and use the planning tools in the tool bars above to find info, but yes you need a good map to help.

which one is "the coast highway"? "I-5S" or "Cabrillo Highway"??

The Cabrillo highway [CA 1] between Monterey and the Morro bay area is regarded as one of the worlds finest coastal drives.

If you place your cursor over the 'Maps' link in the tool bar above you will find the RTA mapping programs where you can find many listed attractions and create routes.

Once you have got some dots on the map and decided how much time you might spend in certain places [between RMNP and GC for example] then we can start to help fill in the blanks.

What time of year are you planning on visiting ?

[Lifemagician]

Which one is "the coast highway"? "I-5S" or "Cabrillo Highway"??
Definetly I need a good map, I´ll have a look in your foros, thank you for your help!!

Probably one of the best maps you can get, to help plan a road trip, is the National Geographics map of the USA. You will find it invaluable, not just for the planning, but for the constant recalling of where you have been, when sharing your trip with family and friends, after the trip.

Lifey

[lauchi]

What time of year are you planning on visiting ?

from 27th November 2012 to 13th January 2013

It´ll be very cold, won´t it? maybe snow?

Lifemagician I think I´ll order the National Geographics map

thank you ;D

[lauchi]

I have another question, is it possible to buy an american SIM card for mobile phone??Can I buy it in Denver Airport or any newspaper shop??

[Southwest Dave]

Yes you will have to prepared for winter conditions. Some mountain passes will be closed for the season and weather could have an impact on your journey. You can still have a good time and go where you want to to a certain extent, but you will have to make allowances for the possibility of some disruption.

In some areas like in Colorado and around the Sierra Nevada CA [Sequoia] you will have to carry snow chains/cables and be prepared to use them. You will need to check with the rental company that they permit you to use them and you you will need to practice putting them on in the comfort of a parking lot and in good conditions. It beats the hell out of having to unpack them for the first time on a mountain pass and trying to fit them in a blizzard !! LOL.

[Midwest Michael]

Generally speaking, trying to get a SIM card is not the best option. It is usually is much cheaper and easier just to get a prepaid "throwaway" cell phone. There are several different brands and pricing options, but they are quiet readily available at pretty much every general general merchandise/big box store.