South Carolina to Colorado/Utah and back

[jyswitz]

Hello RTA,

My girlfriend and I are planning a road trip this summer to celebrate us graduating college. This will be our first cross country trip/camping and I figured this would be the best place to begin and ask questions.

We are planning for this trip to be around two weeks but I'm not sure that everything will be doable in that time. We would start off in Columbia SC and head to Nashville to stay the night with a friend, not doing any sight seeing just staying the night. Then head to Kansas City to stay the night, stopping in St Louis during the day. From Kansas City is where things get less clear. We will be mostly camping but might stay the night in Denver for the first night. We want to see all the national parks in Colorado and Utah (Rocky Mountain, Zion, Canyonlands, Moab, Bryce Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Arches as well as other parks that we haven't figured out yet).

On the way back we want to see the Grand Canyon before staying a night or two with family in El Paso, then going to Big Bend, possibly camping, staying the night in Austin TX, staying the night with family in Louisiana, and then heading back to Columbia.

During the trip we also want to go to a lot of breweries and see other quirky attractions but my big question is would all this be able to be done in two weeks or would be have to condense what we want to do. Also with this being our very first road trip I would love some pointers, suggestions on what to see while out west, what to bring, things to leave home, etc.

Thanks!

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

The simple fact is that you would need almost eleven full days just to drive the route you've described above, leaving time for not much more than a meal with family and friends you 'visit' along the way and a quick snapshot or two at each of the parks you'll have spent so much time getting to. What to cut is up to you, but cut you must, significantly.

AZBuck

[jyswitz]

Thanks for the reply, that's what i figured. Do you have any suggestions on some must do places/hikes in those areas?

[Midwest Michael]

As Buck mentioned, you've put out a list that is vastly farther than you could even come close to doing within 2 weeks. You also listed almost every National Park in the Mountain West as possible stops.

In other words, you before even thinking about "must do places" or hikes, you need to first scale down your trip into something that even close to feasible before asking others do devote their time to help come up with information that might be helpful.

[Southwest Dave]

The obvious choice would be to cut the things furthest west which add the most miles and have time to see a little of those places you do visit. In that case I would look at Moab as that point west and then head to Mesa Verde and El Paso, if visiting family is a must for you.

[jyswitz]

Staying with family isn't a must but it would be a free bed and good midway points on the drive back. I'm very early in planning this but zion, arches, and atleast one park in Colorado would be a must. Also the time frame is flexible. I was thinking two weeks but could end up being 20 days. I'm just very unfamiliar with the area we will be traveling.

Edit: also on the way out there instead of stopping in Nashville and Kansas city to rest we could cut those out and just stop in St Louis before heading to Denver.

[Lifemagician]

It takes an hour or there abouts just to get to the visitor centre, once you have entered Mesa Verde. It needs at least a full day, if you are able to book tickets for both tours on the same day, to appreciate the wealth of that park. If you can't spare that amount of time, I'd leave it for another trip, when you have more time.

Lifey

[landmariner]

A couple of comments on Mesa Verde NP:
1) From the west you can purchase tour tickets at the Visitor's Center in Cortez, CO, about 10 minutes from the entrance to Mesa Verde. Lines are usually shorter than at the visitor's center and they are directly hooked into the same booking system.
2) The Visitor's Center is now very close the highway/entrance to Mesa Verde NP (it used to be a half-hour inside the park)
3) The campground is about a ten minute drive into the park and is very large. You can pay for your campsite at the camp store. Showers are included in the nightly camping fee. Pay at the camp store and then go pick your site.
4) Great brew pub in Cortez, CO, Main Street Brewing. Good authentic German brews on-site and American style brews. Very decent food as well.

Recommend spending two nights at Mesa Verde, the first being just an arrival night and the second night after spending a day in the park.

[Midwest Michael]

Another thing to consider, right now, the last 5 days of your trip are essentially all driving days. You've mentioned places you want to stop, but realistically, you're going to be on the road almost all day every single one of those days. Not only do you not really have time for Mesa Verde, but the stop in El Paso you are going out of your way for is another case where you'll arrive late and have to leave early the next morning.

I mentioned it before, but it bares repeating. Going down to El Paso and Austin after Colorado adds a solid 500 miles compared to just heading home on I-40 - so you really are adding one full extra day of driving. Considering that you don't really have time to stop for anything on that section, it doesn't seem worth it to me.

[landmariner]

A couple of comments on Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde.

Elevation is a temperature factor (and a breathing factor as well). Zion is at a lower elevation than Bryce meaning it becomes a lot hotter during the warm weather months. It is worth while to check elevations!

The Grand Canyon North Rim will be open and is along the way way between Zion / Bryce and Mesa Verde, especially your planned routing. The North Rim is great! Bryce to Mesa Verde is a stretch in one day. North Rim campsites need reservations far in advance, as soon as they go on the market.

If you can expand from 14 to 20 days this area is where I would make the allocations.