Hello everyone,

Hope you are well. This is my first post on this forum (I hope I've done it correctly!)

My boyfriend (Thomas) and I are spending November in the USA - travelling from the UK. We're flying to NYC on the 2nd, Austin, TX on the 5th and get to El Paso on the 10th. Here we hire a car (at 18:30) until 26th November (drop off at San Francisco at 18:30). Fly home from SF on the 1st December!

So, in short, we have a car (Ford Mustang) from 10th - 26th. I've had a flying visit to the south-west before when my old band toured (Florida to AZ and back) a few years ago and I have a fair idea of the places I'd like to spend a bit more time.

We are both into natural history (both work as ecologists) and we love music (both play in bands!)

  • Carlsbad Caverns
    White Sands
    Meteor Crater/Petrified Forest
    Grand Canyon
    Page, AZ (raft trip in Canyon) - from Flagstaff on Route 89
    Historic Route 66 (Kingman)
    Saguaro cacti
    Joshua Tree
    Redwoods
    LA - SF PCH drive


We did want to go to Yosemite but I understand November isn't the best time to go (winter road closures). We plan on returning to road trip North of SF/Portland/Seattle etc so will probably incorporate a trip to Yosemite then.

I'd be really, really grateful for any input on the above... i.e. route advice, must see places in south-west that we should try incorporate into our trip, etc. I really want to make sure we make the most of our 16 day roadtrip!

Thank you in advance,
Emma