Australians coming to America - NY to LA

[miked]

What areas might not be accessible in a Spring trip?

Problem with starting/ending in Denver, is that flights to LA cost much less! (right now they're $850 or so return, or $1200 to NY for example)

Fall might be better so we would catch the end of MLB, and the start of NFL NBA and NHL, although we would miss all the college sports.

[Southwest Dave]

As noted previously, there would be certain areas at high elevation where you could be restricted. The Tioga pass that crosses the Sierra mountains from Yosemite, the Trail ridge Rd in Rocky mountain NP, parts of Yellowstone etc, but that's not to say you can't access certain parts of these areas, or get around OK, plus it can be a wonderful time to visit. If you are starting out from LA [which makes economical sense] in Fall, I would travel clockwise as you have your map laid out, and in Spring it might be better to reverse it, so that you hit Wyoming, Montana, Yosemite etc later in your trip.

[Midwest Michael]

Fall might be better so we would catch the end of MLB, and the start of NFL NBA and NHL, although we would miss all the college sports.

What college sports are you thinking you'd miss? The college sports seasons line up pretty close to the pros. College Football starts in August/Sept - just like the NFL, College Hockey starts in October - just like the NHL, and College Basketball starts in November - just like the NBA. The biggest difference is the college season is generally shorter, ending a month or two earlier than the pros.

[miked]

Right, good point. I didn't know basketball started that early, overestimated how much shorter the seasons were.