Three month trip

[SteveH103]

My wife and i are planning to come to America in late August/early september for what we hope will be a three month trip of a lifetime. We plan to start from Denver, drive first to Salt Lake City, then head North to Yellowstone, up to Seattle. Then head South on the Coast road, probably to San Francisco before heading inland via Death Valley to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon. Monument Valley and back to Denver. I think that should be ok in 90 days, but as we are both film fans we`d love to be able to visit some places that have appeared in films. Does anyone have any suggestions for the route we are taking?
I`m going to be very flexible in our plans , so may change our journey. we also want to visit as many National Parks and would especially like to visit some of the lesser known parks as well as the obvious ones like Yellowstone. So again we`d appreciate any suggestions. Thanks everyone for your help. We cant wait to get there.

[Lifemagician]

Probably the best part of the west coast, is south of SF. You might like to continue to Cambria, before heading inland. You could then head for Sequoia NP and Kings Canyon, before visiting Yosemite on your way to Death Valley.

With 90 days you have the time to really enjoy this area, and I would not miss out on Zion, Bryce, Arches, Mesa Verda and Rocky Mountain NP to name just a few. One of the lesser visited NPs is Sand Dunes NP south of Colorado Springs.

Your best idea probably is to lay this loop out on a good map, and see what other NPs there are.

[Midwest Michael]

Realistically, 90 days is the most you'll be able to do, easily. Anything longer than that will move you beyond the Visa Wavier Program and into the area of full tourist visa which is much more difficult and time consuming to obtain.

90 days should be a great amount of time for this trip anyway, as most people are lucky to have 3-4 weeks.

As far as film, you do need to understand that so much of what is on screen is done on soundstages, and if you are expecting to find the America you see on the big screen, you'll be in for a big surprise. If there are some specific films you have in mind, I'm sure you could research and see if there are aspect that were shot on location, but just asking a general question for "places that have appeared on film" is really too broad to get a good answer.

[SteveH103]

Thanks for those suggestions Lifemagician.Ive not heard of some of those parks and have just looked up Rocky Mountain NP. thats definitely going on our itinerary.

[SteveH103]

Yea we realise that we can only stay 90 days. We did look to staying longer but agree that although possible it is not easy. As for film locations maybe because there are fewer films made over here we tend to know where they were shot for outdoor scenes etc., and those places often become very popular because of it, so just wondered if there was any obvious places. I know Dances with Wolves was South Dakota but i`ll do some more internet research on this.

[Lifemagician]

I know Dances with Wolves was South Dakota ....

When you get to the vicinity of Pierre, you will see the billboards. You can't miss it. They will not let the world forget.

River of No Return was shot in central Idaho, south of Challis, along the Salmon River. I was once told - but have no idea if it is true - that the old John Wayne westerns were shot on Navajo land in north eastern Arizona. Could well be true, when you look at the countryside.

Another film related site, upon which I stumbled, is the railway station on the corner of Vine and Hollywood, in Los Angeles. True, this is not where films were shot, but that whole station is like a movie museum. To properly see it, you need to buy a ticket to get onto the platforms (the cheapest ticket will do) which allows you to wonder all over it. For a railway station, that one is a real gem.

[SteveH103]

Hi,
Ive already had really good feedback from a couple of earlier questions i posted so i hope you can help me again.
My partner and i are coming to the USA late august on a road trip (holiday of a lifetime/mid life crisis/spend the kids inheritance etc) and can stay up to the full 90 days our visa will allow, so want to make the most of it. By giving ourselves time, we want to be able to enjoy it rather than having to rush everywhere so although i have a rough itinerary i want it to be flexible so that if we find a place we like we can stay longer to explore. We have been looking at the suggested itineraries on this site which is really useful but roughly we want to fly in to Denver, then Salt Lake City, up to Yellowstone, across to Rapid City and Mount Rushmore, then in to Montana stopping by the Little Bighorn Battlefield and up to Glacier NP, across to Seattle(Plenty to see here so could stay there for some time) before probably travelling the coast road, 101 to San Francisco, Yosemite, Sequoia, Death Valley, Las Vegas and finally Grand Canyon and as many other parks around there that we can fit in before returning to Denver and home to the UK. My questions are...
1.Is Denver the best place to start, bearing in mind we would be returning there in November?
2. We could start and finish in Vegas (and probably get cheaper air fares), but would then be doing the Grand Canyon etc in late August, would it still be height of the season then?
3. Whats the best way to see Yellowstone? Might seem a daft question but how does it work? Do you have to drive through the park and out the other end or can you come and go from one entrance to fully explore one corner of the park?
Sorry its all a bit long winded but i`d appreciate your help again.

Moderator Note: Please don't create multiple threads about the same trip.

[Mass Tim]

I don't see any issues with flying into Denver for the start of a round trip. With the amount of time you have, you could fly into one of several airports across the country and still have plenty of time to explore the areas you mentioned. It really depends on if you want to focus solely on that area of the country.

Late August is still somewhat busy for the most popular places throughout the country. On the other hand, schools tend to start their year around that time, so there is likely to be less tourists in the area than there would be during late June - early August.

There are five entrances to Yellowstone: One each on the North, South, and West; and two from the East. The park roads are arranged in a figure-8, but they are standard, two-way roads, so you can enter and exit from the same location, and you can turn around at any point to keep your exploration to a particular region of the park. (In fact, US-20, which spans the width of the United States, runs through the park.)

Each area has certain notable features: Mammoth Hot Springs in the North; Yellowstone Lake in the Southeast; Old Faithful in the Southwest.

[Midwest Michael]

If you can get better deals out of Vegas, that's certainly where I'd look to start/finish. That's really true about any city that would be on your route (Seattle, San Francisco, LA, etc) The big thing you need to keep in mind is that mountain areas like Tioga Pass through Yosemite, Going to the Sun Road at Glacier and much of Yellowstone will close for the season as you get deeper into fall.

However, if you do start in Vegas, I don't know why you'd have to do GC right away - it actually would see like GC and other attractions in that area could be the perfect way to end the trip since most of the area is relatively unaffected by weather. (The north rim does close, and the south does see snow, but it is open year round.)

If you do start in Denver, I don't quite understand why you'd zig-zag so much to start (going west to SLC and Yellowstone, east to South Dakota, and then west again to Glaicer/Seattle). It would seem to make much more sense just to go north to South Dakota, and then start making your way west to Yellowstone, Glacier, and Seattle, and if you are going to hit SLC, visit it on your return since you'd be going through Utah anyway.

You can drive through Yellowstone, but really, the first step of planning any trip to Yellowstone should be looking at the National Parks website. That will really answer all of those kinds of questions for you.
Reading up on all the other parks you plan to visit is also highly recommended.

[SteveH103]

Thanks for the replies, as always useful information.
To be honest i dont know why i wanted to visit Salt Lake City right at the start, as you say we could head North first which would make more sense, which is the whole idea of these posts isn`t it. Sorry about the multiple thread thing-didn`t realise.