Western States Trip

[JoshB22]

Hi, I'm planning a road trip with a couple friends to see some colleges in the West. Starting in California, we'll be going to Las Vegas first, on to Denver and Fort Collins, then up through Wyoming to Bozeman, Montana. Then we'd go west to Washington and down through Oregon.

We want to see Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Montana State University in Bozeman, Washington State University in Pullman, University of Washington in Seattle, Oregon State University in Corvallis, and University of Oregon in Eugene. We'd also like to see Vegas, Denver, Yellowstone, and either Zion National Park or Arches National Park.

We have about 12-14 days to see everything. Any ideas on some awesome destinations along the way? It's pretty wide open at this point. Places to see in Colorado, Pacific Northwest, Montana, etc? And what do you think about Arches vs Zion, or both? Where is a good place to stop between Eugene, Oregon and San Luis Obispo, California? Between Denver and Yellowstone?

Where is a good place to stay at Yellowstone? I'd like to see the Grand Prismatic Spring.

Also, to any baseball fans, we'll be going through Denver and Seattle. Anyone ever catch a game at either of these parks?

Ideally, this is how I have it planned out:
San Luis Obispo, CA to Las Vegas, NV (1 night) 6
Vegas to Zion National Park (1 night) 3
Zion to Arches National Park (1 night) 9
Arches to Denver, CO (2 nights)
Denver, through Fort Collins and Laramie, to Yellowstone, WY (2 nights)
Yellowstone to Bozeman, MT (1 night)
Bozeman to Pullman, WA (1 night)
Pullman to Seattle, WA (2 nights)
Seattle to Portland, OR (1 night)
Portland, through Corvallis, to Eugene, OR (1 night)
Eugene to Redding, CA? (1 night)
Redding to SLO

Thanks for any help!

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Arches and Zion are both spectacular in their own right, as each National park is, and given the option I would certainly visit both ! It does come down to personal tastes of course, for example I would much prefer a night or 2 in Rocky mountain NP then I would Denver and it would make for a more spectacular drive to Fort Collins, especially if the Trail Ridge road were to be open when you travelled.

Denver, through Fort Collins and Laramie, to Yellowstone, WY (2 nights)

I presume that 1 of these 2 nights are to be used to break the journey up. It's quite a long day on the road and to visit the University on route would make it even longer. Otherwise I think you are in pretty good shape.