6 day Round trip Colorado Springs/Utah/Las Vegas/Gran Canyon and back to CS

[gabrielafcs]

I'm hoping to get some help here with planning my road trip. Now, I'm still at the beginning process of planning and don't have any certain dates. To give some background info, I'm 38 years old, woman, never done anything like this before, and, I will be travelling with my Dad who is visiting me from Venezuela.

My Plan is to have completed the trip in 6 days... We would like to spend 2 nights in Las Vegas in order to assist a couple of shows...from Las Vegas we want to go to the Grand Canyon and stay there for half day and then start our return to Colorado Springs

I would like to drive about 4-6 hours a day during the day time just because we want to make sure we are not going miss the scenic views while driving...

With this being said... is there any Suggested routes and stops?

Thanks a LOT!

Gabriela

[Lifemagician]

Hi Gabriels, and Welcome to the Great American roadtrip forum.

This is a day and a half minimum drive, each way. Via the GC this is a 900 mile drive.

The best advice I can give you as to routes and things to see along the way is to get out some good maps of the areas. If you don't have any, you can get these at AAA or in a road atlas such as Rand McNally. Each State also issues maps. Don't believe the times computer mapping gives, they are pure fantasy and do not relate to real world experience. A full day on the road (11 - 12 hours) amounts to around 600 miles.

Then, you might like to follow the advice in this paragraph....

Start with maps. Not GPS, not software, not Google, but real honest-to-god paper maps that show you your entire route, that you can mark up (and erase), that you can stick pins in, and that show something about the land you'll be driving through. Those are your essential tool in any RoadTrip planning process. Start by marking all the places you know you want to visit. Then connect the dots. Then look for more places of interest and scenic routes along the lines connecting the dots. Repeat until you've got as many sites and roads as you think you want.

Maps are invaluable when planning a road trip, showing you the BIG picture, and not just little snippets at a time. They show you all the routes available for this trip, and the attractions along the way.

I'd suggest you consider seeing the Grand Canyon on your way to LV. It would see you entering the canyon along with the Colorado river, and have all the view points along Desert View Drive (AZ 64 from Cameron AZ) on your side of the road.

Lifey

[Southwest Dave]

You may have to look at extending your drive times on certain days to make your plan work with the time you have. I would get a good start on day one and aim for Moab UT and perhaps take a look at Arches NP. Day 2 head for Springdale UT and check out Zion NP. You could get between the 2 parks by taking UT24 from I70 and then scenic highway 12. This is a wonderful drive and would have you drive through Capitol Reef NP and past Bryce canyon but this would take longer than staying on I-70 until US89 or I-15. Then 2 nights and a full day in Vegas before heading off to the GC the following morning and checking out the south rim. It would be good to spend the night in the park but if it's not possible there is the Cameron Trading post just out the east kiosk which will maximise your time at the canyon and point you in the right direction home. From there I would drive through Monument valley and look at stopping around Durango before the journey home. The quickest would 160 through Pagosa Springs but I would look at US550 north and drive through the lovely mountain towns of Silverton and Ouray and then take US50 through Currecanti Nat Rec area and over Monarch pass. Nera Cortez is Mesa Verde NP and near Montrose is Black canyon NP, but your time is limited.

Hmm, having counted back that is 7 days and would work quite well if you could find an extra day, if not, you would have to alter the stops either going there, or coming home [or both] and have at least one longer day of driving.

[gabrielafcs]

You may have to look at extending your drive times on certain days to make your plan work with the time you have. I would get a good start on day one and aim for Moab UT and perhaps take a look at Arches NP. Day 2 head for Springdale UT and check out Zion NP. You could get between the 2 parks by taking UT24 from I70 and then scenic highway 12. This is a wonderful drive and would have you drive through Capitol Reef NP and past Bryce canyon but this would take longer than staying on I-70 until US89 or I-15. Then 2 nights and a full day in Vegas before heading off to the GC the following morning and checking out the south rim. It would be good to spend the night in the park but if it's not possible there is the Cameron Trading post just out the east kiosk which will maximise your time at the canyon and point you in the right direction home. From there I would drive through Monument valley and look at stopping around Durango before the journey home. The quickest would 160 through Pagosa Springs but I would look at US550 north and drive through the lovely mountain towns of Silverton and Ouray and then take US50 through Currecanti Nat Rec area and over Monarch pass. Nera Cortez is Mesa Verde NP and near Montrose is Black canyon NP, but your time is limited.

Hmm, having counted back that is 7 days and would work quite well if you could find an extra day, if not, you would have to alter the stops either going there, or coming home [or both] and have at least one longer day of driving.

WOW This is EXCELLENT!!! Thanks a lot