Big 'U' across America

[Mark Sedenquist]

So the only places to camp out are campsites and truckstops, I had hoped we'd be able to escape "civilization" for a bit. But I guess all the land between the coasts are "claimed" by someone...hehe

Technically, that's true but there are still areas where you can pull of the road and camp, subject to weather and fire restrictions. Most of these places are in the western states and are located in USFS forest and BLM public land. But still need to be aware of where you are!

Mark

[AZBuck]

If you are looking to camp in an area where there's a National Forest, and if that forest offers 'distributed camping', and if you check in at a Ranger station to see where such camping is allowed in that particular forest, and if you have or can get a good forest road map of the forest, and if you have enough time to get set up before dark, then it is possible to do the kind of camping that you're looking for. But yes, it does take some preplanning to find the available Federal lands which you own.

AZBuck

[wetworx]

I may have come across a viable trip. How about...

take a flight / train from NYC to Denver, Co. and from there rent a car.
If there is time, stop at Boulder...Otherwise drive through the Rockies via Vail Pass to Salt Lake City, UT...if that route is closed, go north to Cheyenne and take I80 to Salt Lake City.

Camp at Bryce Canyon before continuing to California and up to Seattle.

I would still like to do all this in 10 days, do you think driving to LA is possible? or should we just head directly to SF? Besides spending time in Utah, we do want to stay over both SF and Napa for a night each.

Are there any problems with this route? insurmountable obstacles or hazards?
Thank you again!

btw, my appreciation for clarifying the rules regarding camping. I was never too sure before. I'm checking recreation.gov to see what sites are available, but I'll do some more research on 'distributed camping'.

[glc]

If you do that I'd take I-70 west out of Denver to US-89 to get to Bryce. I-70 very seldom closes.

[wetworx]

Discussed it over and settled on NYC (fly) > Denver > Utah > San Francisco > Napa (she likes her wine) > Seattle...in 10 days.

an overnight in SF and Napa, and a day to drive to Seattle, leaves about 4-5 days to drive through the Rockies and hike some of Utah (we'll probably skip major cities). According to www.cotrip.org, current road conditions are good.

In Utah, we'd like to see Bryce Canyon NP, Zion NP and the Bonneville Salt Flats...but I understand that last one is farther north, could we tackle that on the way to San Francisco you think?
This is really a whirlwind tour of Utah (funny how things changed), to get a better idea for a more focused and lengthier trip much further in the future. We would love to make time for Paria Canyon...all we have to go by are photos, so we're open to recommendations by those who've been.

Any other suggestions? and is it pretty much an empty drive through Nevada?

[glc]

To get to Bonneville from Zion or Bryce, you pretty much have to go back to SLC on I-15 to pick up I-80. It's about 6 hours from Bryce and 7 hours from Zion. From there to SF is just over 600 miles - one long day's drive (10 to 12 hours), and yes, Nevada is pretty desolate.

[wetworx]

To get to Bonneville from Zion or Bryce, you pretty much have to go back to SLC on I-15 to pick up I-80. It's about 6 hours from Bryce and 7 hours from Zion. From there to SF is just over 600 miles - one long day's drive (10 to 12 hours), and yes, Nevada is pretty desolate.

Thank you for that, well we just bought our tickets and reserved our car. Now I'll have to put together a list of main and alternate routes, gather my maps as well as look into permits and campgrounds.

I'll post more when i'm further along ;-)

[wetworx]

So this is it...

We arrive in Denver 12/2...take I-70 west into Utah...a scenic drive through the Rockies/Vail Pass into Utah...

at which point we'll either take the US-80 South to SR-9 West to Zion
or
SR-24 to SR-62 to SR-22 into Bryce Canyon (heavy snow now?)
(would it be best to break off I-70 at exit 48 to SR-24 or exit 91 then follow SR-72 to SR-24 or exit 149 to SR-24? which is more scenic?)

hike around Moab, Arches, Zion, Bryce for a few days...

Then take I-15 north toward Salt Lake City, connect to I-80 West and drive to the Bonneville Salt Flats / Speedway (open in december?).

I was planning to follow I-80 west to San Francisco (w/ an overnight stay in Napa), but are there any interesting alternate routes in the same direction that we can take instead?

After a couple days in SF, we drive up along SR-1 to US-101, stopping at the Redwood National Park before continuing through Oregon and ending in Seattle by 12/23.

So what do you all think?

[glc]

Okay.......

1. From I-70 to Zion, US-89 to UT-9 is the best way as long as the tunnel in Zion is open. If it's not, then you will pretty much have to take I-15. Note that this route will take you near Bryce.

2. Weather permitting, the BEST option is take UT-24 off of I-70 past Capitol Reef (worth a short visit) to UT-12 to Bryce. UT-12 is one of the most scenic highways anywhere, but I stress - weather permitting. Then you can take US-89 to Zion. However, you would pretty much be committed to the tunnel and there aren't any really good ways to get over to I-15 from there that wouldn't involve mountain highways (UT-14, UT-20 to a lesser extent) or a substantial detour (go all the way back to I-70 or all the way down to AZ and go through the reservation).

If you have plenty of time, you could take the Loneliest Road - US-50. From Bonneville, take Alt-93 and US-93 to Ely to pick it up. If you stay on US-50, that will take you through Carson City and Lake Tahoe. It will rejoin I-80 in Sacramento.

[wetworx]

Okay.......

1. From I-70 to Zion, US-89 to UT-9 is the best way as long as the tunnel in Zion is open. If it's not, then you will pretty much have to take I-15. Note that this route will take you near Bryce.

2. Weather permitting, the BEST option is take UT-24 off of I-70 past Capitol Reef (worth a short visit) to UT-12 to Bryce. UT-12 is one of the most scenic highways anywhere, but I stress - weather permitting. Then you can take US-89 to Zion. However, you would pretty much be committed to the tunnel and there aren't any really good ways to get over to I-15 from there that wouldn't involve mountain highways (UT-14, UT-20 to a lesser extent) or a substantial detour (go all the way back to I-70 or all the way down to AZ and go through the reservation).

If you have plenty of time, you could take the Loneliest Road - US-50. From Bonneville, take Alt-93 and US-93 to Ely to pick it up. If you stay on US-50, that will take you through Carson City and Lake Tahoe. It will rejoin I-80 in Sacramento.

Oh wow, Thank You glc!...I think we'll take your suggestion on UT-12 and I-50 (though how much more time is that over I-80?)

So far cotrip.org says most of the roads are dry, but then a lot can change in 3 weeks. I just came across Trail Ridge Rd, we might make a detour for that, but there is no information on it's condition at this time.