Roadtrip in the Southwest...suggestions welcome

_HighVoltage_

_HighVoltage_

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My parents are coming on vacation for 20 days this summer to visit me. We will spend around a week in the Boulder/Denver area after which we will take a road trip in a general west direction.

The plan is to visit:
- the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado
- drive through the Durango/Aspen/Vail area
- Moab, UT
- Grand Canyon
- Las Vegas
...maybe continue all the way to the coast, visit LA and drive up to Big Sur. This may however make the trip way too long. We may have to turn back at Vegas.

Here is a link to a work-in-progress trip in Google maps. Maps

I know we have members who have done similar trip, or live in those areas and I'm looking for tips and suggestions.

I am also surprised by some of my lodging options. When I checked areas such as Alamosa or Durango in CO, which are not really that exciting or popular, the cheapest hotels start at $100 (even for road-side motels!!!). Then I checked Vegas...we can stay at some of the really nice places for less than $70 a night (some of them even have deals for $30 which sounds unreal).

Any input will be appreciated - on where to go, where to stay, what to see.
 
In September - October I did an extended version of your road trip (except for the Westcoast bit, I visited all the mentioned places). Personally I considered the Great Sand Dunes NP a waste of time, it's almost as boring as the National Grasslands.
Why not include the Rocky Mountains NP or the Garden of the Gods?

btw I loved Boulder, it has a great vibe to it
 
Now, really, there's only one choice... what's left of US 66.


Bobby Troup covered by Depeche Mode said:
If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.

Well, it winds from Chicago to LA,
More than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
Well it goes to Saint Louis
Down through Missouri
And Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty.
You see Amarillo,
Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino.

If you get hip to this kindly tip
And go take that California trip
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
Click to expand...
 
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ioynerien said:
Why not include the Rocky Mountains NP or the Garden of the Gods?

btw I loved Boulder, it has a great vibe to it
Click to expand...

Those are a given. Like I said, we are spending one week in Boulder during which we are going to visit everything in the area.

Thanks for telling me about the Great Sand Dunes...I've seen pictures and they looked quite nice.
 
While in Utah, try Bryce canyon and at Moab, go to Canyon lands NP and Arches NP.
Don't miss the trail to the see the delicate arch , which is the national enblem of the state of Utah.
 
I would suggest, instead of turning South after the Grand Canyon, backtracking a little bit and then going North and hitting Zion NP, then heading to Vegas via St. George. It would add a little under 150 miles to the drive, but much of the drive is quite scenic and Zion is well worth a visit. If you do that and still wanted to see Hoover Dam too, it would be a pretty short side trip from Vegas.

My recommended route would be: go back to highway 89 and go North, then take 89A through Marble Canyon and over Jacob Lake (rather than staying on the 89 and going through Page - though you could see Glen Canyon Dam if you went that way). 89A ties back into the 89 at Kanab, and then go north to highway 9. Highway 9 will take you right through Zion NP (it's listed as a toll road, but what you're paying is the entry fee for Zion NP; if you have a parks pass, it would get you in).

Bryce Canyon was mentioned above as well. If you decide to go there, it's farther North on the 89, so you could go there first and then hit Zion on your way through to St. George and then Vegas.
 
Yeah, was going to go with Zion NP and Bryce Canyon. They are very spectacular.

As for the rest... well most of Utah is pretty awesome too.
 
if your going to do both Bryce and Zions, and your coming in from I-70, then a good way to hit both of them is to take 24 through Hanksville and Capitol Reef Nat'l Park, then 12 from Torrey down through to 89, stopping in to Bryce along the way.
12 is one of the (many) most beautiful roads in the state I think, as is 24. Along 12 is also Boulder (UT, obv), and if you have time for the little offshoot, then Burr trail out of Boulder would be a good one, at least to go to the point where it drops down off the plateau into Capitol Reef. Also in Boulder is the Anasazi State Park Museum, which is small, but quite neat.

At the 4 way intersection to get into Bryce, if you take the north road, that will get you to a road marked "Pine Lake", if you take that dirt road up the mountain, and then take the 4x4 trail at the top, you can get to a short 1/2 mile hike out to Powells Point, which is one of the highest outcroppings in the area at 10,500 ft. The view is jaw-dropping, and on good days, you can even see Lake Powell, and Navajo Mountain on the Utah/Arizona border, nearly 70 miles away. If you do that though, I would recommend a vehicle with some ground-clearance, as the trail has lots of big dips and fallen trees that need to be maneuvered around (although the road up to the top of the mountain, and the beginning of the trail is good enough that I have taken my Fairlane up there)
However, if your balls are big enough, it is possible to get something like a Subaru Outback out to the end of the trail. I know this because I have seen one at the trail-head, driven by an elderly couple no less lol.

After getting on 89, I would go north a bit to Panguitch, before heading south on 143, until you reach the T intersection at Cedar Breaks, go south there, and through Cedar Breaks before heading west down 14, and into Cedar City. Once in Cedar, head south on I-15, stopping at Kolob Canyon, which is part of Zions (Exit 40)
After visiting Kolob, head down to the Toquerville exit, and follow the signage for Zions.
This sets you up to head directly into the North Rim of the Grand Canyon after Zions.

If you want to visit Arches, Moab, Canyonlands, and all those places as well, then you can drop down and do those as well, before heading back towards the Northwest to hit Capitol Reef.

Here is a possible map that hits virtually every awe-inspiring part of Southern Utah, It'd be one hell of a visit, although I don't know if you've got the time to do much of it: MAP
Note that with that map, it would not let me route through SR14 down Cedar canyon, due to a landslide that closed the road last year, however, the road is now open one lane, and they will have it 100% done in about a month, last I heard...
 
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Excellent tips! Thank you very much!

I do have to note that I am not going anywhere near a gravel road with my car. Made that mistake two years ago and wasn't fun.
 
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