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Are you serious? That would add an extra 14 hours of driving. Heck, I might as well boat on over to Maui since I'm out that way.Have you been to CA? If not why isn't it on the itinerary? Lots of beautiful scenes here. Kids that age may become bored with just basically parks. They would LOVE Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc. At least add this to the trip or they may become
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That slickrock traction will make you a little cocky.... #### is like velcro for tires. I got reamed good for trying to drive up a nearly vertical 16' ledge at one spot... prob was if we flipped back we likely would have gone over the 50-75' cliff that was a couple vehicle lengths behind us.
NNNNO! (screamed angrily)
:( (Backs down)
I am serious with the fact you have young kids aboard. If it were me I would eliminate some place(s) to fix the driving time if I had small kids, unless you plan on doing CA on another trip while they are still young to be excited about the places I mentioned.Are you serious? That would add an extra 14 hours of driving. Heck, I might as well boat on over to Maui since I'm out that way.Have you been to CA? If not why isn't it on the itinerary? Lots of beautiful scenes here. Kids that age may become bored with just basically parks. They would LOVE Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc. At least add this to the trip or they may become
I am serious with the fact you have young kids aboard. If it were me I would eliminate some place(s) to fix the driving time if I had small kids, unless you plan on doing CA on another trip while they are still young to be excited about the places I mentioned.Are you serious? That would add an extra 14 hours of driving. Heck, I might as well boat on over to Maui since I'm out that way.Have you been to CA? If not why isn't it on the itinerary? Lots of beautiful scenes here. Kids that age may become bored with just basically parks. They would LOVE Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc. At least add this to the trip or they may become
someone needs to look at a map of the USA.
Why? I suggested maybe eliminating some places, as in changing up his itinerary. If you were a child that age, wouldn't you rather have S. CA on the list with the entertainment they have for kids?? Parks are great and all but I would think of my kid too, especially if they've never experienced such things.I am serious with the fact you have young kids aboard. If it were me I would eliminate some place(s) to fix the driving time if I had small kids, unless you plan on doing CA on another trip while they are still young to be excited about the places I mentioned.Are you serious? That would add an extra 14 hours of driving. Heck, I might as well boat on over to Maui since I'm out that way.Have you been to CA? If not why isn't it on the itinerary? Lots of beautiful scenes here. Kids that age may become bored with just basically parks. They would LOVE Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc. At least add this to the trip or they may become
No, I get what you're saying. And I realize I can't just drag the kids out to a different rock formation everyday and expect them to love it. That's why we're looking at horseback riding, ziplining, whitewater rafting, etc.Why? I suggested maybe eliminating some places, as in changing up his itinerary. If you were a child that age, wouldn't you rather have S. CA on the list with the entertainment they have for kids?? Parks are great and all but I would think of my kid too, especially if they've never experienced such things.I am serious with the fact you have young kids aboard. If it were me I would eliminate some place(s) to fix the driving time if I had small kids, unless you plan on doing CA on another trip while they are still young to be excited about the places I mentioned.Are you serious? That would add an extra 14 hours of driving. Heck, I might as well boat on over to Maui since I'm out that way.Have you been to CA? If not why isn't it on the itinerary? Lots of beautiful scenes here. Kids that age may become bored with just basically parks. They would LOVE Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc. At least add this to the trip or they may become
Yep if you're not getting a jeep and the group aren't serious bikers (and able to handle extreme heat), then 2 days in Moab would be plenty.
No, I get what you're saying. And I realize I can't just drag the kids out to a different rock formation everyday and expect them to love it. That's why we're looking at horseback riding, ziplining, whitewater rafting, etc.Why? I suggested maybe eliminating some places, as in changing up his itinerary. If you were a child that age, wouldn't you rather have S. CA on the list with the entertainment they have for kids?? Parks are great and all but I would think of my kid too, especially if they've never experienced such things.I am serious with the fact you have young kids aboard. If it were me I would eliminate some place(s) to fix the driving time if I had small kids, unless you plan on doing CA on another trip while they are still young to be excited about the places I mentioned.Are you serious? That would add an extra 14 hours of driving. Heck, I might as well boat on over to Maui since I'm out that way.Have you been to CA? If not why isn't it on the itinerary? Lots of beautiful scenes here. Kids that age may become bored with just basically parks. They would LOVE Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc. At least add this to the trip or they may become
All that said, there is no possible way to go to SoCal on this trip and make any decent use of my time. Again, that would add 2 days of driving to a trip that already will have 4 solid days of driving.
Boy you are flying HIGH aren't you.
Not as high as someone who thinks the best thing for kids on a long road trip is an extra two full days in the car
The sad thing was the tension spot was just on the switchbacks going up into Canyonlands. It's a gravel road wide enough for two cars. Granted, there aren't any guardrails and you are going up the side of a semi steep cliff face. However, I once saw someone driving down it in a Crysler LaBaron. It's not exactly expert level off roading at that particular spot.That slickrock traction will make you a little cocky.... #### is like velcro for tires. I got reamed good for trying to drive up a nearly vertical 16' ledge at one spot... prob was if we flipped back we likely would have gone over the 50-75' cliff that was a couple vehicle lengths behind us.
ME:
HER:
ME:
There's an off-road trail that goes from BLM land up the shelf an directly into the park?
Not as high as someone who thinks the best thing for kids on a long road trip is an extra two full days in the car
Reading comprehension, 0...
As a former east coaster, I can relate to overlooking the fact that stuff in the same "region" out west is a lot further apart than back east.I am serious with the fact you have young kids aboard. If it were me I would eliminate some place(s) to fix the driving time if I had small kids, unless you plan on doing CA on another trip while they are still young to be excited about the places I mentioned.Are you serious? That would add an extra 14 hours of driving. Heck, I might as well boat on over to Maui since I'm out that way.Have you been to CA? If not why isn't it on the itinerary? Lots of beautiful scenes here. Kids that age may become bored with just basically parks. They would LOVE Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc. At least add this to the trip or they may become
Holy crap, I just looked and realized what Shafer Canyon Trail is. We always just called that the Potash road. No idea it had a name other than that. Dear lord, I've had my mind blown every which way back there. Here's a pic of my gf from an overnight on Shafer Canyon Road. NOTE: That is a monolith that we had to jump to get out onto. I did a ####ty job of making that apparent in the pic.
Now, that's a good looking itinerary. This trip would provide you with a lot more diversity than your current itinerary to Arizona and Utah, which almost entirely consists of desert red rock formations and canyons that are largely devoid of wildlife. My wife -- who is an avid outdoors person and National Park enthusiast -- said that she started getting bored of looking at red rock formations after a few days around Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands. Two straight weeks of that terrain in 100+ degree temperatures could get very repetitive for young kids. With the trip outlined by Drifter, you would get to experience beautiful Southwestern terrain in Santa Fe, a transition from desert to mountain terrain driving up from New Mexico through Colorado, the gorgeous Rocky Mountains in full summer bloom, and then the absolutely surreal terrain of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons complete with incredible wildlife viewing experiences. Ask your kids whether they would rather look at rocks and canyons in a hot desert for two weeks or whether they would rather see a desert environment followed by looking at bears, bison, wolves, pronghorns, and eagles and hiking through fields of wildflowers with mountain steams and waterfalls, not to mention all the geysers and geothermic features at Yellowstone. I feel like practically any kid would prefer the latter trip. I think the Santa Fe to Yellowstone trip is far more memorable and interesting than two weeks straight in relatively similar terrain in dangerously hot conditions.
Yeah, you could easily hit Moab/Arches/Canyonlands for a day or two in the middle of your drive through Colorado. You could do some great summer hikes in Colorado along I-70 on the way to Utah, spend a couple days in Moab, and then cut up through Rocky Mountain National Park on the way north towards Yellowstone. It's the best of both worlds.
Not a bad idea at all if you want to put in the cultural element of Mesa Verde and add some Utah in. I don't know if I'd want to cut out time in Breck/Denver/Boulder where people can get a little civilized time, shopping for the wife, etc. A baseball game can be a great change of pace from 2 weeks of hiking around. As previously mentioned it's also going to be hot out in the desert in july.
That's a sweet pic. I've never stayed out overnight on that trek, always just do it in a day, but that look like it would be awesome and really freaky at the same time.
for notes. The in-laws have invited my family on a 3-week trip from Indiana to Yellowstone and other sites in July. Several national parks already on the agenda, but I can probably find some nuggets in this thread.
Near Mt Rushmore is Wind Cave NP - worth the stop. I like it better than Jewel cave NM which is also in the area.
ETA - our current planned stops:
Badlands
Mt Rushmore
Yellowstone
Dinosaur
Canyonlands/Arches
Lake Powell
Four Corners
Mesa Verde
Durango
Rocky Mountain NP
Planning several days at Yellowstone. May re-evaluate the southern Utah stops due to heat, but FIL wants to hit Lake Powell, so we'll be going through Utah no matter what. Might as well try to see some stuff.
That sounds like an incredible trip. If you really want to hit Rocky Mountain National Park, you could always stop by on the way from Cheyenne to Denver, as the northeastern entrances to the park are only about an hour off of I-70.
Agree with these suggestions. Custer State Park is also worth a stop near Mount Rushmore. But it's mostly famous for buffalo, which you can see in Yellowstone too. I started a South Dakota vacation thread on here a few years ago, which may be useful.Near Mt Rushmore is Wind Cave NP - worth the stop. I like it better than Jewel cave NM which is also in the area.
ETA - our current planned stops:
Badlands
Mt Rushmore
Yellowstone
Dinosaur
Canyonlands/Arches
Lake Powell
Four Corners
Mesa Verde
Durango
Rocky Mountain NP
Planning several days at Yellowstone. May re-evaluate the southern Utah stops due to heat, but FIL wants to hit Lake Powell, so we'll be going through Utah no matter what. Might as well try to see some stuff.
Also near Mt Rushmore is the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is a work in progress and a private owned attraction but it is very cool to see
Finally not to far away on the way to Yellowstone is Devil's Tower NM..
You have a lot on your plate there so just make sure you plan it out and give your self plenty of time to enjoy everywhere you go and time to stop and enjoy the unexpected as you are going from place to place.
I think your current plan sounds pretty great. I would recommend keeping both Santa Fe and Great Sand Dunes National Park on the itinerary, as I think both are pretty unique and beautiful experiences. Plus, the drive between Santa Fe and GSDNP is pretty spectacular, especially if you take one of the state highways (Hwy 159 or 285) instead of I-25. As Drifter said, you definitely don't need to plan on spending a full day at GSDNP, as it is probably better viewed as a stop-off for a few hours to break up the drive from Santa Fe to Western Colorado. It looks like you could cut down on your driving time fairly significantly if you cut out GSDNP, so it might be worth considering, depending on how your family is feeling after the first couple days.
Yes - I'm considering staying at the campgrounds at Dead Horse State Park. Looks beautiful.
I don't know about the campgrounds since we just spent the day at Canyonlands/Dead Horse while staying in Moab, but the combo is definitely easily doable in a day. If memory serves, there's not much at Dead Horse besides the hiking around the beautiful overlook.
I'm looking at Goblin Valley, but the problem is it would be on a day where we are driving 8 hours from Moab to Jackson. Off the highway to Goblin and back to the highway adds 2 hours roundtrip.
Thanks. I may take a stab at a Yellowstone plan that hits each loop for 2 days. Maybe Madison as a base camp for the south loop for 2 nights and then Canyon as a base camp for the north loop for 2 nights.Buckfast 1 said:
http://youtu.be/oW-EWQ60ZwI
