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Help Plan a Trip Out West

GrooveWarrior

GrooveWarrior

Oct 21, 2003
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Oxford, Ohio (Near Cincy)
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#1
Next summer I'm taking the fam (16yo daughter, 14yo son) on a Griswold type trip. Give me some input. Here is the very early plan at this point. I'm looking at about 3 weeks.

Leave Cincinnati
Badlands
Mount Rushmore (my son really wants to see this)
Devil's Tower
Yellowstone
Glacier National Park
Redwood National Forest
Yosemite
Sequoia
Joshua Tree
Grand Canyon
Zion
Bryce
Return to Cincinnati

I'm sure the plan is probably overly ambitious. Tell me places I should go instead of these. I've never been to any of them. Tell me places on this list that I should spend multiple days . . . Just give me input here. We are driving and doing hotels. I toyed with the idea of renting an RV, but I just don't think it saves any real kind of money, and I don't think it would be our cup of tea.
 
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#2
A drive around Lake Tahoe is always nice, maybe not so crowded midweek if you can swing it, its a two laner. Yosemite is always packed during the summer months, plan ahead. I like to enter from the east so you can enjoy Toulomme Meadows and Tanaya lake along the way, plus a drive up to Glacier point is well worth it. Do some hiking in and around the valley if you have time. Fact is most up those National parks will be quite busy in the peak summer season.

I am planning to visit Olympic Natl. park this summer in the NW, probably hit Glacier on the way back to the Midwest

Have a swell time
 
#3
I know that I enjoyed the North Rim of the Grand Canyon more than the South Rim. However, there's a train that goes from Williams to the South Rim which people like a lot. The North Rim can also get cold at night, even in the summer. A lot of those places can, too. Take extra water on those drives.
 
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#4
My friend did that with his family, took a geologic tour of the U.S. The family didn't know he was doing it, they just thought it was a big vacation.
As a person who has been to Rushmore, be forewarned, It was very much like the movie Vacation. I was in SD and did a whirlwind tour. You get to Rushmore, look at it for about 10-15 minutes and you're done. I was more impressed with the pile of rubble underneath it. Certainly understand your son wanting to see it, and you should. Crazy Horse is right there too.
You have to stop at Wall Drug, you'll see a sign for it every 3 miles thru out SD. It will be embedded in your brain.
Sounds like an awesome trip, enjoy, and good luck.
Peace N Chicken Grease
 
#6
GrooveWarrior said:
Tell me places I should go instead of these.
Click to expand...
Take the kids (you and your wife will love the place, too, guaranteed) to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We've loved it every time we've gone there.

Monterey Bay Aquarium – Official Site

Tank_med__2738.jpg


This a friend of mine at the big tank, contemplating sushi!
 
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#7
Sounds like a great plan.

However, be aware that Mt Rushmore is not as big and grand as one might think, and you're not as close to it either.

Grand Canyon: South Rim is all the amenities and tourist-friendly stuff...North Rim is mostly undeveloped and more rugged. And as mentioned earlier, a bit colder as it's higher in elevation. Since the sun is behind you, the views from the South Rim are much more colorful and dramatic, IMO. And since you're in the vicinity, you might consider Oak Creek Canyon, between Flagstaff and Sedona. Coming in from the north (out of Flagstaff) it's a pretty awesome sight, coming down into the canyon, then you're in Sedona with its famous Red Rock landscape. (But coming from Bryce and Zion, by then you might have seen enough red rock to last a lifetime!)
 
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#10
dwm74 said:
Sounds like a great plan.

However, be aware that Mt Rushmore is not as big and grand as one might think, and you're not as close to it either.

Grand Canyon: South Rim is all the amenities and tourist-friendly stuff...North Rim is mostly undeveloped and more rugged. And as mentioned earlier, a bit colder as it's higher in elevation. Since the sun is behind you, the views from the South Rim are much more colorful and dramatic, IMO. And since you're in the vicinity, you might consider Oak Creek Canyon, between Flagstaff and Sedona. Coming in from the north (out of Flagstaff) it's a pretty awesome sight, coming down into the canyon, then you're in Sedona with its famous Red Rock landscape. (But coming from Bryce and Zion, by then you might have seen enough red rock to last a lifetime!)
Click to expand...

Oak Creek is great! Actually 89 A is just a fantastic road in general.
 
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#11
The list does seem ambitious in my opinion for three weeks. It's not logistically impossible, but it's going to be busy.
Many time when you get to places like on your list, there are neat side things to see and do. With limited time, you may find yourselves making tough choices.
I was going to suggest getting into geocaching, but you don't have enough time.

-Mike
 
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#12
I had a buddy do a similar trip on motorcycle. What I thought was cool was he got a passport and had it stamped at each national park/monument. I *beleive* there was a family/season's pass he bought for the national park visits that might save a few bucks and/or some time spent at registration gates, etc.

I agree with @MJ5150 on the logistical ambition. Cincinatti to Joshua Tree (direct) is a 4000 mile return trip = eight days of straight driving at 500 miles a day (a long day no matter how you slice it). You're planning a much more circuitous route and a minimum half day at each attraction - you'll max out the three weeks pretty quickly. That'll be a haul even without a couple of teenagers in the car with you. Might want to schedule a few "poolside" chill days in there as well. What's Plan B if weather doesn't cooperate?
 
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#13
MJ5150 said:
The list does seem ambitious in my opinion for three weeks. It's not logistically impossible, but it's going to be busy.
Many time when you get to places like on your list, there are neat side things to see and do. With limited time, you may find yourselves making tough choices.
I was going to suggest getting into geocaching, but you don't have enough time.

-Mike
Click to expand...


We do some geocaching as a family.
 
#14
DirtDog said:
I had a buddy do a similar trip on motorcycle. What I thought was cool was he got a passport and had it stamped at each national park/monument. I *beleive* there was a family/season's pass he bought for the national park visits that might save a few bucks and/or some time spent at registration gates, etc.

I agree with @MJ5150 on the logistical ambition. Cincinatti to Joshua Tree (direct) is a 4000 mile return trip = eight days of straight driving at 500 miles a day (a long day no matter how you slice it). You're planning a much more circuitous route and a minimum half day at each attraction - you'll max out the three weeks pretty quickly. That'll be a haul even without a couple of teenagers in the car with you. Might want to schedule a few "poolside" chill days in there as well. What's Plan B if weather doesn't cooperate?
Click to expand...


Plan B is we scrap this idea and just go to Fripp Island like we do every summer because everyone loves it there!!! ;)
 
#15
It's a LOT of real estate between Glacier and Redwood. I'd hit Rushmore, then just go down to Denver and head west on the 70, through Utah and, ultimately, up into the southern Sierras. My thinking is that Glacier and Yellowstone are fine, but that Yosemite and the Grand Canyon are far better. And yes, I've been to all four numerous times.

I think you're biting off slightly too much, and I'm a guy who enjoys long car trips.
 
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#16
Picton said:
It's a LOT of real estate between Glacier and Redwood. I'd hit Rushmore, then just go down to Denver and head west on the 70, through Utah and, ultimately, up into the southern Sierras. My thinking is that Glacier and Yellowstone are fine, but that Yosemite and the Grand Canyon are far better. And yes, I've been to all four numerous times.

I think you're biting off slightly too much, and I'm a guy who enjoys long car trips.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I started tallying and it's like 7,000 miles and 110 hours of driving. It doesn't sound like that much fun anymore . . . The time is not an issue. My wife and I are both in education, and have the summers off, but that's a lot of driving.
 
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#17
I'll +1 the idea that the plan is a bit overambitious. Granted, I'm the kind of person who likes to take my time at a given destination and let things sink in a bit (rather than just hitting as many spots as I can), but still - that's a lot of ground to cover. Two of the places not on your list that I would consider are Arches National Park in Utah and Canyon de Chelly in northern Arizona (and if you drive from one to the other you go through Monument Valley). I haven't been to any of the places on your list during peak tourist season but I would strongly suggest going during the quietest period you can (and, ideally, the coolest period because driving around in the sweltering heat of the desert - even with air conditioning - is not the most fun thing in the world). To me Yellowstone is a place to visit for the wildlife. I'm not sure I'd want to be there during peak season, where you will undoubtedly be part of a slow caravan of cars which are constantly stopping so that people can ogle the bison.

Regardless of what you choose to add or omit from your itinerary I think the trip you have planned will be amazing and unforgettable in the best way possible. These parks (and the landscapes in general) are some of the most magical places on earth and you're lucky to basically have them next door to you. Have fun!
 
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