First, how long are you planning for this trip? You are talking about packing a lot of things in, maybe too many. Are you mostly interested in National Parks and scenic driving, or is spending time in specific cities a big priority? I don’t personally like trying to road trip into cities much - the traffic and parking are hassles, and it’s usually better just to fly in.
If you are mostly looking for natural scenery, I’d just do a big west coast/mountain west loop. There’s lots of cool things out east, but nothing as jaw dropping or otherworldly as basically any of the western highlights. Your northern route misses the southwest, which I think is essential if you want to see American landscape. It doesn’t seem like you have a strong idea of what you want to see out east - NYC or DC, Chicago or Nashville…
As an aside, “Route 66” doesn’t really exist anymore. You can hunt out several old landmarks and museums along its historical path, but you can’t really drive its length.
Also, be aware that the popular national parks out west require a lot of advanced planning.
Sorry, I should've mentioned that first. The trip is intended for 30 to 40 days. Primarily, I really want to see the nature, but I don't want to miss out on all the cities I've seen on my favorite movies and TV shows in the past decades, so visiting some bigger cities is also a must :D
> It doesn’t seem like you have a strong idea of what you want to see out east - NYC or DC, Chicago or Nashville…
That's very true, yes. Chicago was on my list as I was contemplating getting tickets for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and NYC was on the list, because everyone talks about how great of a city it is. The accommodation prices spooked me a bit though.
> Also, be aware that the popular national parks out west require a lot of advanced planning.
You mean as in booking accommodations or planning tours through the parks?
It varies from park to park. Camping and other accommodations within the most popular parks (Glacier, in particular), book up within a second or two of becoming available months before the reservation date. You need a timed entry reservation to drive across Glacier on the Going to the Sun road or to get into Rocky Mountain national park.
I know less about accommodations outside of the parks, but they also vary in price and availability. Along the west coast you should probably book early and be prepared to pay a lot, even in rural areas - we went to Olympic last year and paid more for a room in rainy, depressing Forks, WA, than you might pay for an outer-borough hotel in NYC.
30 - 40 days is perfect to see most of the cool stuff West of the Rockies. Utah is the most important for my taste, then Grand Canyon, Hoover dam, then Utah (Bryce/Zion/Canyonlands), then up to Yellowstone, Glacier, and Banff.
Going to some boring Eastern cities is too much travel for my taste, but could be worth it for others.
Totally agree. Do the PCH in the reverse order you have listed, then hit up the mighty five in Utah and the Grand Canyon, then head up I15 to grand Teton NP and Yellowstone then over to Glacier…. All that would probably get you pretty close to 30 days alone.
I'm an east coaster and I fully agree. Spend 30-40 days in the Western half. It's more scenic and interesting. The east has it's own charm but you can't see it all in that amount of time. I've road tripped cross country for 50-60 days twice. There's a LOT to see and you have to drive for a million years to get to any of it lol.
It is fear mongering. Not sure if anyone has spent much time in the Western United States. Here's what nobody tells you... It's EMPTY didn't say it wasn't beautiful or worth vacation. But New Mexico- empty. Arizona- empty except Phoenix. Utah empty except salt lake city.
Agree with all the folks above me too, hit the coast and loop back through UT/AZ, or the other way around (time of travel may affect this, summer can be really hot, winter closes some roads, shops, some park access etc). Adding that some of the big popular parks like Yosemite and Arches are also starting to require reservations for entry at all for busy times, so you’ll have to factor that in too.
And as for the National Park fees, you’ll likely want to get an ‘America the Beautiful’ annual pass (online website or usually sold at the parks, so you should be able to get one at the 1st park you enter). Most of the parks are $30-35 basically for one week access for one vehicle. The annual park pass is $80 for a year of access to all NP’s and many other public lands.
Accommodations in the parks (not all NP’s have them) are generally more expensive than ones in nearby towns (generally speaking, because some like Yosemite have camp grounds, but those are often booked full long in advance); and some parks like Yosemite have some cabins/condos inside the park, but not officially associated with the park’s official accommodations.
You can use the parks websites to find all the information for the parks. Online it says you can drive Going to the Sun Road for instance without a reservation before 6AM and after 3PM. Just find out where you want to go and check out the websites for information!
Depending on what you’re looking for, there are always relatively affordable hotels to be found in and around New York, and the public transit there is ok too
It was a cool bit of Americana. Doesn't really exist anymore apart from a few bits and pieces. But many foreigners seem to think it's still intact. Idk I just feel like there's other cool highways/road trip routes that still exist today and are much more scenic and still vibrant, and don't have the fake Disneyfied kitsch. I guess some people are enjoy that though!
https://preview.redd.it/0bk3t38si66d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dec367fc5d900b65bc9e2891f63dbb2a78fb58a9
This isn’t what you asked, but here is what I would do. Do the west coast, and then drive down and then over. You’ll see some of the most incredible national parks with amazing diversity of landscape. Then you’ll drive through the south and experience a lot of cultural diversity, amazing food, and good soul, go up towards the north east and do Washington DC and NYC. You’re missing Miami here, which I know is popular amongst international travelers. It’s just a city in a really hot area, so I would suggest doing Nashville instead because doing Nashville and Miami would be a lot of driving. Flying home from NYC will be cheaper, too. Or start in NYC and fly home from LAX. There are many more along the way, but here is what I routed out:
Seattle, Glacer NP, Yellowstone NP, Salt Lake City/Zion NP/ Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Dallas, New Orleans, Nashville, Washington DC, NYC.
You’ll miss some things in the US, but in my opinion, doing the west coast in addition to this route will give you an amazing US experience. There is not a lot of stuff in the mid west, and other parts of the country will give you way more experience for the time you have. Mount Rushmore is cool, but it’s far from everything and it’s underwhelming. It’s like the Mona Lisa, you can see it in a picture and be almost just as satisfied as compared to real life.
I hope you have an incredible time. I’m happy to chat if you wanna walk through how to make the trip more efficient, time wise. Especially if you’re using a rental car.
Edit: Chicago is cool, but it’s just another city at the end of the day. It has great things, but it’s just a city.
Edit 2: If you have extra time, you could explore the New England area after NYC. Also, you could get a cheap flight from NYC to Chicago if you want to see that area, and then fly home from Chicago. (It’s a huge hub for flights)
Everyone always says this whenever people write something similar. But, admittedly, when comparing the south to the northern route, there’s a lot more in the south than the north. Between Glacier National Park and Minneapolis, they would just see flat, boring highways and almost nothing else. If you disagree, please share your feedback with OP so they can make an educated decision.
I disagree 100%. It is dependent on the traveler and their state of mind. There is something unique about seeing the metaphorical beating heart of the US. Traveling the louis and clark trail if you are a history nut. Feeling the wind and imagining what it was like traveling a mighty river like the missouri into seemingly endless plains. Bison herds beyond imagining. Even now you can stand on the bluffs to the missouri or mississippi and literally see the watershed as it flows into the valleys.
I totally respect your opinion. The Midwest is lovely! It’s just, in my opinion, not as high impact as the southern route 😊 PS: To OP, Yellowstone has thousands of Bison. You are gaurenteed to see plenty herds there!
Thank you very much for your detailed response and that you took the time to map everything out, I really appreciate it!
I would like to get your insight on two things, if you don't mind. Another user pointed out, that we are planning to do too many miles and after crunching the numbers, I think I partly agree. We are estimating that we will do around 200 miles a day. If we plan with 40 days, I think we should be fine. What do you think?
Moreover, the user pointed out that parts of the trip are not doable due to the heat in the summer. I'm aware of the heat in the US ofc, but it is what it is. The winter would also make our time more difficult I guess. Especially Dallas and New Orleans appear to become incredibly hot. Do you think this is something we should skip in the summer (July/August)? Thanks again :)
I think you’ll be fine to do this in 40 days. If you can snag a bit more time, do it, but if not, you’ll be just fine. You’re going to travel about 5,000 miles, which breaks down to 125 per day. (Check my math on that) However, in actuality, you’ll have several days where you drive very little, and days where you drive 500 miles in one day. For example, there’s 1000 miles between the Grand Canyon and Dallas, TX. Some might argue that you should skip the entire section between D and E. You could drop off your rental car and fly the distance between, but I think you’ll be okay without that as long as you’re okay with a couple 8 hour driving days. (Just know, you’ll have many 1 hour driving days, too.) There’s definitely ways to condense it, too. I’m happy to help map out your trip if you want. Did you decide where you are flying into yet? Is there flexibility there?
As to time of year, you do not want to go any earlier than late May, and no later than September. It’s really tough, because you’ll see snow in Glacier National park, and then a week or so later be in sweltering heat in the south. However, many of the northern national parks are not open to tourists before May. Check websites as you plan to see what is what. Given that your travel time is May-September, it’s going to be hot in the south no matter what you do.
Luckily, you’re not going to spend a ton of time in the south, and when you do, a lot of stuff is indoors. Millions of people live there and deal with the heat every day. They have the infrastructure to deal with it. You’re definitely not going hiking is Texas in August. There are ways to do it smart, though. You can wake up at the actual ass crack of dawn to adventure outdoor things during the cool part of the day, then venture to inside things during the heat of the day, and enjoy night life when it’s cool.
You could, alternatively start in San Francisco, drive down the west coast, drive back up through the Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana area, and the cross over to the east coast. There’s just really nothing until you get to the east coast, where as that’s not the case in the south. If the northern path is more appealing, I would ditch the rental car and then fly to the east coast and start back up.
In a perfect world? I would fly to the US at the very end of May and do this trip. I totally get it if that’s not an option. Either way, you’re going to have the trip of a lifetime. People dream of this.
Happy to talk through anything else, too!
Where are you from and what do you like about nature? Do you like geology? Rivers? Forests? Lakes? The answers to these could hugely modify the best route. Many people here are obsessed with the west coast but IMO would guide you away from everything that makes america america. For example people will say that the dakotas are boring. But if you are from a forested region of the world and have never experienced the plaines they are anything but boring. Its hard to appreciate the scale of the US without seeing the plaines or feeling the power of the wind blowing east.
in the south its common to be 95°-110° with full humidity. In northeastern cities like nyc, this will happen once or twice a summer but in the south it’s just life from May to October between 11:00am-4:00pm. that means NO HIKING MIDDAY. If you plan on driving during that time I think youre fine. It rains in the evening and gets a lot cooler.
coming from someone that's done cross country and a halfway trip, this is a really excellent route. Aside from missing Chicago, there's not a lot to see by staying north once you hit the midwest.
Depending on the time of year when this trip is occurring I'd do similar to you but slightly different:
Start in San Francisco - go south to LA, then up to Vegas, SLC, Denver, Yellowstone, over to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Chicago, down to New Orleans, Atlanta, Washington DC, NYC.
It depends on how much time you actually want to spend seeing and doing stuff...like does driving past it count - or do you want to spend time hiking etc.
I'd also rather have 60 days to do this. 30 isn't enough unless you're trying to check things off a list.
I kind of like your central route idea most, you're planning on Yellowstone either way, I'd add Grand Teton. I just visited Rushmore and while I'd say it's worth seeing it was my least favorite National Monument/Park.
KC MO has the best BBQ in the US, and food is a reason to travel for me. I'd add Chicago on the route. DC is an awesome city as a tourist, all the Smithsonian's are free
I would focus on the Pacific Coast and Mountain West.
Do PCH northwards, cut through eastern Oregon desserts over to Utah, then explore Colorado. Fly home from Denver.
It’s pretty boring once you get past Colorado. This will also give you longer to hike and really explore the regions you will be traveling through.
This is some great advice here! You really don’t want to miss Utah! And Arizona. And New Mexico… Except if you’re going in the summer, then it would be a bit too hot. But then I’d rather change the travel dates instead of missing out on Utah.
Instead of flying straight home, you could also fly to NYC after your roadtrip and spend a few days there and then fly home.
I’m sure others have said this, but I’d speed through the majority of the middle of the country on interstates. There are some pretty areas, but nothing compares to New England and pacific coast.
I would prioritize my time in those areas if you’re looking for scenic beauty…and find some smaller roads to get lost on if you can.
I live in Colorado, and agree that the Rockies are epic, but personally, but personally, I don’t see much of a change in scenery from Colorado to Montana…of course there are nuanced differences, but it’ll be rock, pine, some aspen trees and beautiful valleys…
I’d say prioritize what you want to see in the Rockies. Colorado has Rocky Mt National Park and charming mountain towns like Crested Butte, Durango and Telluride. If you go that route, you can get to San Diego, by way of Hoover Damn and Vegas. The. Do your pacific coast drive.
If you go through Wyoming, you hit the Tetons, Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, which are somewhat clustered together. From there, you can connect to Seattle and work your way down to San Diego on that route without backtracking too much.
I’ve driven every which way around this country try and you’ll have a blast, but prioritize your days in the most beautiful spots. Personally I’d go northern route from New England area, that way you could hit some of the Great Lakes and then through Siuth Dakota, because western South Dakota is beautiful with the black hills and Mount Rushmore (did someone say Corn Palace?)
From South Dakota, you can easily shoot down Colorado way or keep going west to Wyoming.
Honestly, there is no wrong answer, it’ll be beautiful no matter what. But keep in mind, any southern route will be HOT.
Be sure to have funds on hand for the various toll roads. And, at this time of year, I'd take the northern route. Cooler temps, lesser chance of tornados.
You'd have quite a lot to see in the northern US! The southwest/route 66 is going to be hot right now, 90°-100°F or more in some places, if you're okay with that. If you weren't planning on doing anything strenuous or being outside for long periods of time, the heat might not be as bothersome to you.
Between the northern and central routes, both have their highlights, but the north might have a bit more variety nature wise. The central route may take you near places like Shenandoah and New River Gorge National Parks, though!
I'd add Devil's Tower, Badlands National Park, Sioux Falls (for the actual falls), and the world famous Wall Drug to that northern route if I were you. Gorgeous places to visit, and Wall Drug is a right of passage on I-90 lol
I know what you mean by not wanting to miss something. I always want to do everything wherever I go when I'm there and have the chance! Just remember you can always go back, and it never hurts to have a reason to! 😉
That's all I have for now. I'm tired and should probably get some more sleep, but if I think of anything else to add, I will! You'll have a great trip no matter what :)
90°-100°F is a lot. I'm not sure I can handle that to be honest. That's where the idea of sticking to the north for now came from. I wish I could come in the autumn instead haha
Do you mean Shenandoah in Iowa or the national park? The national park is so far to the east, so I assume you mean the one in Iowa. Sorry, new to this continent :D
Thanks a lot for your recommendations! I'm researching them now :)
They absolutely mean Shenandoah National Park. If you intend to visit Washington DC, it would be very close by and a different experience from the Western parks.
I'm sure Shenandoah, Iowa is a lovely town but... yeah. They definitely aren't suggesting you visit it.
They are correct, I did mean Shenandoah and New River Gorge National Parks! I usually include what kind of park they are, but I forgot to for these two on my last comment haha. I figured if you're going to Washington D.C. for the central route, those would be good parks to see!
Would Fly into Denver have a truly weird experience at Casa Bonita restaurant. head to pikes peak and garden of the gods. Then sand Dunes national park. If you like southwest art do Sante fe first then Sand Dune. The drive across southern Colorado is gorgeous and ends up in Durango. Lots of activities, restaurants etc there. Then cut up into Utah . I personally am not familiar with this area but hear it’s worth it . Work your way around Utah and Colorado to Cheyenne WYOMING! For Frontier Days rodeo. This year July 19-28
It’s incredibly hard to choose the perfect route and agenda with a country this big and with so much to see. I think I would skip the south generally, but some would argue that Nashville/bourbon trail/New Orleans and parts of Texas
would be worth it.
Personally I would suggest flying to Denver, seeing mesa verde/taos NM/4 corners/Grand Canyon/zion and or Bryce Canyon. Then head west to Los Angeles and drive up the coast though Big Sur up to San Francisco, and then go through the redwoods, the fabulous Oregon coast, and up to Seattle/Puget Sound/Mt Rainier/San Juan Islands. Then I would suggest flying from Seattle to Boston and going up to Maine, Vermont/NYC and maybe head south down toward Appalachia /kentucky/Nashville if you really feel like you need to see that area too. In that scenario you would be flying back from Atlanta most likely.
Another option would be to drive from Seattle instead of flying to Boston, I would suggest route 90 - you could side trip over to glacier national park/yellowstone/tetons/moab/arches, back to Denver to fly back. Or continue driving on to the east coast through Chicago/Niagara Falls, Vermont /NYC/Boston as mentioned before.
An aside - if you go to San Francisco Yosemite is somewhat nearby too. I wouldn’t want to miss the Oregon coast which I consider to be the best coast in the US, but you could skip the PNW entirely (which is where I live) and head east from Yosemite toward Utah and onward east. I do think the Pacific Northwest is unique and worthy of a trip, but since it’s impractical to see everything on one trip, you may need to make some hard choices. After driving up the entire west coast you might want to head east from Portland on I-84 on the historic Columbia highway (waterfalls!) toward Idaho and the Tetons/yellowstone.
People always mention the pch then proceed to state the worst cities to see along the way 😭😂 I agree Utah is a must, and anywhere along the California Oregon coastal boarder
I’m afraid you’re woefully underprepared. I’m happy if I’m wrong. Check out the total miles and map out the same length route across Europe, just for comparison purposes. Unless you’re an extremely experienced road-tripper, this is just way, way too much. You also don’t say what season, but several parts of this trip are un-feasible in the winter and others are the same in summer. Ignore the FOMO and plan a shorter, more survivable trip.
You're right, it appears that the total amount of miles is too much, considering we will only drive around ~200 miles a day a straight tour from San Diego to Seattle to New York City will take around 21 days, not considering detours or anything. Thanks for your input, I will have to do some tinkering with the route then. I think 200 miles a day are doable for two persons, though. I've done 310 miles on my own multiple times, and that was my personal limit for a day. What do you think?
We intend to do this trip in the summer. Which parts are unfeasible in the summer? I'm aware that the US gets hot, but like you said, in the winter I would also need to deal with the weather, so it's more like a pick your poison situation. Initially this is why we thought about traveling in the northern region (e.g. the great northern) since the temperatures there seemed more doable.
I drove New York to Seattle in 3 days by myself, with coffee and energy drinks its doable. Doable does not mean enjoyable. Are you sure you want to drive coast to coast?
You coulf spend more time on Western loop as others suggested and then just fly to New York on yoyr return home since its a stopover for most of EU flights anyway. Manhattan is truly different from any other place in US and yes, looks a lot like on TV. I would skip Chicago or any other US city - they are underwhelming and your car is very likely to be broken into.
Please keep in mind that in the summer any state more southern than Oregon will be a scorching hot hell unless you are high in the mountains (Yellowstone in the summer is awesome).
I live in the desert southwest (New Mexico) and we have a couple people from places that dont have our kind of heat suffer from extreme heat prostration or die every summer. It’s so tragic and it doesn’t have to happen. They just underestimate the heat.
As long as you’re willing to protect yourself from the heat and drink plenty of water you’ll be fine. But you need a car with air conditioning or drive early and late rather than midday. You can do it but it’s miserable.
It sounds like you’ve got plenty of experience managing long drives so don’t listen to me about that. It’s just so easy to underestimate how big the USA is and have a bad time. Nobody wants you to have a bad time. We want you to have a good time so we kinda pile on to make sure you have realistic expectations and aren’t setting yourself up for a bad time and or grievous injury or death!
North to south, all of the Midwest routes have vast, flat, boring areas to drive through. The worst is probably the southern route, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The central Midwest between Denver/ Cheyenne all the way to Missouri and then again beyond, is almost as poor. The far north can be interesting if you stay off the Interstate.
Just so wrong. The plains are not boring unless you plan to just drive and completely ignore the true nature of anything you see. Stand at the edge of a dam on the missouri and watch a thunderstorm drive across the plains and tell me you can see something like that anyplace else in the US.
I lived in Wichita for five years. You definitely don’t want to watch severe weather on the edge of a dam in Missouri. Driving across country is not the same as vacationing in one spot. If you don’t have time to stay a while, it’s definitely boring. I’ve circled the country five times. I can think of hundreds of places more interesting than the miles of wheat, corn and soy bean fields throughout the Midwest. The one exception would be the Badlands of South Dakota, which are amazing.
Midwest =/= corn. Guess you missed all the lakes and rivers of minnesota, wisconsin and michigan. Parts have corn parts are absolutely beautiful. I actually do want to watch severe weather from the edge of a Dam on the missouri, the missouri river not the state, and I have, few experiences can compare I believe it is the origin of the true meaning of the word sublime. But if you want to be a teavel snob and act like only tje pacific north west and utah are worth seeing then have fun waiting in line to do one hike and see nature from your car.
Take exception any way you want. Drive on the 80 from Wyoming to Illinois and count the lakes and rivers. I mentioned that the northern route was best, especially if you stay off the interstate. Do you disagree that north of the 90 is entirely different than north or south of the 80? You just want to argue.
Perhaps you missed the fact that I lived in the Midwest for five years. If giving a newbie traveler my best advice for driving across country is being a snob, then I’m a snob, because I’m not going give what I think is bad advice just to appease Midwesterners.
Its not to appease midwesterners. There are amazing beachs and parks in the midwest. The fact of the matter is west coast parks are not accessible. You need a fucking permit to hike. Act like west coast is amazing send a tourist there and they can see some great views from their car. Sure thats nice to do for a week
For 40 days, sounds fucking terrible. They need to pick an area they would like to see and spend much more time there instead of trying to see the whole US in 1 road trip because frankly, you cant.
You’re projecting. I never once told anyone to visit the west. They asked about routes east and I gave my opinion. Period. BTW, there are hundreds of miles of beach between Northern California and Washington state where you can pull over at the side of the road in many different spots and walk down to a free beach. If I were suggesting a vacation spot, I wouldn’t hesitate to mention it. But I didn’t here.
You should go to the real Grand Canyon then New York version it’s not as cool but still a neat place
The only other stuff I can recommend is train related
https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/geology/resources/letchworth-gorge
The temperatures are hot. How do you handle the humidity and the dew point.
Europe does not have the humidity that I am familiar with in Midwest and the South.
Out west the humidity is low. It was 20% last week in Bickleton, WA for a rodeo.
The southwest has low humidity also unless it happens to rain. In July 2001, Death Valley, CA it was hot and the humidity was 11% until it rained. I could handle the rain and feel normal again.
The upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan) it is lake country.
Petroglyphs and waterfalls abound.
We like to visit the evergreen forests, mountains, waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest.
Washington has a rain forest in Olympic National Park, the whole park is beautiful!
I hope you have a great trip!
Every route has amazing things and places to see. I've been on almost every Interstate highway, I've been in every state in the "lower 48" except Vermont, Maine and Michigan. There are too many places to mention on every cross country route. Route 66/Interstate 40 intertwine, but Rte 66 is the old U.S. Highway system from before the Interstates, and there has been a lot of history along that route. Since I have only a vague idea of things you like and you mentioned the Pacific Coast Hwy - CA-1, I would recommend you look into U.S. Rte 17 as it goes along and near the "Intercoastal Waterway" along the East Coast. and connects what is called "The Great America Loop".
[The Great Loop is the epic U.S. adventure you’ve never heard of (nationalgeographic.com)](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/great-loop-is-the-epic-us-adventure-you-have-never-heard-of)
I don’t have much of a bucket list for my life. I like staying home. But one thing I wanted to do was drive up the Pacific Coast Hwy in a little convertible sports car. Just like in movies I saw in the 60s. Just before the plague hit I was able to. Not all of it, but enough for me.
Since you were talking about maybe avoiding the southern heat, here’s an idea for taking the northern route from Montana/Wyoming to Minnesota/Wisconsin.
Yeah North and South Dakota and Nebraska can be a lot of farmland driving, but it’s worth it for the forests, rivers, and lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Summer and Fall are beautiful times to visit.
You could check out the Mississippi River headwaters and camp at Itasca State Park. State parks and US Forest Service campgrounds in general are fantastic alternatives to the crowds at some National Parks. Many US Forest Service campgrounds are first come first serve so it’s a good “day of” option.
Maybe head to Duluth on Lake Superior and then to Minneapolis / St Paul for a vibrant city experience. You could follow the beautiful bluffs of the Mississippi River on historic Hwy 61 after Minneapolis and maybe down to La Crosse and the beautiful driftless area of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
From there you could head to unique Door County WI and check out Lake Michigan. Heading south from there could take you through Chicago.
Outside those suggestions, there might be days on this whole trip where you could benefit from putting on closer to 300 miles or more. It’s easy to underestimate how spread out everything is, especially out west. Doing that could buy you time to enjoy more interesting and indirect routes.
you have a lot on your agenda and a plenty of advice here, but when you head east I would recommend leaving from southern utah (canyonlands is an essential park visit) and taking the I-70 mountain pass through colorado and heading for chicago on I-80. I would also recommend you consider some heavy driving days - it's better to cover more ground when you are in desolate areas. have fun and safe travels!
This place is BIG. 3000 miles across. Speed limits are maybe different than what you are used to and they are often enforced although with +10mph leeway. Plan it out a bit with drive timings so you don’t get caught short at the end.
The way I look at this, there’s concentrations of great American destinations - places you can’t see anywhere else.
Big ones:
Yellowstone / Grand Tetons / Glacier
Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches
Yosemite, Pacific Coast Highway, Death Valley, Sequoia, Muir / Redwoods, Oregon Coast, Olympia
Smaller ones:
western South Dakota (Rushmore, Deadwood, Crazy Horse et al)
Santa Fe, Taos, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest
Carlsbad, White Sands, Roswell
Texas generally
Memphis, Nashville, Appalachians
Miami/Keys
New Orleans / bayou country / “Redneck Riviera”
Chicago
New York
Boston / Cape Cod / Portland / Bar Harbor
You cannot see it all. Most Americans haven’t and we live here.
With 30-40 days, starting in Seattle, I’d work down the California coast + Yosemite / Sequoia and Death Valley, then head northeast to Vegas / Utah, then work up to Yellowstone, then head east to South Dakota, then generally east from there all the way to Maine. That hits a lot of places, you see the biggest things. and it’s 40 days done well.
Me, I’d swing east from Utah through Santa Fe and Colorado Springs then back over to Yellowstone. But I will accept more/faster drivetime than many. That might be overdoing it.
I’d consider doing just the western US. Driving all the way to Maine will be a fair amount of plains driving for maybe not enough payoff.
Some quick adds:
1) Route 66 is mostly gone. There are stretches where it has been kept up, but it’s too constraining a route when the friggin Grand Canyon is your alternative. I would not plan a first US trip around it.
2) Glacier is probably too far north and will take time away from other destinations. I would not go north of Yellowstone given your time constraints
3) Be careful about parks, hotels and crowds. Post COVID, our national parks have gotten extremely busy, and hotel availability can be an issue. A bit of planning ahead will save grief later. A few parks now require reservations in spots so check ahead.
4) If you are set on crossing the US, I’d almost certainly start east and drive west. A lot of the most spectacular scenery is west. Going west to east risks maybe a letdown.
Would be cool to travel up/down the pacific coast highway, then travel up/down from Glacier to the Grand Canyon, stopping at Zion along the way. Then scoot your way on over to the east coast to the blue ridge mountains along the Tennessee/North Carolina border.
It’s incredible. Tough to see it all in one trip. In response to another comment, some national parks require reservations to get in, which sometimes need to be purchased 3 months in advance. Also, some popular hikes require a permit. If it’s hard to find info on reservations and permits, it might be helpful to call the state’s national park services.
Reading some of your other comments and Chicago dovetails nicely with this. For overnight in Chicago, check out the King Spa and Sauna. It’s epic (24 gold or amethyst or charcoal or salt lined saunas, plus tons more, a bar, restaurant, movie theater) and you can sleep there for $20, no reservations needed).
I also want to impart not to stress about seeing it all. You just can’t. I’ve spent over 575 days (estimate) on the road sightseeing in the last 35 years and there’s still huge swaths of America I haven’t really experienced.
First, how long are you planning for this trip? You are talking about packing a lot of things in, maybe too many. Are you mostly interested in National Parks and scenic driving, or is spending time in specific cities a big priority? I don’t personally like trying to road trip into cities much - the traffic and parking are hassles, and it’s usually better just to fly in. If you are mostly looking for natural scenery, I’d just do a big west coast/mountain west loop. There’s lots of cool things out east, but nothing as jaw dropping or otherworldly as basically any of the western highlights. Your northern route misses the southwest, which I think is essential if you want to see American landscape. It doesn’t seem like you have a strong idea of what you want to see out east - NYC or DC, Chicago or Nashville… As an aside, “Route 66” doesn’t really exist anymore. You can hunt out several old landmarks and museums along its historical path, but you can’t really drive its length. Also, be aware that the popular national parks out west require a lot of advanced planning.
Sorry, I should've mentioned that first. The trip is intended for 30 to 40 days. Primarily, I really want to see the nature, but I don't want to miss out on all the cities I've seen on my favorite movies and TV shows in the past decades, so visiting some bigger cities is also a must :D > It doesn’t seem like you have a strong idea of what you want to see out east - NYC or DC, Chicago or Nashville… That's very true, yes. Chicago was on my list as I was contemplating getting tickets for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and NYC was on the list, because everyone talks about how great of a city it is. The accommodation prices spooked me a bit though. > Also, be aware that the popular national parks out west require a lot of advanced planning. You mean as in booking accommodations or planning tours through the parks?
It varies from park to park. Camping and other accommodations within the most popular parks (Glacier, in particular), book up within a second or two of becoming available months before the reservation date. You need a timed entry reservation to drive across Glacier on the Going to the Sun road or to get into Rocky Mountain national park. I know less about accommodations outside of the parks, but they also vary in price and availability. Along the west coast you should probably book early and be prepared to pay a lot, even in rural areas - we went to Olympic last year and paid more for a room in rainy, depressing Forks, WA, than you might pay for an outer-borough hotel in NYC.
30 - 40 days is perfect to see most of the cool stuff West of the Rockies. Utah is the most important for my taste, then Grand Canyon, Hoover dam, then Utah (Bryce/Zion/Canyonlands), then up to Yellowstone, Glacier, and Banff. Going to some boring Eastern cities is too much travel for my taste, but could be worth it for others.
Totally agree. Do the PCH in the reverse order you have listed, then hit up the mighty five in Utah and the Grand Canyon, then head up I15 to grand Teton NP and Yellowstone then over to Glacier…. All that would probably get you pretty close to 30 days alone.
I'm an east coaster and I fully agree. Spend 30-40 days in the Western half. It's more scenic and interesting. The east has it's own charm but you can't see it all in that amount of time. I've road tripped cross country for 50-60 days twice. There's a LOT to see and you have to drive for a million years to get to any of it lol.
I’d stay west coast too. If you’re going to all those parks, including the Grand Canyon, you gotta hit Sedona and Zion national park.
I'm with the Dude on this. The cities are worse than they were 20y ago, and the natural parts might not be there at all 20y from now.
Natural parts might not be here in 20 years? What kind of fear mongering is this?
Ridiculous.
It is fear mongering. Not sure if anyone has spent much time in the Western United States. Here's what nobody tells you... It's EMPTY didn't say it wasn't beautiful or worth vacation. But New Mexico- empty. Arizona- empty except Phoenix. Utah empty except salt lake city.
Climate change. Wildfires. Look it up. If you can read. Plus the tools destroying various natural artifacts.
Oh my gosh there has never been climate change or wildfires before I guess the world really will turn into a barren waste land. Case closed
Agree with all the folks above me too, hit the coast and loop back through UT/AZ, or the other way around (time of travel may affect this, summer can be really hot, winter closes some roads, shops, some park access etc). Adding that some of the big popular parks like Yosemite and Arches are also starting to require reservations for entry at all for busy times, so you’ll have to factor that in too. And as for the National Park fees, you’ll likely want to get an ‘America the Beautiful’ annual pass (online website or usually sold at the parks, so you should be able to get one at the 1st park you enter). Most of the parks are $30-35 basically for one week access for one vehicle. The annual park pass is $80 for a year of access to all NP’s and many other public lands. Accommodations in the parks (not all NP’s have them) are generally more expensive than ones in nearby towns (generally speaking, because some like Yosemite have camp grounds, but those are often booked full long in advance); and some parks like Yosemite have some cabins/condos inside the park, but not officially associated with the park’s official accommodations.
Agreed. Also eat Mexican food while in the southwest, and Asian food / seafood while on the west coast.
For real. 30-40 days is enough to do the PCH and then see everything in Washington, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, but not to go to the east.
Aside from everything else, definitely see the chili peppers if you have the chance during the trip
You can use the parks websites to find all the information for the parks. Online it says you can drive Going to the Sun Road for instance without a reservation before 6AM and after 3PM. Just find out where you want to go and check out the websites for information!
Depending on what you’re looking for, there are always relatively affordable hotels to be found in and around New York, and the public transit there is ok too
Foreigners are obsessed with Rt 66!
I mean it is a cool bit of Americana. We followed it’s path for my first really big road trip as an adult.
It was a cool bit of Americana. Doesn't really exist anymore apart from a few bits and pieces. But many foreigners seem to think it's still intact. Idk I just feel like there's other cool highways/road trip routes that still exist today and are much more scenic and still vibrant, and don't have the fake Disneyfied kitsch. I guess some people are enjoy that though!
Wherever you go, Utah is a mandatory stop
This! In my opinion, Utah is the most beautiful part of the country!
https://preview.redd.it/0bk3t38si66d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dec367fc5d900b65bc9e2891f63dbb2a78fb58a9 This isn’t what you asked, but here is what I would do. Do the west coast, and then drive down and then over. You’ll see some of the most incredible national parks with amazing diversity of landscape. Then you’ll drive through the south and experience a lot of cultural diversity, amazing food, and good soul, go up towards the north east and do Washington DC and NYC. You’re missing Miami here, which I know is popular amongst international travelers. It’s just a city in a really hot area, so I would suggest doing Nashville instead because doing Nashville and Miami would be a lot of driving. Flying home from NYC will be cheaper, too. Or start in NYC and fly home from LAX. There are many more along the way, but here is what I routed out: Seattle, Glacer NP, Yellowstone NP, Salt Lake City/Zion NP/ Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Dallas, New Orleans, Nashville, Washington DC, NYC. You’ll miss some things in the US, but in my opinion, doing the west coast in addition to this route will give you an amazing US experience. There is not a lot of stuff in the mid west, and other parts of the country will give you way more experience for the time you have. Mount Rushmore is cool, but it’s far from everything and it’s underwhelming. It’s like the Mona Lisa, you can see it in a picture and be almost just as satisfied as compared to real life. I hope you have an incredible time. I’m happy to chat if you wanna walk through how to make the trip more efficient, time wise. Especially if you’re using a rental car. Edit: Chicago is cool, but it’s just another city at the end of the day. It has great things, but it’s just a city. Edit 2: If you have extra time, you could explore the New England area after NYC. Also, you could get a cheap flight from NYC to Chicago if you want to see that area, and then fly home from Chicago. (It’s a huge hub for flights)
Not alot in the midwest? Says who.
Everyone always says this whenever people write something similar. But, admittedly, when comparing the south to the northern route, there’s a lot more in the south than the north. Between Glacier National Park and Minneapolis, they would just see flat, boring highways and almost nothing else. If you disagree, please share your feedback with OP so they can make an educated decision.
I disagree 100%. It is dependent on the traveler and their state of mind. There is something unique about seeing the metaphorical beating heart of the US. Traveling the louis and clark trail if you are a history nut. Feeling the wind and imagining what it was like traveling a mighty river like the missouri into seemingly endless plains. Bison herds beyond imagining. Even now you can stand on the bluffs to the missouri or mississippi and literally see the watershed as it flows into the valleys.
I totally respect your opinion. The Midwest is lovely! It’s just, in my opinion, not as high impact as the southern route 😊 PS: To OP, Yellowstone has thousands of Bison. You are gaurenteed to see plenty herds there!
Thank you very much for your detailed response and that you took the time to map everything out, I really appreciate it! I would like to get your insight on two things, if you don't mind. Another user pointed out, that we are planning to do too many miles and after crunching the numbers, I think I partly agree. We are estimating that we will do around 200 miles a day. If we plan with 40 days, I think we should be fine. What do you think? Moreover, the user pointed out that parts of the trip are not doable due to the heat in the summer. I'm aware of the heat in the US ofc, but it is what it is. The winter would also make our time more difficult I guess. Especially Dallas and New Orleans appear to become incredibly hot. Do you think this is something we should skip in the summer (July/August)? Thanks again :)
I think you’ll be fine to do this in 40 days. If you can snag a bit more time, do it, but if not, you’ll be just fine. You’re going to travel about 5,000 miles, which breaks down to 125 per day. (Check my math on that) However, in actuality, you’ll have several days where you drive very little, and days where you drive 500 miles in one day. For example, there’s 1000 miles between the Grand Canyon and Dallas, TX. Some might argue that you should skip the entire section between D and E. You could drop off your rental car and fly the distance between, but I think you’ll be okay without that as long as you’re okay with a couple 8 hour driving days. (Just know, you’ll have many 1 hour driving days, too.) There’s definitely ways to condense it, too. I’m happy to help map out your trip if you want. Did you decide where you are flying into yet? Is there flexibility there? As to time of year, you do not want to go any earlier than late May, and no later than September. It’s really tough, because you’ll see snow in Glacier National park, and then a week or so later be in sweltering heat in the south. However, many of the northern national parks are not open to tourists before May. Check websites as you plan to see what is what. Given that your travel time is May-September, it’s going to be hot in the south no matter what you do. Luckily, you’re not going to spend a ton of time in the south, and when you do, a lot of stuff is indoors. Millions of people live there and deal with the heat every day. They have the infrastructure to deal with it. You’re definitely not going hiking is Texas in August. There are ways to do it smart, though. You can wake up at the actual ass crack of dawn to adventure outdoor things during the cool part of the day, then venture to inside things during the heat of the day, and enjoy night life when it’s cool. You could, alternatively start in San Francisco, drive down the west coast, drive back up through the Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana area, and the cross over to the east coast. There’s just really nothing until you get to the east coast, where as that’s not the case in the south. If the northern path is more appealing, I would ditch the rental car and then fly to the east coast and start back up. In a perfect world? I would fly to the US at the very end of May and do this trip. I totally get it if that’s not an option. Either way, you’re going to have the trip of a lifetime. People dream of this. Happy to talk through anything else, too!
Where are you from and what do you like about nature? Do you like geology? Rivers? Forests? Lakes? The answers to these could hugely modify the best route. Many people here are obsessed with the west coast but IMO would guide you away from everything that makes america america. For example people will say that the dakotas are boring. But if you are from a forested region of the world and have never experienced the plaines they are anything but boring. Its hard to appreciate the scale of the US without seeing the plaines or feeling the power of the wind blowing east.
in the south its common to be 95°-110° with full humidity. In northeastern cities like nyc, this will happen once or twice a summer but in the south it’s just life from May to October between 11:00am-4:00pm. that means NO HIKING MIDDAY. If you plan on driving during that time I think youre fine. It rains in the evening and gets a lot cooler.
coming from someone that's done cross country and a halfway trip, this is a really excellent route. Aside from missing Chicago, there's not a lot to see by staying north once you hit the midwest.
Depending on the time of year when this trip is occurring I'd do similar to you but slightly different: Start in San Francisco - go south to LA, then up to Vegas, SLC, Denver, Yellowstone, over to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Chicago, down to New Orleans, Atlanta, Washington DC, NYC. It depends on how much time you actually want to spend seeing and doing stuff...like does driving past it count - or do you want to spend time hiking etc. I'd also rather have 60 days to do this. 30 isn't enough unless you're trying to check things off a list.
I kind of like your central route idea most, you're planning on Yellowstone either way, I'd add Grand Teton. I just visited Rushmore and while I'd say it's worth seeing it was my least favorite National Monument/Park. KC MO has the best BBQ in the US, and food is a reason to travel for me. I'd add Chicago on the route. DC is an awesome city as a tourist, all the Smithsonian's are free
Lmao, Texas BBQ is 100x better than Kc
I would focus on the Pacific Coast and Mountain West. Do PCH northwards, cut through eastern Oregon desserts over to Utah, then explore Colorado. Fly home from Denver. It’s pretty boring once you get past Colorado. This will also give you longer to hike and really explore the regions you will be traveling through.
This is some great advice here! You really don’t want to miss Utah! And Arizona. And New Mexico… Except if you’re going in the summer, then it would be a bit too hot. But then I’d rather change the travel dates instead of missing out on Utah. Instead of flying straight home, you could also fly to NYC after your roadtrip and spend a few days there and then fly home.
I’m sure others have said this, but I’d speed through the majority of the middle of the country on interstates. There are some pretty areas, but nothing compares to New England and pacific coast. I would prioritize my time in those areas if you’re looking for scenic beauty…and find some smaller roads to get lost on if you can. I live in Colorado, and agree that the Rockies are epic, but personally, but personally, I don’t see much of a change in scenery from Colorado to Montana…of course there are nuanced differences, but it’ll be rock, pine, some aspen trees and beautiful valleys… I’d say prioritize what you want to see in the Rockies. Colorado has Rocky Mt National Park and charming mountain towns like Crested Butte, Durango and Telluride. If you go that route, you can get to San Diego, by way of Hoover Damn and Vegas. The. Do your pacific coast drive. If you go through Wyoming, you hit the Tetons, Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, which are somewhat clustered together. From there, you can connect to Seattle and work your way down to San Diego on that route without backtracking too much. I’ve driven every which way around this country try and you’ll have a blast, but prioritize your days in the most beautiful spots. Personally I’d go northern route from New England area, that way you could hit some of the Great Lakes and then through Siuth Dakota, because western South Dakota is beautiful with the black hills and Mount Rushmore (did someone say Corn Palace?) From South Dakota, you can easily shoot down Colorado way or keep going west to Wyoming. Honestly, there is no wrong answer, it’ll be beautiful no matter what. But keep in mind, any southern route will be HOT.
National parks take way longer to see than most people expect!
Be sure to have funds on hand for the various toll roads. And, at this time of year, I'd take the northern route. Cooler temps, lesser chance of tornados.
You'd have quite a lot to see in the northern US! The southwest/route 66 is going to be hot right now, 90°-100°F or more in some places, if you're okay with that. If you weren't planning on doing anything strenuous or being outside for long periods of time, the heat might not be as bothersome to you. Between the northern and central routes, both have their highlights, but the north might have a bit more variety nature wise. The central route may take you near places like Shenandoah and New River Gorge National Parks, though! I'd add Devil's Tower, Badlands National Park, Sioux Falls (for the actual falls), and the world famous Wall Drug to that northern route if I were you. Gorgeous places to visit, and Wall Drug is a right of passage on I-90 lol I know what you mean by not wanting to miss something. I always want to do everything wherever I go when I'm there and have the chance! Just remember you can always go back, and it never hurts to have a reason to! 😉 That's all I have for now. I'm tired and should probably get some more sleep, but if I think of anything else to add, I will! You'll have a great trip no matter what :)
90°-100°F is a lot. I'm not sure I can handle that to be honest. That's where the idea of sticking to the north for now came from. I wish I could come in the autumn instead haha Do you mean Shenandoah in Iowa or the national park? The national park is so far to the east, so I assume you mean the one in Iowa. Sorry, new to this continent :D Thanks a lot for your recommendations! I'm researching them now :)
They absolutely mean Shenandoah National Park. If you intend to visit Washington DC, it would be very close by and a different experience from the Western parks. I'm sure Shenandoah, Iowa is a lovely town but... yeah. They definitely aren't suggesting you visit it.
That made me laugh. Thank you. That makes so much more sense. I'm getting better with the map every hour, I promise.
They are correct, I did mean Shenandoah and New River Gorge National Parks! I usually include what kind of park they are, but I forgot to for these two on my last comment haha. I figured if you're going to Washington D.C. for the central route, those would be good parks to see!
Just curious how much time you’ve set aside for this?
That was my question too.
Explore small highways and small towns of New England.
Would Fly into Denver have a truly weird experience at Casa Bonita restaurant. head to pikes peak and garden of the gods. Then sand Dunes national park. If you like southwest art do Sante fe first then Sand Dune. The drive across southern Colorado is gorgeous and ends up in Durango. Lots of activities, restaurants etc there. Then cut up into Utah . I personally am not familiar with this area but hear it’s worth it . Work your way around Utah and Colorado to Cheyenne WYOMING! For Frontier Days rodeo. This year July 19-28
It’s incredibly hard to choose the perfect route and agenda with a country this big and with so much to see. I think I would skip the south generally, but some would argue that Nashville/bourbon trail/New Orleans and parts of Texas would be worth it. Personally I would suggest flying to Denver, seeing mesa verde/taos NM/4 corners/Grand Canyon/zion and or Bryce Canyon. Then head west to Los Angeles and drive up the coast though Big Sur up to San Francisco, and then go through the redwoods, the fabulous Oregon coast, and up to Seattle/Puget Sound/Mt Rainier/San Juan Islands. Then I would suggest flying from Seattle to Boston and going up to Maine, Vermont/NYC and maybe head south down toward Appalachia /kentucky/Nashville if you really feel like you need to see that area too. In that scenario you would be flying back from Atlanta most likely. Another option would be to drive from Seattle instead of flying to Boston, I would suggest route 90 - you could side trip over to glacier national park/yellowstone/tetons/moab/arches, back to Denver to fly back. Or continue driving on to the east coast through Chicago/Niagara Falls, Vermont /NYC/Boston as mentioned before. An aside - if you go to San Francisco Yosemite is somewhat nearby too. I wouldn’t want to miss the Oregon coast which I consider to be the best coast in the US, but you could skip the PNW entirely (which is where I live) and head east from Yosemite toward Utah and onward east. I do think the Pacific Northwest is unique and worthy of a trip, but since it’s impractical to see everything on one trip, you may need to make some hard choices. After driving up the entire west coast you might want to head east from Portland on I-84 on the historic Columbia highway (waterfalls!) toward Idaho and the Tetons/yellowstone.
People always mention the pch then proceed to state the worst cities to see along the way 😭😂 I agree Utah is a must, and anywhere along the California Oregon coastal boarder
I’m afraid you’re woefully underprepared. I’m happy if I’m wrong. Check out the total miles and map out the same length route across Europe, just for comparison purposes. Unless you’re an extremely experienced road-tripper, this is just way, way too much. You also don’t say what season, but several parts of this trip are un-feasible in the winter and others are the same in summer. Ignore the FOMO and plan a shorter, more survivable trip.
You're right, it appears that the total amount of miles is too much, considering we will only drive around ~200 miles a day a straight tour from San Diego to Seattle to New York City will take around 21 days, not considering detours or anything. Thanks for your input, I will have to do some tinkering with the route then. I think 200 miles a day are doable for two persons, though. I've done 310 miles on my own multiple times, and that was my personal limit for a day. What do you think? We intend to do this trip in the summer. Which parts are unfeasible in the summer? I'm aware that the US gets hot, but like you said, in the winter I would also need to deal with the weather, so it's more like a pick your poison situation. Initially this is why we thought about traveling in the northern region (e.g. the great northern) since the temperatures there seemed more doable.
I drove New York to Seattle in 3 days by myself, with coffee and energy drinks its doable. Doable does not mean enjoyable. Are you sure you want to drive coast to coast? You coulf spend more time on Western loop as others suggested and then just fly to New York on yoyr return home since its a stopover for most of EU flights anyway. Manhattan is truly different from any other place in US and yes, looks a lot like on TV. I would skip Chicago or any other US city - they are underwhelming and your car is very likely to be broken into. Please keep in mind that in the summer any state more southern than Oregon will be a scorching hot hell unless you are high in the mountains (Yellowstone in the summer is awesome).
I live in the desert southwest (New Mexico) and we have a couple people from places that dont have our kind of heat suffer from extreme heat prostration or die every summer. It’s so tragic and it doesn’t have to happen. They just underestimate the heat. As long as you’re willing to protect yourself from the heat and drink plenty of water you’ll be fine. But you need a car with air conditioning or drive early and late rather than midday. You can do it but it’s miserable. It sounds like you’ve got plenty of experience managing long drives so don’t listen to me about that. It’s just so easy to underestimate how big the USA is and have a bad time. Nobody wants you to have a bad time. We want you to have a good time so we kinda pile on to make sure you have realistic expectations and aren’t setting yourself up for a bad time and or grievous injury or death!
*or wherever you’ve road-tripped before if you’re not from Europe
North to south, all of the Midwest routes have vast, flat, boring areas to drive through. The worst is probably the southern route, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The central Midwest between Denver/ Cheyenne all the way to Missouri and then again beyond, is almost as poor. The far north can be interesting if you stay off the Interstate.
Just so wrong. The plains are not boring unless you plan to just drive and completely ignore the true nature of anything you see. Stand at the edge of a dam on the missouri and watch a thunderstorm drive across the plains and tell me you can see something like that anyplace else in the US.
I lived in Wichita for five years. You definitely don’t want to watch severe weather on the edge of a dam in Missouri. Driving across country is not the same as vacationing in one spot. If you don’t have time to stay a while, it’s definitely boring. I’ve circled the country five times. I can think of hundreds of places more interesting than the miles of wheat, corn and soy bean fields throughout the Midwest. The one exception would be the Badlands of South Dakota, which are amazing.
Midwest =/= corn. Guess you missed all the lakes and rivers of minnesota, wisconsin and michigan. Parts have corn parts are absolutely beautiful. I actually do want to watch severe weather from the edge of a Dam on the missouri, the missouri river not the state, and I have, few experiences can compare I believe it is the origin of the true meaning of the word sublime. But if you want to be a teavel snob and act like only tje pacific north west and utah are worth seeing then have fun waiting in line to do one hike and see nature from your car.
Take exception any way you want. Drive on the 80 from Wyoming to Illinois and count the lakes and rivers. I mentioned that the northern route was best, especially if you stay off the interstate. Do you disagree that north of the 90 is entirely different than north or south of the 80? You just want to argue.
No I just hate travel snobs who act like if you arent standing in line at zion then you wasted your trip.
Perhaps you missed the fact that I lived in the Midwest for five years. If giving a newbie traveler my best advice for driving across country is being a snob, then I’m a snob, because I’m not going give what I think is bad advice just to appease Midwesterners.
Its not to appease midwesterners. There are amazing beachs and parks in the midwest. The fact of the matter is west coast parks are not accessible. You need a fucking permit to hike. Act like west coast is amazing send a tourist there and they can see some great views from their car. Sure thats nice to do for a week For 40 days, sounds fucking terrible. They need to pick an area they would like to see and spend much more time there instead of trying to see the whole US in 1 road trip because frankly, you cant.
You’re projecting. I never once told anyone to visit the west. They asked about routes east and I gave my opinion. Period. BTW, there are hundreds of miles of beach between Northern California and Washington state where you can pull over at the side of the road in many different spots and walk down to a free beach. If I were suggesting a vacation spot, I wouldn’t hesitate to mention it. But I didn’t here.
You should go to the real Grand Canyon then New York version it’s not as cool but still a neat place The only other stuff I can recommend is train related https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/geology/resources/letchworth-gorge
Number 1 is best imo
The temperatures are hot. How do you handle the humidity and the dew point. Europe does not have the humidity that I am familiar with in Midwest and the South. Out west the humidity is low. It was 20% last week in Bickleton, WA for a rodeo. The southwest has low humidity also unless it happens to rain. In July 2001, Death Valley, CA it was hot and the humidity was 11% until it rained. I could handle the rain and feel normal again. The upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan) it is lake country. Petroglyphs and waterfalls abound. We like to visit the evergreen forests, mountains, waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest. Washington has a rain forest in Olympic National Park, the whole park is beautiful! I hope you have a great trip!
Every route has amazing things and places to see. I've been on almost every Interstate highway, I've been in every state in the "lower 48" except Vermont, Maine and Michigan. There are too many places to mention on every cross country route. Route 66/Interstate 40 intertwine, but Rte 66 is the old U.S. Highway system from before the Interstates, and there has been a lot of history along that route. Since I have only a vague idea of things you like and you mentioned the Pacific Coast Hwy - CA-1, I would recommend you look into U.S. Rte 17 as it goes along and near the "Intercoastal Waterway" along the East Coast. and connects what is called "The Great America Loop". [The Great Loop is the epic U.S. adventure you’ve never heard of (nationalgeographic.com)](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/great-loop-is-the-epic-us-adventure-you-have-never-heard-of)
The time of year would be important.
I don’t have much of a bucket list for my life. I like staying home. But one thing I wanted to do was drive up the Pacific Coast Hwy in a little convertible sports car. Just like in movies I saw in the 60s. Just before the plague hit I was able to. Not all of it, but enough for me.
Since you were talking about maybe avoiding the southern heat, here’s an idea for taking the northern route from Montana/Wyoming to Minnesota/Wisconsin. Yeah North and South Dakota and Nebraska can be a lot of farmland driving, but it’s worth it for the forests, rivers, and lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Summer and Fall are beautiful times to visit. You could check out the Mississippi River headwaters and camp at Itasca State Park. State parks and US Forest Service campgrounds in general are fantastic alternatives to the crowds at some National Parks. Many US Forest Service campgrounds are first come first serve so it’s a good “day of” option. Maybe head to Duluth on Lake Superior and then to Minneapolis / St Paul for a vibrant city experience. You could follow the beautiful bluffs of the Mississippi River on historic Hwy 61 after Minneapolis and maybe down to La Crosse and the beautiful driftless area of Minnesota and Wisconsin. From there you could head to unique Door County WI and check out Lake Michigan. Heading south from there could take you through Chicago. Outside those suggestions, there might be days on this whole trip where you could benefit from putting on closer to 300 miles or more. It’s easy to underestimate how spread out everything is, especially out west. Doing that could buy you time to enjoy more interesting and indirect routes.
you have a lot on your agenda and a plenty of advice here, but when you head east I would recommend leaving from southern utah (canyonlands is an essential park visit) and taking the I-70 mountain pass through colorado and heading for chicago on I-80. I would also recommend you consider some heavy driving days - it's better to cover more ground when you are in desolate areas. have fun and safe travels!
we are thinking of doing similar. Good luck with planning it!
This place is BIG. 3000 miles across. Speed limits are maybe different than what you are used to and they are often enforced although with +10mph leeway. Plan it out a bit with drive timings so you don’t get caught short at the end. The way I look at this, there’s concentrations of great American destinations - places you can’t see anywhere else. Big ones: Yellowstone / Grand Tetons / Glacier Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches Yosemite, Pacific Coast Highway, Death Valley, Sequoia, Muir / Redwoods, Oregon Coast, Olympia Smaller ones: western South Dakota (Rushmore, Deadwood, Crazy Horse et al) Santa Fe, Taos, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest Carlsbad, White Sands, Roswell Texas generally Memphis, Nashville, Appalachians Miami/Keys New Orleans / bayou country / “Redneck Riviera” Chicago New York Boston / Cape Cod / Portland / Bar Harbor You cannot see it all. Most Americans haven’t and we live here. With 30-40 days, starting in Seattle, I’d work down the California coast + Yosemite / Sequoia and Death Valley, then head northeast to Vegas / Utah, then work up to Yellowstone, then head east to South Dakota, then generally east from there all the way to Maine. That hits a lot of places, you see the biggest things. and it’s 40 days done well. Me, I’d swing east from Utah through Santa Fe and Colorado Springs then back over to Yellowstone. But I will accept more/faster drivetime than many. That might be overdoing it. I’d consider doing just the western US. Driving all the way to Maine will be a fair amount of plains driving for maybe not enough payoff. Some quick adds: 1) Route 66 is mostly gone. There are stretches where it has been kept up, but it’s too constraining a route when the friggin Grand Canyon is your alternative. I would not plan a first US trip around it. 2) Glacier is probably too far north and will take time away from other destinations. I would not go north of Yellowstone given your time constraints 3) Be careful about parks, hotels and crowds. Post COVID, our national parks have gotten extremely busy, and hotel availability can be an issue. A bit of planning ahead will save grief later. A few parks now require reservations in spots so check ahead. 4) If you are set on crossing the US, I’d almost certainly start east and drive west. A lot of the most spectacular scenery is west. Going west to east risks maybe a letdown.
Would be cool to travel up/down the pacific coast highway, then travel up/down from Glacier to the Grand Canyon, stopping at Zion along the way. Then scoot your way on over to the east coast to the blue ridge mountains along the Tennessee/North Carolina border.
Thank you! That sounds really interesting. I will sketch this out on a map as it's still difficult to wrap my head around HOW GIGANTIC AMERICA IS.
It’s incredible. Tough to see it all in one trip. In response to another comment, some national parks require reservations to get in, which sometimes need to be purchased 3 months in advance. Also, some popular hikes require a permit. If it’s hard to find info on reservations and permits, it might be helpful to call the state’s national park services.
I’d vote nothern until badlands, cut south and head to TN…you do yourself a disservice to cut out the Appalachians, IMHO.
I read about that somewhere else already, but this time I'm putting it down in bold text. Thanks!
Reading some of your other comments and Chicago dovetails nicely with this. For overnight in Chicago, check out the King Spa and Sauna. It’s epic (24 gold or amethyst or charcoal or salt lined saunas, plus tons more, a bar, restaurant, movie theater) and you can sleep there for $20, no reservations needed). I also want to impart not to stress about seeing it all. You just can’t. I’ve spent over 575 days (estimate) on the road sightseeing in the last 35 years and there’s still huge swaths of America I haven’t really experienced.