road trip around the west

I love this site, helped me a lot when I was planning my trip to amsterdam and I have been doing a lot of reading up on my next trip. Unfortunately I dont know where to post this since it covers a lot of diff states so I am going to try here:

It is looking like a 3 week trip to be held sometime this summer. I have been using MSFT Mappoint to map out the stops I have in mind plugging in a few diff values here and there for nights spent at each stop to try to come up with a good sequence of stops and rough timeline. here is what I have so far...I am at work right now so I can post more details when I get home and have the aforementioned map in front of me but I wanted to start somewhere:

First let me start by saying I am interested in hiking, mountain biking, off-roading (hope to be renting a jeep or some sort of capable suv for the journey), camping, and if possible atv rentals. I am real big on ';auto-tourism'; be it on scenic rural routes or off-road trails through the wilderness, also big on the atv riding if it fits into the plan somewhere. The hiking and mountainbiking are things I want to do and think I would enjoy (mostly since I know ATVs arent allowed in most places) but things that I in all honesty havent done in a while. I hope to get back in shape and start hiking/biking regularly over the next 6 months to ';train'; so i can get the most out of this trip.

anyhow,

Fly into vegas and drive, stopping at the hoover dam towards the grand canyon. I would like to see the GC and also Zion natl park to do the river hike thing. Not sure how much time I need for each of these and what the best order for these stops would be.

From there I plan on stopping by the canyonlands for 2-3 nights and doing either some off-roading or biking/hiking to see the different areas (probably just Maze, needles, island in the sky)

Then off to black canyon of the gunnison for a night or two (I want to hike into the canyon if possible) and then off for just one night to catch a concert at Red Rocks in denver.

Then up to Grant Teton and Yellowstone. My initial thought was 2 nights at GT and 3 at YS, but I am not quite sure what I will be doing here....Lake solitude looks like a reasonable and rewarding hike at GT, and since im going im sure i should see old faithful at YS but I dont have a real interest in wildlife tours (prefer to see my wildlife while hiking or something) so I dont know what else to plan on doing at this stop.

From here I WAS going to go to glacier but it just wont all fit in so I am gonig to leave GNP and Olympic for a future trip. So next stop will be redwood NP to camp for a night or two, then down the coast to big sur for a night before cutting across to Yosemite. I am planning on 3 nights at Yosemite where I MUST do the hike to Half Dome.

After Yosemite, down to sequoia np for a night or two, before a stop in death valley and then onto LV.

I wouldnt mind getting some fishing in on the trip if there is someplace exceptional along the way (no fly fishing though), hell im open to anything, skydiving (would be first time), whitewater rafting (wouldnt be) and although I really want to camp some places, like redwood, big sur, and sequoia...I am sure I will need a few hotels along the way to recover from how tiring it will all be so any advice as to where to stay in a hotel and where i really should camp is also appreciated.

My timeline is pretty wide open. It will be me and a friend (both in mid 20s) so we dont have to go on summer break or anything and I figured if we go just after (I am thinking september) we could miss a lot of the crowds and some of the heat but I dont want to go late if I am going to be sacraficing the experience in any way. One thing that will likely dictate the exact dates of the trip will be the concert schedule at Red Rocks, but I just want to see a good show, not a specific artist so I dont think that will dictate the month that I pick or anything.

so there it is, the rough (ROUGH) overview. Thanks for reading it all and I look forward to any and all advice you care to offer. I know yosemite is only one piece of this so im sorry if this is considered ';off topic'; but i just wanted to start somewhere :)

road trip around the west

Our planning and trip sound kind of simular. I am using MSFT Streets %26amp; Trips. Planning on going in May-June for 1 month. The only BIG difference in our trips is that I%26#39;ll have kids and can%26#39;t really do much of the hiking type stuff. It will start over in Monument Valley, UT to the GC, then Hoover, then Vegas, up to Death Valley then down to Disneyland (kids) then all the way up the coast to San Fran, then over to Yosemite. From there back to the coast and on up to Washington to visit with my brother for a few days. Then it%26#39;s Yellowstone and on down and over to Rocky Mountain NP in Colrado and back down to home. Not doing any camping, all hotels all the time.

Good luck with your trip!

road trip around the west

Sounds pretty spectacular. You are wise to stay in Yosemite for at least 3 nights, esp. if you are hiking Half Dome, as iot will give you a chance to adjust to altitude. Speaking of which, you may also be interested in some high country hiking/ backpacking from Tuolumne Meadows while you%26#39;re in Yosemite as well.

If you%26#39;re into ATV%26#39;s you may want to get out to Florence, Oregon. They have the largest sand dunes in North America. You can rent dune buggies and have a blast. Also, hiking around the base of Mount Hood is fabulous. Take the trail up and beyond Multnomah Falls. You%26#39;ll lose the crowds and it%26#39;s courgeous.

I%26#39;d say two nights in Yellowstone would work well for you. We entered early in the morning on the east side at Cody. We made a left and went down to the lake; then began making our way toward Mammoth. We stopped at the mud volcano for a ranger talk and hike which involved having to wait a while for the buffalo to decide to move on so we could pass. Then on to the falls. About dusk we arrived at Mammoth. Stayed overnight in a cabin there, which was a great experience--rather like camp as a kid. Spotlessly clean cabins, good beds, sink in the cabin, showers and toilets a few steps away. The next day, more falls and a stop at Norris for a ranger led talk, then on to Old Faithful area where we spent the night--again in a cabin. Yellowstone is filled with hiking trails; the book stores have lots of books with information. We spent two days and hiked very little, just went to see the ';oddities';: paint pots, ground that burns, many, many gysers, lots and lots of waterfalls--and many more if you hike--mud volcano. The area is so geologically hot that it is totally fascinating. There is no other spot on earth like it. The falls are probably the most underrated feature: even in the middle of the summer, there are tons, more than Yeosmite. I think as a hiker you%26#39;ll be in your element there, and possibly you haven%26#39;t allowed enough time because each hike will take you to totally unfamiliar areas.

The next day we drove to Jackson Hole--didn%26#39;t stop to ';do'; anything in the Tetons, but we certainly did ogle them. The Tetons are wonderfully beautiful, but your hikes will be more ';typical'; mountain hikes than the hikes you make in Yellowstone, though that will be mountain also.

Opps, I meant Three nights at Yellowstone. When you leave Yellowstone at the south end for the Tetons (admission for Yellowstone covers Grand Teton Nat. Park also), it%26#39;s a nothing drive--we were in Jackson Hole in time for a late lunch.

so it sounds like instead of 2 full days of yellowstone and 2 full of GT it would be better to do 3 in yellowstone and then maybe a relaxing one day in GT?

I%26#39;d say so; the Tetons are beautiful, but they are not that different from any other mountains--except to the eye from a distance. Yellowstone, of the other hand.....words fail me.

The Slick Rock Trail is a mountain biking Mecca. Moab is the stopping place for this. You can get on a river run here as well. Arches National Park is also a must see - great hikes. Check out Mesa Verde for Anasazi INdian ruins.