austinschutz
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 p.5 #6 · Best Locations to shoot/visit in the USA for a visitor. | |
I think you have gotten some great recommendations so far. Southern Utah is wonderful, and Moab would be a great place to set up as a base (or any one of the numerous surrounding camp-grounds). It sounds like a trip that hits Santa Fe, the Grand Canyon, Moab, Yellowstone (Moab to Yellowstone will be quite a drive) would be a great idea. I will make recommendations for going north starting at Salt Lake City (as that area is where I am from) it would make a lot of sense to start in the southern part of the country, and head north via the route I'm outlining here, then heading west to the Washington coast, and heading south from there (or the reverse).
Salt Lake City is a fun place that is worth spending half a day to a day in, but no longer. Check out temple square, as it is the equivalent of the Vatican for the LDS church and has a lot of interesting/beautiful architecture. Downtown has some interesting landmarks like the city library (which is very modern and a cool architectural landmark), Abravanel hall (which has an incredible blown glass art piece that is 30' high and hosts the Utah symphony), the state capital, and Eccles theater (Eccles theater isn't architecturally significant, but if you want to see some entertainment is a good place to catch various types of performances). Also the Utah Jazz (professional basketball) play, and going to the games can be fun and affordable.
From Salt Lake City take I-15 north to Island Park (http://www.westyellowstonenet.com/island_park_idaho/) (http://www.islandparkidaho.com/ACTIVITIES/MESAFALLS.html), which sits adjacent to Yellowstone. This will take about 4.5 hours, and on the way you can stop at Pocatello Idaho and get a Pizza Bomb (calzone) and beer at Goody's. From Island Park you can go to West Yellowstone, and the rest of Yellowstone proper. You can easily spend as much time as you want in this area of the country, there are lots of fun amenities around Island Park and Yellowstone, as well as the amazing landscapes. I feel that Island Park and Mesa Falls are easily missed, but well worth it if you are near Yellowstone.
From West Yellowstone, take highway 191 down to Grand Teton National Park. This is another beautiful place near Yellowstone that many people neglect to visit (https://www.nps.gov/GRTE/planyourvisit/index.htm).
From Teton Village you can head back to to Idaho Falls, and then head north on I-15 to I-90 and drive to Missoula. Missoula is a fun town, and the Bitterroot Valley (which is just a 45 minute drive) has some stunning hiking. I love to go to Stevensville and hike St. Mary's peak, but driving to Glacier rather than taking that hike will probably be more enjoyable (however I do highly recommend going to the Hamilton area and checking out the hiking, especially since I have you passing through this area twice (http://www.waterfallsmontana.com/waterfalls.aspx?id=11) (http://www.alltrails.com/us/montana/hamilton). From Missoula you will go north to the Kalispell/Whitefish/Columbia area, and up to Glacier National Park (https://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm). The West side of the state is much prettier than the central/east side, which is why I recommend going to Glacier this direction, rather than passing nearer to Great Falls and going through Helena (Helana is beautiful, however). You could easily spend as much time as you wanted in this area, as well.
From there, you will head back to Missoula, then go West on I-90 through Cour d'Alene (which is a great place to spend a day, it is a beautiful area). From there you can drive to the coast of Washington, and take a trip from Puget Sound and down the coast all the way through California, as I think other people have recommended. Once you pass Cour d'Alene I'm unfamiliar with the area. The Idaho panhandle is also beautiful, so if you wanted you could head south to Grangeville, ID. There is a ton of hiking, lots of tiny towns, etc. I love this area of the country, but I think it makes more sense to head to the west coast from here. Hope you enjoy your trip, either the spring or fall should be beautiful, but prepare to be cold in Yellowstone, and especially Glacier, either way. The trip through the West I've outline should have some fantastic landscapes.
EDIT: I read your post on the last page. With the national parks you don't have to do much hiking to see beautiful landscapes, etc. The base camp idea sounds great, and it looks like you pretty well have things planned out. When you go to Yellowstone definitely consider some of the surrounding national parks, and also consider glacier (while noting that it is a bit out of the way of some of the other stuff you are wanting to see...although not horribly far from Washington). Hope you have a great trip. If I were still in Salt Lake and you were traveling through I'd offer you a spare room to stay in, but I have moved to the other side of the country. I can't wait to see the photos that come out of your trip! : )
Edited on Dec 04, 2016 at 10:21 PM · View previous versions
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The roads are narrow and often twisty. A small van based RV (a slightly larger version of the old VW camper) would probably work for this. You don't need a four wheel drive vehicle for most places as off road travel is illegal in parks.
