Trip Planning Help

Finally making my western trip. Leaving NC last week in August through third week in Sept. Camping, MTN and a few motels. Other than the obvious well known destinations; black Hills area, Yellowstone, Glacier, Oregon & Calif coast, Southern Utah, Pikes Peak and others .... any suggestions on "musST sees"?

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

You will be in the area to see Devils Tower and the Buffalo Bill museum in Cody. No bad choices.

There were many standouts on my recent trip. I had a blast on the La Sal Mountain Loop that adjoins Arches National Park in Utah. It has great scenery, curves and lacked traffic. Second was Crater Lake National Park. It has views that are so perfect the mind has a hard time accepting they are real.

bullseye53537 said:

There were many standouts on my recent trip. I had a blast on the La Sal Mountain Loop that adjoins Arches National Park in Utah. It has great scenery, curves and lacked traffic. Second was Crater Lake National Park. It has views that are so perfect the mind has a hard time accepting they are real.

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I was on the fence on Crater National Park .. you just pushed me over. Haven't heard of the La Sal Mtn Loop ... I want all of Utah I can get. Just looked it up - definetely on the list.

Thanks. Anything else?

fnmag said:

As you'll be in Southern Utah have a look at Zion and Goosenecks and go to Moki Dugway.
It could take a lifetime to experience this country west of the Mississippi River. You're making a good start.

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Understand the lifetime statement ... trying to get all in I can on this trip as there won't be another one. I had already checked out the Moki Dugway ... no problem navigating it on a packed ST? Zion already on list. Goosenecks looks fascinating - don't know how I missed that one! THANKS.

dohboy said:

You will be in the area to see Devils Tower and the Buffalo Bill museum in Cody. No bad choices.

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Devils Tower is on the list. Not much of a museum guy but may take in the a Buffalo Bill one ..

When you're at Arches, take in Dead Horse Point. And don't forget the North Rim.

Sam - Here's a map/pictures that might give you some ideas -

http://www.unclephil.us/West2009Home.htm

If you click through the days, you'll get some ideas and what the places look like. Have a great trip! Definitely do Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon and the North Canyonlands!

Uncle Phil said:

Sam - Here's a map/pictures that might give you some ideas -

http://www.unclephil.us/West2009Home.htm

If you click through the days, you'll get some ideas and what the places look like. Have a great trip! Definitely do Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon and the North Canyonlands!

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Thanks, Phil ...... especially for the link. Glanced through it and will read it completely real soon. Excellent travelog. N Canyonlands wasn't on my radar but will look into it. Monument and Bryce were definetely already on the list. Before I started thinking about this trip I was not even considering Utah. Now it seems that I will be spending the most time there. Apparently it is a fascinating destination. Not planning on hitting northern Utah due to time constraints. Is that a mistake?

California is the state that is giving me the most problem deciding on what to see and what not to see (again, ... due to time ... the lack thereof!) The state is so long. I believe I will avoid the big cities. Is Yosemite a must? What about hwy 1, etc., etc., etc.?

Buddy said:

When you're at Arches, take in Dead Horse Point. And don't forget the North Rim.

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Buddy ... thank you for the info and your extra info and suggestions in your pm. From what I have read, my plan is to take in only the north rim and bypass the southern in the interest of time available to me. I especially appreciate your suggestion on what to see in the Arches. There is so much to see in Utah in the various Nat'l paks, etc it is hard to know specifically what one should see within the park(s)!?!

NCSam said:

Thanks, Phil ...... especially for the link. Glanced through it and will read it completely real soon. Excellent travelog. N Canyonlands wasn't on my radar but will look into it. Monument and Bryce were definetely already on the list. Before I started thinking about this trip I was not even considering Utah. Now it seems that I will be spending the most time there. Apparently it is a fascinating destination. Not planning on hitting northern Utah due to time constraints. Is that a mistake?

California is the state that is giving me the most problem deciding on what to see and what not to see (again, ... due to time ... the lack thereof!) The state is so long. I believe I will avoid the big cities. Is Yosemite a must? What about hwy 1, etc., etc., etc.?

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California traffic can be a bummer as well. Personally I would avoid Lake Tahoe.

Crater Lake is a must see and has many roads with little traffic nearby.

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NCSam said:

I was on the fence on Crater National Park .. you just pushed me over.

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Good choice. The spectacular, royal blue color of the water is a site to see.

One thing that needs to be taken into account any time you are traveling in the western US is wildfire. The smoke and haze from these fires can cover quite a large area and can ruin what are ordinarily nice scenic views. Unfortunately, summer is wildfire season so it's a good idea to keep a close watch on what's going on with the western forests. You can do this via a government wildfire site called Geomac:

http://wildfire.usgs.gov/geomac/viewer/viewer.shtml

In 2002 I attended a summer ST meet in Ashland, Oregon not far from Crater Lake. The day my riding buddy and I rode to Crater lake, the sky was clear. The folks who went to Crater Lake the next day however, found the area enveloped by smoke and haze from nearby fires. Even in Ashland, the sky was hazy and the smell of wood smoke was in the air.

There are some years when the entire western US seems to be on fire so it's a good idea to check before you leave and plan accordingly.

In checking today's Geomac, I see that there is a fire north of Crater Lake called the "Bunker Hill Complex". Can't tell how far from the lake it is because the site no longer seems to have map layers for roads & cities (they changed the website several years ago). At any rate, it might be worth you time to give Crater Lake National Park a call to see what the conditions are like.

Sam - The North Canyonlands (just slightly north of Moab) has this spectacular place called Grandview Point. You have to ride all the way in, but to me it is more spectacular than the Grand Canyon. There's so much to see, so our trip was to squeeze as much as we could as quick as we could due to time constraints - Dave was from the UK and didn't know if he would ever be able to come back. So we did a pretty 'thorough' list of the parks and monuments. Crater Lake is an incredible place to see but you'll probably find that you will have to skip some places like we did. We had to forget Zion as there was just not enough time. Yosemite is interesting, but you can spend a lot of time in traffic if you go to the valley 'floor'. And the speed limit is closely 'watched' in the park so you can't make much time passing through it. Hope you have a great and safe trip!

Mick said:

Good choice. The spectacular, royal blue color of the water is a site to see.

In 2002 I attended a summer ST meet in Ashland, Oregon not far from Crater Lake. The day my riding buddy and I rode to Crater lake, the sky was clear. The folks who went to Crater Lake the next day however, found the area enveloped by smoke and haze from nearby fires. Even in Ashland, the sky was hazy and the smell of wood smoke was in the air.
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Mick - I bet that was WeSToc as I was out there also. Smelt like an ash tray most days but we got to see Crater Lake on one of the clear days. ;-)

I don't know if its a "must see" but when crossing Wyoming, I'd stay on the north end and cross the bighorns instead of taking I80. Both the north and sound crossings of the Bighorns are a nice ride. I80 on the sound end of Wyoming is a pretty painful ride and has too much truck traffic. Bear lake Utah is also pretty cool. There is a KOA there that's quite nice. Bear Lake to Logan is a nice ride. Skip North Dakota unless you want to check out the badlands. Medora has some neat history but is expensive. In general North Dakota does not provide much good riding.

Uncle Phil said:

Mick - I bet that was WeSToc as I was out there also. Smelt like an ash tray most days but we got to see Crater Lake on one of the clear days. ;-)

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Yep, was indeed WeSTOC.

I've got a picture somewhere of the gathering for the group photo where you can see the haze in the air. On one of the event days, we rode over to Gold Beach and were almost turned back because of fires in the area. They let us through but I got the impression from what the soldiers said (OR Nat. Guard?) that we would probably be the last before they got things under control. Rough road in places but the scenery was great. Had the smell of smoke in my nostrils the whole way.

When we were in Colorado Springs 2 weeks ago we did the Cog railroad to Pikes Peak and then road around the mountain to the Cripple Creek area. We paid $20 each to take a tour of the Mollie Kathleen Gold mine. A great and very informative tour 1000 feet down in the earth. You get another perspective looking at the inside of the mountain.

Mick said:

....... One thing that needs to be taken into account any time you are traveling in the western US is wildfire. The smoke and haze from these fires can cover quite a large area and can ruin what are ordinarily nice scenic views. Unfortunately, summer is wildfire season so it's a good idea to keep a close watch on what's going on with the western forests......

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That's something I would never had thought of! Hopefully September is not a bad burn period??? Thanks for the advice. My wife said that with all of the reports of fires, mud slides and earthquakes out west I had better take my trip soon or there won't be anything left! So sad about all that beautiful pristine land being destroyed.

NCSam said:

That's something I would never had thought of! Hopefully September is not a bad burn period???

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Yes, it definitely can be. The WeSTOC event that had so much smoke was in late August (24th through 27th). Best to check before you go.

Because you have mentioned wanting to go to Zion, you should also visit Bryce Canyon which is just up the road. And, as long as you are in the area, riding Highway 12 through Grand Escalante National Monument, either from Torrey to Bryce or vice versa, should be on the list. It is spectacular.

The Pacific coast is amazing, but realistically, with only three weeks to ride, you might want to forget about riding all the way to the west coast and, instead, concentrate on the Rockies, from Montana south. Just a thought.