Western US road trip

Sadly many once normal "tourist attractions" and historical sites are either closed or have limited operating hours due to COVID. This includes some State and Federal Parks. A friend of mine went to Santa Fe last week and said it was like a ghost town. The Plaza and several shopping areas had no merchants. He described it as eerily scary, kinda like walking around Jackson Square with no artists or music playing.

Definitely drive back along the scenic route. Just do some homework and plan ahead with an itinerary of where to stop, and things to do. Would suck to show up at a destination on your bucket list and it be closed

US 50 across Nevada. Loneliest highway in America. Awesome mountain ranges across the heart of the great basin.

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Zion and Bryce are just north of the Grand Canyon in Utah and they are probably better national park stops

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Zion sees more visitors than Yosemite these days.

If you're going to that part of the world, and loking for more of an off the beaten path stuff to do, research Kanab, Ut. It's on the east side of Zion and WAY less crowded than overpriced Springdale (expect to spend $300-$400 a night in an near Springdale). There's lots to do from Lake Powell to Big Water to Paria, UT. If you are in that area look into a ATV/UTV rental for the day.

There is some surprisingly good fishing within 1 hour of Bryce Canyon.

Good call on the January part

One day/night at the canyon is plenty. Stop in Sedona on your way to Scottsdale. Stay at Amara. Eat at Elote or Mariposa. Hike Devils Bridge and/or West Fork Trail. In Scottsdale check out Four Peaks Brewery.

Hit Zion and Bryce Canyon

In Springdale now, finished up hiking the Narrows in Zion earlier. Got a solid room at Zion Canyon Lodge for ~$100/night. That said, Kanab does look really cool. Drove though late last night and agreed it looked like a nice place to stay and central to lots of sites.

FYI, to anyone coming out this way, plan a route well and have a backup plan. We ran into 2 sections of hwy/rd closures (think rock slides for both) and trusted google maps to find another way. Damn near got stuck in a rental on a gravel road (that's being very generous) and a 9hr drive from Grand Canyon to Springdale (via, horseshoe bend) ended up being almost 18hrs.

Great places to see out west. If you get a chance, do some road trips in California while out there as well. I took 2 road trips out west on my motorcycle years ago and would live the opportunity to go back and take a family road trip. The forests in Northern California are beautiful. Ave of the giants is worth the trip up there. It looked completely prehistoric to me. The huge trees and forests do thick the sunlight barely makes it to the ground. Big ferns and huge trees. I wouldn’t have been surprised if a dinosaur had of run across the road. It’s like nothing I’d ever seen before. Not sure how safe those backroads are now in humbolt county but I road through a lot of sketchy areas.

In Utah I would take the loop through Zion, Bryce, escalante, canyonlands, and arches NP. I rode that loop in a day, but wish I had more time spend at each one. Dead horse State Park is beautiful as well. Southern Utah is other worldly. I think they could fence of the entire area and call it one big National Park. The entire area is great.

The day before, I rode from Taos NM to arches np and that was a great day. Taos to chama, pagoda springs, Durango. (Million dollar highway) Silverton, ourey, naturita. There is just so much to see out there.

Riding through Yosemite there is just so much to see. I started in Fresno and rode up into it from the south. Rode over to the scenic outlook, then down to the river and El Capitan. I then rode east back behind half dome and high meadows and exited at Lee vining and mono lake ( high plains drifter was filmed here) and recommend that route highly. I then rode north and came back through the Sierra nevadas at the next pass. Through Strawberry. It was a great ride. The day before that one was a ride through sequoia np and king’s canyon. They weren’t as beautiful as Yosemite, but were incredible nonetheless.

There is just so much to see out there and I just self-identifying know if I’d ever get back ( I went 2 years in a row) I wanted to see as much as I could. The first year I went solo, and the second I met a buddy out there and we spent a week riding California. Good times.

Y’all will have a blast. Just take as much time as you can making trips while out there. You won’t regret it.