Road Tripping Western USA (SFO to DEN)

ash28

cubegame wrote: »

Cheers for the feedback. We are very keen to see the North Rim as it's supposed to be much more impressive (and quieter) than the South.


It seems the accommodation at the North Rim lodge is long since all booked; but we wouldn't be booking ahead anyway.

The North Rim is much quieter than the South and it is really impressive, it's one of my favourite places, perhaps because of it's remoteness. Some of the trails and views are special. Part of the Lodge has spectacular views, however it's the South Rim that has the iconic views used in photos....if you can stand the crowds.



We stayed in a cabin when we visited - small but perfectly formed!

greg.bob

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

I would thoroughly recommend the Alcatraz tour in San Francisco - one of the best excursions we've done.

Two important points to note.

1. Book well in advance, otherwise you'll be disappointed - it's one of the most popular gigs there.

Late morning is a good time to get across - gives you time to get your act together, find your way to the departure wharf and still have plenty of time on The Rock.

2. Only book through the official US Federal National Parks Service website.

Other online agencies simply buy their tickets from them, and add on "a nice little earner" commission before reselling them to the public.

I just wanted to be another voice to say that you really need to make sure you do this. We left it until 10 days before to try and book and there was nothing available for weeks.

cubegame

greg.bob wrote: »

I just wanted to be another voice to say that you really need to make sure you do this. We left it until 10 days before to try and book and there was nothing available for weeks.

We've already done Alcatraz on a Seattle to San Diego trip some years ago. I agree it needs to be booked way in advance though
!

travellerboy

Dead Horse State Park is definitely worthy of a few hours when in Moab (Arches). We also did a Ballon Trip, worth every penny, landed on the slick rocks. https://canyonlandsballooning.com/

travellerboy

......what have you missed :-
90 miles from Monument Valley is Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle. Spider Rock is the focal point of the Canyon, an organised Navajo tour is essential. Check out the film “MacKenna’s Gold” and the haunting song - https://youtu.be/NuAsGCmp8Jc

We did a similar tour a few years ago. I would recommend you take the short flight from SFO to Vegas, you will save a lot of time and enjoy more - Death Valley really is boring. Stay overnight in Vegas then onto the grand circle and beyond.......

EssexExile

travellerboy wrote: »

Death Valley really is boring.

It rained while we were there. Still 98 in American degrees though.

cubegame

Well this turned out to be very do-able in the end without too much rushing (we ended up with one late one where we arrived at a hotel at 11:30 pm after lingering for a sunset in Arches). The SUV showed a total of 2991 miles when we finally rocked up to the hire car lot in Denver yesterday.

In the end we did:-

San Francisco
Yosemite National Park
Mono Lake
Bodie Ghost Town State Park
Death Valley National Park
Red Rock Canyon
Las Vegas
Valley of Fire State Park
Zion National Park (both units)
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Bryce Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park (North Rim)
Horseshoe Bend
Monument Valley
Natural Bridges National Monument
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park (Islands in The Sky)
Dead Horse Point State Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Denver (Botanical Garden and State Capitol)

The only thing we regretted missing was Antelope Canyon. Unfortunately it's just so busy nowadays that it's practically impossible for a road tripper who's not working to a particular day which they can book in advance. We showed up at the parking lot for Lower Canyon to see if they had any cancellations but no luck.

The only things we should have missed were Las Vegas and Dead Horse Point State Park.

Our main impression of the America of today (this was our tenth road trip of similar epic proportions) was that it's a lot more expensive and many places are a hell of a lot busier! We got used to having the National Parks pretty much to ourselves after Labor Day and that certainly isn't the case now. We queued 40 mins to get into Arches for example.....don't know if it's the increased number of travel blogs etc or the booming US economy.

EssexExile

Thanks for coming back. I'm used to the quieter States of the last century, I'm almost glad I can't go any more!