Planning a Road Trip, HELP! lol

Hey guys, my family and I (wife & 2 kids) are planning on a road trip. We'd like to rent an RV and take two weeks to visit cool places and build great memories.

We'll be leaving from Bakersfield, CA.
We know we want to visit Zion national park and spend at least a whole day there.
from there we'd like to go to Denver/Colorado Springs and visit @ColoradoTJ
from there, well we'd like to turn north and head back west.

i've never done a road trip, not really good at planning stuff but i'd love some suggestions, routes, places to visit, possibly camp sites or places to stop along the route.

we havent nailed down a time frame but probably sometime in July...

 

Once you visit @ColoradoTJ might as well head back home. Trip ain't gonna get better than that!
Since you're in Utah, how about arches and canyonlands? That could bring you to CO on I70. Or if you are coming from the south, drive thru Telluride, Mesa Verde National Park and/or CO sand dunes. All are down south of the state.
Not familiar with campsites along the way, so I'm no help there.

 

nice, thanks i'll have a look at those places!

 

I can help with campsites once you get to Colorado. I'm more verse if you're coming in along I-70 but if you take the southern approach i'm only familiar with the immediate area around Telluride, which is incredible for "making memories." Figure out where what your itinerary will look like and let me know. I can help with camping, hiking, biking, etc once you get into the I-70 corridor, which is also doable if you hit the Telluride area first.

Along I-70 you'll follow the Colorado river for hours. You'll enter 2 cool canyons, the more notable Glenwood Canyon (there is hiking and camping in there). Once you exit then you approach ski country. Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, Loveland Pass (georgeous), and then down towards Denver and CO Springs where you can meet up with Chris.

If you would like to see Aspen then you turn off of I-70 at Glenwood Springs, head towards Aspen, then up and over Independence Pass and into Leadville or Buena Vista (depends on your interest). TONS of camping everywhere out there.

If you choose Telluride and the southern route then you can go through Silverton (old mining town), Durango, and Pagosa Springs. Lots of camping out there and Pagosa SPrings is notorious for hot springs. Then you come up into Colorado Springs.

LOTS of fantastic options on the table once you get to Colorado. It's been a long time since I've been past Zion so couldn't tell you anything about that area. I'm sure @FlashCulprit can help with that portion if he sees the tag.

Regardless, don't hesitate to reach out by PM or call me 970.309.4096 for some great CO beta. I know the area really well once you get close to the High Rockies!

Hope this helps!!!!

 

Just avoid the town of Alma.

 

When my family was young we took the rv road trip loop from Tucson north to Canada then west to the coast and south to around nor cali. Hit the stuff the Colorado boys are recommending, consider, Bryce, Zion, salt lake, Yellowstone, go into Canada and check out jasper and lake Louise, glacier national park, head west Olympic forest, clam and crab along the Washington/Oregon coast and continue south till you're through the redwoods and home. Bring a couple fishing poles, lots of lakes along the way.

 

Thanks @Almaboy & @ColoradoTJ
those are some awesome recommendations!

 

Keep me posted on your moves and i can help along the way with some recommendations

 

If you're going to be RV camping I would highly recommend checking out Watchman Campground. It's located right up tight to the Virgin River (great trout fishing river). And tucked up right next to the massive rock faces that Zion is famous for. However, reserve your campsite as soon as possible because as it gets warmer down there the more and more visitors it will bring. Once in Zion I highly recommend getting into the Canyon to do some of the general sightseeing, most of them are kid friendly and short hikes, easy enough to take up the whole afternoon and wear the kids out for a good nights sleep. Springdale (located just below Zion) is a really fun and unique town with lots of tourist attraction from rock shops to 5 star restaurants, plenty of fun stuff to do during the night. Or you can sit under the stars at your campsite and have a fire!



A really common route is this:



The reason why this is is such a popular route is you have the option of hitting 2 different National Forrests/Monuments/Parks in one days drive. After leaving Springdale (Zion), you take SR89 to HW12 bringing you through Bryce Canyon National Park which is famed for it's sight the Amphitheater and it's geological formations that spread as far as the eye can see.



After leaving Bryce you continue up HW12 through Fish Lake national forest with a quick stop for lunch at Larb Hallow, or if you've got a good amount of drive left in ya, at Bryce Canyon (I always wait till Bryce cause god damn the views are perfect).



After leaving Bryce, you're well on the way to Canyonlands/Moab which we cover extensively on the Utah BS Thread. I would recommend a night over and possibly a day at Canyonlands/Moab - there is so much to do including seeing Arches national park, or renting a jeep for some red rock crawling.

Let me know if you have any questions my man about the Utah part - Or feel free to drop a line in the UT BS thread. We'll make sure you're taken care of and have an awesome memorable trip through Utah!

 

Wait you're gonna stop and visit Colorado TJ and not visit me? You will drive right by my house if your going to Zion.

 

I love Crested Butte. My wife and I went out to Colorado and went to Crested Butte, Breckenridge, and Estes Park/RMNP. Two years later we went back and just stayed in Crested Butte. Not crowded, very laid back atmosphere and beautiful scenery.

 

I just hung out with him 2 weeks ago- but this trip he would have to drive like 1 mile from my house if he is going to Zion. LOL But I did drive thru Bakersfield once and didn't stop. He was butt hurt for a week.

 

I wanted to go there just so I could say I mountain biked on the 401 trail. Then we ended up really liking it. Drove some of the old mining roads, did some light hiking, sat at the ski resort and drank beer.

 

a class C rv. so the kiddos can actually run around, would hate to do a serious road trip with them in the truck...

well if its on the way, then hell yeah we'll stop by!

@FlashCulprit thanks those are some great spots!

all that we need now is to see how life goes and hopefully we can get some time off this summer, i havent had a vacation in two years...

 

Hey Draggy, hows the goats? Anyways, last year me and the wife ran out that way. Awesome trip. +1 on all the state parks.

Not sure how long you plan on doing the trip. But definitly on Rocky Mountain National Park, Mesa Verde, Arches, and Canyon Lands. Did all them and the million dollar highway on our trip.

If time is limited do Rocky Mountain and Mesa Verde definitly. Let me know if you have any questions.

Your favorite Mooseknuckle.

 

Very much agree about Crested Butte

 

The car or the property?

 

I'm listening.

 

And then?

 

lol, what happened to building out the property?

 

So this is what i've gotten so far.
bear in mind, i have NEVER planned a trip, so this is all new to me.

I will be calling @Almaboy and @ColoradoTJ once i get in their neck of the woods to have a cold beer with them and anyone else that will fall on my path.



I was thinking of rounding back up towards seattle, down to portland and then to bakersfield. but i think that would be a waste of time. Rather i'd spend more time in utah and colorado.

any suggestions or further advice is welcome.