Rapid 2 week roadtrip around the US West Coast States
Summary
My favourite road trip – the contrasts of natural landscape along the way with snowy mountains, red / yellow deserts, and temperate rainforests; the tasters of the different culture snapshots of the US with conservative cowboys through to uber-liberal SoCal and Pacific North West; the sheer world-fame of some spots like Las Vegas, LA, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon; but more than anything – its a trip that is simply perfect for driving. The distances involved, the way the US in particular is set up for the drivers and the scenery to take in in between the obvious highlights is just world-beating
It’s also a super high octane trip – 4200 miles / 6760km of driving – the sort of thing you rattle off in your 20s, when you have the energy, 2 weeks of vacation and are keen to see and do everything. There’s something just so incredibly fun and fantastic about seeing one world-famous site one after the other in rapid succession – one day being in the likes of Yellowstone National Park, the next in Arches National Park, the next the Grand Canyon, the next Las Vegas, the next LA etc etc. An exciting whirlwind that creates a feeling most will never forget . . . and in a way equally spoils / sets the bar incredibly high for any other trip
A bit rushed? – on the trip itself, we didn’t feel overly rushed. Again, we had 2 weeks vacation and wanted to see as much of this part of the world as possible. For example, I actually found a day / half day in each of the national parks perfect to do a basic walk, see the main attractions and get the feel for them. But of course, it would have been nice to spend longer in each – perhaps take a 3 day hiking trip across one of them. Or perhaps see some of the other pieces we of course missed along the way. Ultimately, I always suggest avoiding the mass tourism standard experience on offer, and I shudder just thinking of trying to do this again, but in a part of the world that has world class sites one after the other, the gorging on them was great fun
highlights
#1 The roadtrip itself - stunning views of some of the most impressive natural scenery in North America from the seat of the car. This part of America is just perfect for this sort of trip
#2 Hiking through Yosemite National Park - one of the most intensely beautiful spots in the world, with scenery as jaw-dropping as it is compact
#3 Getting on the lash / partying in the giant theme park that is Las Vegas
#4 Seeing some of wildlife and vast landscapes of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming
#5 Going to see any of the live sport on offer. Something will be on just about anytime of the year and its showcases something that is about as close to the heart of what is American as it gets
#6 Having the high expectations met as you gawp at the immensity of the Grand Canyon
#7 Passing through some of the former frontier towns and seeing a different conservative side to this vast country
#8 Driving through the Navajo Nation to see the mesmerising reds of the desert and the looming giant buttes of Monument Valley in Arizona
#9 Driving over the world famous Golden Gate Bridge on your way to San Francisco
#10 Driving past the spectacular Grand Teton Range in Wyoming
#11 Giggling at the customary odd road signs
#12 Walking along the various trails and seeing the impossibly narrow rock arches of Arches National Park in Utah
#13 Driving down some of the world famous Route 66, and watching its 2,448 mile sunset from Santa Monica pier
#14 Walking alongside some of the tallest trees in the world in Redwood National Park
#15 Seeing the famous geysers in Yellowstone National Park, especially the giant Old Faithful
#16 Learning the history (did you know the city was rebuilt on stilts?) and checking out the open markets of Seattle
#17 Looking across the vast . . . and cold . . . vistas of Yellowstone National Park
The Route
Rough itinerary
The following itinerary has links to the individual travel entries that will give you more tips on how to have the best experience there:
- Day 1 – A day for the sights in Seattle. Make sure to check out the Pike Place Market and grab some Crab Pot by the water
- Day 2 – Driving from Seattle to Yellowstone National Park, through Washington, Idaho, Montana and into Wyoming. A big drive – 12 hours; 780miles / 1250km
- Day 3/4 – Campervanning through Yellowstone National Park. You’ll enter the park sometime on the morning of Day 3
- Day 4 – afternoon Driving through Grand Teton National Park on the way to Arches National Park, via a brief stop in Salt Lake City. 9 hour drive; 600miles / 970km
- Day 5 – A day walking through Arches National Park and starting the drive down to Monument Valley. 2.5 hours drive; 150miles / 240km
- Day 6 – The perfect western cowboy set at Monument Valley and driving to the Grand Canyon via Route 66. 4 hours drive; 350miles / 555km
- Day 7 – Looking across the Grand Canyon and drive to Las Vegas via the Hoover Dam. 4.5 hours; 280miles / 450km
- Day 8 – Two night stay in Las Vegas
- Day 9/10 – driving from Las Vegas to LA and Soaking up the atmosphere around Santa Monica. 4.5 hours drive; 290miles / 470km
- Day 11 – Drive up past the Big Sur on the way to San Francisco, but only for a very brief stop in China Town and to see the Golden Gate Bridge. 7 hours drive; 435miles / 700km
- Day 12 – A day walking through Yosemite National Park. 3 hours drive; 170miles / 275km
- Day 13 – Half a day walking through redwood national Park. 8 hours drive 460miles / 740km
- Day 14 – Drive up to Portland along the Pacific Coast Highway. 6.5hours; 375miles / 600km
- Day 15 – A day sampling some of the microbreweries of Portland
- Day 16 – return to Seattle. 3 hours drive; 175mies / 280km
Obviously, you can start this trip from any of the points eg LA, San Francisco, Salt Lake City etc. We started in Seattle just because we were living in Vancouver at the time
Travel Tips
- Driving – there’s a lot of driving – around 4200 miles / 6760km, so be prepared for it. Again, while there are world famous stops and time to enjoy the national parks or big cities, this is a road trip and you’ll most likely be driving for 70 hours in total. So share the burden and take the time to just watch the scenery go by. Best do so in a campervan as you’ll have more space on the long drives to properly sleep and can, when needed, just rock up and park / sleep by the road
- Amazing drives – this trip is packed with them. Highlights were driving through Grand Teton National Park; the Big Sur; Route 66; Pacific Coast Highway; over the Hoover Dam; the Las Vegas strip; up to Yosemite National Park; and through the deserts near Monument valley
- Live Sport – see if can fit in a sports game – classic America right there. We, for example, were able to go to see a Seattle Mariners baseball game. Hotdogs, staring around the stadium when nothing was happening (majority of the time), seventh innings stretch and all that, great stuff
- Places it would have been nice to also see – Zion National Park, Rafting down the Grand Canyon, San Diego, Sequoia National Park, Death Valley, Napa Valley for the wines, Glacier National Park, and Mesa Verde over in Colorado. All look to be wonderful experiences and something I’d have added to a longer itinerary
- Places it would have been nicer to spend longer in – San Francisco (this itinerary only gives a short stop to pop into China Town and drive across the Golden Gate Bridge); time to properly hike any of the national parks; more partying in Las Vegas. The downside of doing this trip so rapidly, but if you had more time, these are the places I’d like to have stayed longer
- For the route shown above – see the link here (google map west coast US) for how to see this in google maps
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Great Roadtrips around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone