Road trip itinerary from Spokane to SLC?

August 30, 2011 11:18 PM

My wife and I will be driving from Spokane to Salt Lake City soon and were wondering how we should space out our trip, and what there is to see/do/eat along the way.

We're planning on leaving Spokane the morning of the 6th, and we have to be in SLC for a concert the evening of the 9th. (and then unfortunately we have to power back home to Calgary on the 10th). Should we drive straight to salt lake (or close by) on the 6th and spend a few days around there, or stop along the way and spend 1 day in salt lake?

We like national parks, hikes, museums, art, scenic drives, tasty food (price range does not matter) and wine. Given the short schedule we probably wouldn't want to drive too far out of our way. I'm open to suggestions!

posted by Pruitt-Igoe to travel & transportation (5 answers total)

6th: Drive to Bozeman, MT
7th: Spend day in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Overnight in Jackson, WY.
8th: Drive to SLC.

If you didn't do much side driving it adds only around 150 miles to the trip. General path on Google Maps.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:32 PM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

I would plan your route to include Steen Mountain in extreme SE Oregon. It is a very beautiful, and barely visited part of the country.
posted by Seymour Zamboni at 5:20 AM on August 31, 2011

Please take highway 12 from lewiston to missoula. It is one of the most beautiful drives I've ever made.
posted by TheBones at 6:12 AM on August 31, 2011 [2 favorites]

Mister Fabulous: Why Bozeman?
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 11:19 AM on August 31, 2011

If anyone is curious, we ended up doing this:

- Day 1: Lunch at Jimmy's Down The Street in Coeur d'Alene. Good food. Drive from Coeur d'Alene down to Mountain Home, ID via US 95 and I-84. The US 95 part was beautiful all the way along. Stayed at the Hampton Inn, really nice.

- Day 2: Drive to Craters Of The Moon National Monument along US 20. Loved this place. Walked up a lava cone. Stopped in Arco, ID. Dinner was forgettable but the town has some neat atomic age signs, and a hill full of painted numbers. Drove to SLC via US 26 and I-15. Checked in at the Little America, which was a great hotel.

- Day 3: Drove out to the salt flats. The earth in Bonneville is dirty and torn up; the westbound rest stop is cracked and bright white, unmarred with tire tracks. Unfortunately we missed the westbound stop the first time around, and had to go back to the next overpass to the east, 41 miles away! That added a good hour but it was worth it. After that, checked out a burned out rail car at the site of the old Saltair power house. Dinner was really good vegan food at Sage's Cafe in SLC.

- Day 4: Checked out downtown SLC: the temple square, the library, did some shopping. Ate at a delicious taco truck (a novelty for this Canadian) and had some pizza at the Pie Hole. Took the light rail train to our Gillian Welch concert and back, and ended the night with some awesome food and drinks at The Bayou (decidedly not vegan this time).

- Day 5: A long-ass drive north along I-15 back home. Only mentioning this because we stopped at Sparky's Garage in Dillon, MT for some good BBQ.

TheBones: I did end up going along part of US 12 near Lewiston. It is stunning. The view as you descend into Lewiston is crazy.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 6:44 PM on September 13, 2011