Natural beauty that transports you...
October 10, 2015 5:33 PM Subscribe
We went to Iceland this year loved the natural beauty of the island. I am looking to travel somewhere in the US that will inspire us, too.
Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Northern Cali or Utah came to mind. I'd love somewhere where we could do a 10 day road trip and see several places (With driving a 2-3 hours a day average or less). There are beautiful pictures all over the web but I am wondering if places I see in pics of the national parks are only accessible by long multi-day hikes unless I want to sit in traffic like at Yosemite.
Big mountains, vast vistas, gorgeous forests, and big skies all sound great. Wildlife would be a great bonus.
(I'm in New England and everything is all so close I feel like I am out of my element when it comes to out west)
Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Northern Cali or Utah came to mind. I'd love somewhere where we could do a 10 day road trip and see several places (With driving a 2-3 hours a day average or less). There are beautiful pictures all over the web but I am wondering if places I see in pics of the national parks are only accessible by long multi-day hikes unless I want to sit in traffic like at Yosemite.
Big mountains, vast vistas, gorgeous forests, and big skies all sound great. Wildlife would be a great bonus.
(I'm in New England and everything is all so close I feel like I am out of my element when it comes to out west)
The only place I've been to that competes with Iceland for sheer otherworldly spectacularity is Death Valley. Well worth a visit!
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:42 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:42 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: We drove around the Southwest a few years ago - flew into Las Vegas, picked up a rental, and then: Zion Bryce Escalante Arches Mesa Verde (Colorado) Chaco Canyon (New Mexico). It was incredible. We went in early October, when it wasn't scorchingly hot. It was incredible. Did I say that? I will never not say it.
posted by rtha at 5:43 PM on October 10, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by rtha at 5:43 PM on October 10, 2015 [8 favorites]
Also, please notice that we didn't even make it to the Grand Canyon! Didn't miss it, really, what with everything else being so mind-blowing.
posted by rtha at 5:44 PM on October 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by rtha at 5:44 PM on October 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
In the same vein as rtha, Canyon de Chelly is pretty incredible.
posted by trip and a half at 5:48 PM on October 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by trip and a half at 5:48 PM on October 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
If ocean vistas are your thing, you can't go wrong with Highway 1 from LA to as far north as the Oregon coast. Fly to LAX, pick up a car, drive north, fly home from Portland. Breathtaking scenery the whole way up!
posted by jesourie at 5:54 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jesourie at 5:54 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hawai'i (the Big Island) was like that for me. Obviously it isn't accessible by road trip. But I'll never forget how big and dark and star-filled the sky was at night, or how wide and sweeping and lonely the landscape was as we walked miles to reach a green sand beach, or what it was like to descend from a dense gorgeous forest into a vast caldera that was still steaming from a few cracks in the ground, and walk across this almost moonscape spread out around us. The ocean and the mountains, the forests and the lava-rock fields, the dark skies-- I really have never been anywhere more amazing.
posted by snowmentality at 5:54 PM on October 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by snowmentality at 5:54 PM on October 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
U.S. Route 395 runs from the Mojave to the Canadian border, and runs through and close to an array of spectacular natural places, including Death Valley, Mount Whitney, Yosemite...
posted by jon1270 at 5:55 PM on October 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jon1270 at 5:55 PM on October 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
I am wondering if places I see in pics of the national parks are only accessible by long multi-day hikes unless I want to sit in traffic like at Yosemite.
Some of them are, but a lot of them aren't. If anything, the National Park Service gets criticized for making the big sights a little too accessible a lot of times. And, like, the main valley in Zion is RIGHT THERE and the main tourist facilities are there. Same for Bryce, where the main attraction is RIGHT THERE. And Yellowstone is amazing for vistas and wildlife.
(Side note: if you time things right, there is very little traffic in Yosemite, even in the Valley, even at early morning/late afternoon lights when it's the most beautiful. We were just there this past summer at the start of the season, and things were packed at places like Curry Village or whatever, but there were long stretches where we were only 15 minutes walk from the main road and had breathaking views without another person in sight.)
Glacier is epic, by the way. It's a long drive from a lot of other things, but it is utterly, utterly amazing even on the main road.
posted by joyceanmachine at 5:58 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Some of them are, but a lot of them aren't. If anything, the National Park Service gets criticized for making the big sights a little too accessible a lot of times. And, like, the main valley in Zion is RIGHT THERE and the main tourist facilities are there. Same for Bryce, where the main attraction is RIGHT THERE. And Yellowstone is amazing for vistas and wildlife.
(Side note: if you time things right, there is very little traffic in Yosemite, even in the Valley, even at early morning/late afternoon lights when it's the most beautiful. We were just there this past summer at the start of the season, and things were packed at places like Curry Village or whatever, but there were long stretches where we were only 15 minutes walk from the main road and had breathaking views without another person in sight.)
Glacier is epic, by the way. It's a long drive from a lot of other things, but it is utterly, utterly amazing even on the main road.
posted by joyceanmachine at 5:58 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I also loved the spectacular different-ness of Iceland. Good news! There's even more different-ness in the US.
I think that you'd do well with either the Wyoming/Montana parks (Yellowstone is very car accessible with a mix of water/dry elements, in the same way that Iceland is; the Grand Tetons are less car-friendly but still readily enjoyable) or the Arizon/Utah parks (Bryce and Zion are both readily accessible and amazing in a drier redder way). You will be amazed at what our country can offer.
posted by samthemander at 6:22 PM on October 10, 2015
I think that you'd do well with either the Wyoming/Montana parks (Yellowstone is very car accessible with a mix of water/dry elements, in the same way that Iceland is; the Grand Tetons are less car-friendly but still readily enjoyable) or the Arizon/Utah parks (Bryce and Zion are both readily accessible and amazing in a drier redder way). You will be amazed at what our country can offer.
posted by samthemander at 6:22 PM on October 10, 2015
My husband and I did a road trip a few years back that would fit your bill (we took 5 days to drive; maybe 1-2 hr hikes per day, and we wish we had longer to explore, so you could definitely do it over 10 days). Started in San Francisco (we have friends there), drove down to Sequoia Nat'l, down through Bakersfield then over to Flagstaff; day jaunt to Sedona, up to the Grand Canyon, then up through Utah (Zion, etc then up to Moab), then over to Denver (we have family there). We rented a car for the whole thing and mostly stayed in KOA cabins - picked up cheap linens at Target in CA. Near Zion you can rent an apt/cabin at Best Friends Animal Society for an affordable price.
Another option is Hawaii. You could easily spend 10 days exploring any of the islands (I am partial to Maui, since I live there). The Road to Hana (the full circle up through Kula) is amazing. Haleakala has some crazy multi-day hikes, but also a bunch of easy day hikes as well. The drive up and down is spectacular.
posted by melissasaurus at 6:36 PM on October 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Another option is Hawaii. You could easily spend 10 days exploring any of the islands (I am partial to Maui, since I live there). The Road to Hana (the full circle up through Kula) is amazing. Haleakala has some crazy multi-day hikes, but also a bunch of easy day hikes as well. The drive up and down is spectacular.
posted by melissasaurus at 6:36 PM on October 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Glacier National Park is quite possibly the most beautiful place I've ever been. No long hikes needed to see spectacular scenery. If you have 10 days for a road trip you could easily combine it with Yellowstone. Or you could go north to Banff National Park in Alberta or west into Idaho.
posted by Redstart at 6:44 PM on October 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Redstart at 6:44 PM on October 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
The Bosque del Apache is in New Mexico about 1.5 hours from Albuquerque and is very accessible. (FAQ) It's best to go November to mid-February at sunrise or sunset during fly out or fly in. It's not dramatic like the Grand Canyon, but thousands of birds flocking and flying overhead surrounded by mountains is pretty darn dramatic in its own way. Plus you're close to the Owl Cafe for unforgettable green chile cheeseburgers.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 7:04 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 7:04 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I love the Olympic Peninsula for an incredible amount of different kinds of natural beauty packed into a pretty small area. You have snow-capped peaks and alpine meadows, edge-of-the-earth craggy beaches (so different from the beaches in New England), and temperate rainforest, all within a few hours's drive of each other, and only a few hours from Seattle. It is the rare national park that you can't drive through, but you can see a lot without backpacking in - I believe all of those pictures were taken in places that are accessible by car.
posted by lunasol at 7:27 PM on October 10, 2015
posted by lunasol at 7:27 PM on October 10, 2015
Another vote for Glacier National Park in Montana. Going-to-the-Sun Road, which you can enjoy from your car, is breathtakingly magnificent. Other stunning views are accessible with relatively short, easy hikes. Grand Tetons Park in Wyoming is also gorgeous and about 8-9 hours drive away, so can be easily combined in the same roadtrip as Glacier.
posted by phoenix_rising at 8:28 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by phoenix_rising at 8:28 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
We recently did a road trip throughout Colorado. We started in Denver. We hit three national parks -- Rocky Mountain National Park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and Mesa Verde. RMNP was very crowded, but still enjoyable. Black Canyon is gorgeous and known for its spectacular night skies. Mesa Verde was amazing! The ranger told us that the ruins will probably be closed and no longer be accessible to the public sometime in the next 20 years. The ruins really are amazing, and it's well-worth going on the tours.
We also did a two week trip where we visited the Black Hills of South Dakota (Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Black Elk Wilderness/Harney Peak), and then headed to Glacier National Park, followed by Yellowstone and the Tetons. This took us about 14 days though.
posted by Ostara at 9:43 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
We also did a two week trip where we visited the Black Hills of South Dakota (Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Black Elk Wilderness/Harney Peak), and then headed to Glacier National Park, followed by Yellowstone and the Tetons. This took us about 14 days though.
posted by Ostara at 9:43 PM on October 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Badlands is also pretty great. Can be combined with the northern route Tetons/Glacier stuff. Dry Falls and some of the big scablands features in eastern Washington are pretty outstanding too.
Death Valley or I assume any big desert, same otherworldly Nature Is Big And Strange feeling.
Redwood forest.
Someplace with good snorkeling.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:54 PM on October 10, 2015
Death Valley or I assume any big desert, same otherworldly Nature Is Big And Strange feeling.
Redwood forest.
Someplace with good snorkeling.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:54 PM on October 10, 2015
Another gorgeous Pacific NW area is the San Juans.
posted by bearwife at 10:24 PM on October 10, 2015
posted by bearwife at 10:24 PM on October 10, 2015
Yellowstone, it's the worlds first national park for a very good reason. We spent five days there last spring and it is simply the most mind blowing place I've ever been.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 10:46 PM on October 10, 2015
posted by Confess, Fletch at 10:46 PM on October 10, 2015
Best answer: Scenic byways abound with overlooks and turnouts where you can stop and take in the view. Little to no hiking required.
If, as rtha suggests, you fly in and out of Las Vegas and rent a car. You could try something like this:
Day 1: Las Vegas to St. George 2.5 hours1
Valley of Fire State Park
Valley of Fire Road
Day 2: St. George to Kanab 2 hours
Zion National Park
Zion Park Scenic Byway
Day 3: Kanab to North Rim2 2 hours
Grand Canyon
Kaibab Plateau – North Rim Parkway
Day 4: North Rim to Page 2.5 hours
Marble Canyon, Navajo Bridge, Vermilion Cliffs
Fredonia-Vermilion Cliffs Scenic Road
Day 5: Page to Monument Valley 2 hours
Glen Canyon Dam, Monument Valley
Naat'Tis'Aan Navajo Mountain Road
Day 6: Monument Valley to Blanding 3 hours3
Four Corners, Hovenweep National Monument
Trail of the Ancients
Day 7 Blanding to Torrey 3 hours
Capitol Reef National Park
Bicentennial Highway
Day 8 Torrey to Bryce 2 hours
Dixie National Forest, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Highway 12 — A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway
Day 9 Bryce to Cedar City 2.5 hours
Dixie National Forest, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Parowan Gap
Markagunt High Plateau Scenic Byway
Cedar Breaks Scenic Byway
Brian Head-Panguitch Lake Scenic Byway
Day 10: Cedar City to Las Vegas 3 hours
Kolob Canyons
I've driven most of these and, excepting construction, there's nothing I'd call traffic. The worst I've had is getting is stuck behind an RV or someone hauling a boat.
1. Drive times listed are Google Maps' estimates for point to point driving.
2. It's 3.5 hours to drive the South Rim instead of the North, but you'd save a day by skipping Page.
3. It's 3 hours for either the Four Corners or Hovenweep National Monument. It's 4 hours for both.
posted by zinon at 12:41 AM on October 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
If, as rtha suggests, you fly in and out of Las Vegas and rent a car. You could try something like this:
Day 1: Las Vegas to St. George 2.5 hours1
Valley of Fire State Park
Valley of Fire Road
Day 2: St. George to Kanab 2 hours
Zion National Park
Zion Park Scenic Byway
Day 3: Kanab to North Rim2 2 hours
Grand Canyon
Kaibab Plateau – North Rim Parkway
Day 4: North Rim to Page 2.5 hours
Marble Canyon, Navajo Bridge, Vermilion Cliffs
Fredonia-Vermilion Cliffs Scenic Road
Day 5: Page to Monument Valley 2 hours
Glen Canyon Dam, Monument Valley
Naat'Tis'Aan Navajo Mountain Road
Day 6: Monument Valley to Blanding 3 hours3
Four Corners, Hovenweep National Monument
Trail of the Ancients
Day 7 Blanding to Torrey 3 hours
Capitol Reef National Park
Bicentennial Highway
Day 8 Torrey to Bryce 2 hours
Dixie National Forest, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Highway 12 — A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway
Day 9 Bryce to Cedar City 2.5 hours
Dixie National Forest, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Parowan Gap
Markagunt High Plateau Scenic Byway
Cedar Breaks Scenic Byway
Brian Head-Panguitch Lake Scenic Byway
Day 10: Cedar City to Las Vegas 3 hours
Kolob Canyons
I've driven most of these and, excepting construction, there's nothing I'd call traffic. The worst I've had is getting is stuck behind an RV or someone hauling a boat.
1. Drive times listed are Google Maps' estimates for point to point driving.
2. It's 3.5 hours to drive the South Rim instead of the North, but you'd save a day by skipping Page.
3. It's 3 hours for either the Four Corners or Hovenweep National Monument. It's 4 hours for both.
posted by zinon at 12:41 AM on October 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
Big mountains, vast vistas, gorgeous forests, and big skies all sound great.
Don't forget Arizona, it's more than hot and dry Phoenix. There's the Sedona area, including green Oak Creek Park and the lava tubes at Sunset Crater, and for zomgnature! the Grand Canyon is high on the list.
I'll also strongly second driving up the coast on the 1, but I would fly into Oakland instead of LAX and start there, maybe circle back around Santa Barbara. I grew up in SoCal and have been taking trips up the coast my whole life, and Santa Barbara is always where the trips really "began" and was always the point on the way home where you'd cut over to the 5 because you wanted to get home already. This way you can linger a little longer if you find a place you love and won't lose as much if you cut the southern part of the trip a little short. (Nothing personal, Ventura County, you're a great day trip!)
posted by Room 641-A at 4:49 AM on October 11, 2015
Don't forget Arizona, it's more than hot and dry Phoenix. There's the Sedona area, including green Oak Creek Park and the lava tubes at Sunset Crater, and for zomgnature! the Grand Canyon is high on the list.
I'll also strongly second driving up the coast on the 1, but I would fly into Oakland instead of LAX and start there, maybe circle back around Santa Barbara. I grew up in SoCal and have been taking trips up the coast my whole life, and Santa Barbara is always where the trips really "began" and was always the point on the way home where you'd cut over to the 5 because you wanted to get home already. This way you can linger a little longer if you find a place you love and won't lose as much if you cut the southern part of the trip a little short. (Nothing personal, Ventura County, you're a great day trip!)
posted by Room 641-A at 4:49 AM on October 11, 2015
Don't forget the Smokies! Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway offer truly superb nature viewing and hiking opportunities, and the area around Asheville, NC has cheap gas (gotta love the southeast for that.)
posted by landunderwave at 6:20 AM on October 11, 2015
posted by landunderwave at 6:20 AM on October 11, 2015
My wife and I are basically planning this sort of trip. We looked at the possibility of doing more driving, less staying in one place (such as what zinon describes above) but decided that we'd rather be more in one place than just drive and drive and drive and drive, periodically stopping to go "oh hey look, pretty." But on the other hand, neither of us is, uh, outdoorsy (I refer to myself as a rugged indoorsman), so it's not like we're spontaneously going to pick up new skills and athletic abilities. We're trying to plan a trip that allows us some time to do easy-to-moderate hikes and doesn't require that we get a dawn start every day. Our fifteen day itinerary (currently out of Vegas) is the north rim of the Grand Canyon (two nights), a stopover in Park City, then Grand Tetons (two), Yellowstone (three), Craters of the Moon, Great Basin, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon (two), and Zion (two).
In some of the parks the most famous views do involve some more or less intense hikes (e.g. going up the knife ridge to Angel's Landing in Zion National Park, which I may attempt, but my wife definitely won't) and in some parks there are hikes we just know neither of us is even going to try (say, the Bright Angel trail down into the Grand Canyon, where getting down isn't quite so terrible, but getting back up sure is). But in many of those parks there are definitely transporting things you can see basically just by stepping outside (e.g. the Tetons, geyser basin at Yellowstone, the trails around the rim of Bryce Canyon, and so on).
We also planned our trip around the moon, because I was willing to put in a couple hours to research phase and rise/set times, so we'll be at the Grand Canyon when the moon is full and rises at twilight, and at Great Basin when it is (A) waning, and (2) not rising until something like 2AM, to give us plenty of time to see the night sky and the Milky Way.
So we're already inspired just in planning it a year out, is what I'm saying. National Parks! Woo!
posted by fedward at 7:59 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
In some of the parks the most famous views do involve some more or less intense hikes (e.g. going up the knife ridge to Angel's Landing in Zion National Park, which I may attempt, but my wife definitely won't) and in some parks there are hikes we just know neither of us is even going to try (say, the Bright Angel trail down into the Grand Canyon, where getting down isn't quite so terrible, but getting back up sure is). But in many of those parks there are definitely transporting things you can see basically just by stepping outside (e.g. the Tetons, geyser basin at Yellowstone, the trails around the rim of Bryce Canyon, and so on).
We also planned our trip around the moon, because I was willing to put in a couple hours to research phase and rise/set times, so we'll be at the Grand Canyon when the moon is full and rises at twilight, and at Great Basin when it is (A) waning, and (2) not rising until something like 2AM, to give us plenty of time to see the night sky and the Milky Way.
So we're already inspired just in planning it a year out, is what I'm saying. National Parks! Woo!
posted by fedward at 7:59 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've spent a ton of time out West, and lack of vacation time means I crammed it all in 9 days at a time, sleep in the car, etc.
Southern Utah is...amazing. Hell, the whole Colorado Plateau (not contiguous at all with the State of Colorado) is amazing in a raw, rugged manner.
Some drives and areas to check out, up and down the Interior Desert...
Utah 12 is worth a whole day. Really.
Mexican Hat to Henrieville via the Moqui Gap/Natural Bridges - the drive itself can be an experience.
US 550 through the San Juans is worth the detour if you're in eastern Utah.
Vernal, UT up to Flaming Gorge will truly feel like you're on another planet.
Craters of the Moon, ID is desolate, remote, and fascinating.
I15 from Helena to the Canadian Border makes you feel one with the mountains, and leads over to...
Going to the Sun Road in Glacier. There really aren't enough expletive phrases of utter wonderment to communicate that drive.
posted by notsnot at 9:13 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Southern Utah is...amazing. Hell, the whole Colorado Plateau (not contiguous at all with the State of Colorado) is amazing in a raw, rugged manner.
Some drives and areas to check out, up and down the Interior Desert...
Utah 12 is worth a whole day. Really.
Mexican Hat to Henrieville via the Moqui Gap/Natural Bridges - the drive itself can be an experience.
US 550 through the San Juans is worth the detour if you're in eastern Utah.
Vernal, UT up to Flaming Gorge will truly feel like you're on another planet.
Craters of the Moon, ID is desolate, remote, and fascinating.
I15 from Helena to the Canadian Border makes you feel one with the mountains, and leads over to...
Going to the Sun Road in Glacier. There really aren't enough expletive phrases of utter wonderment to communicate that drive.
posted by notsnot at 9:13 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
In addition to all the other great suggestions, you can also head north instead of west.
posted by Poldo at 11:04 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Poldo at 11:04 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Another vote for Southern Utah. zinon's post is great, and it only scratches the surface of everything to see out there. Even with everything in that post, it doesn't include either Arches or Canyonlands National Parks, let alone dozens of other little stops on the way. Just spectacular country.
posted by cnc at 1:05 PM on October 14, 2015
posted by cnc at 1:05 PM on October 14, 2015
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posted by charmedimsure at 5:39 PM on October 10, 2015 [5 favorites]