Four day getaway from US West Coast?
January 13, 2023 11:33 AM Subscribe
I'm seeking travel inspiration for a four day getaway next year to celebrate an anniversary. We prefer the outdoors to big cities. We'd be leaving from Reno or Sacramento.
My husband told me he wants us to go away for a four day trip next year to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We have two little kids and this would be our first time away for more than 1 night/1.5 hour drive.
If flying, we would be flying out of Reno or Sacramento. The anniversary is in March but we can be flexible on dates.
We like cross country skiing, hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and snorkeling. My husband especially is not into big cities. I have to eat gluten and dairy free and would like some yummy food options. Budget is generous but not unlimited.
I'm considering options like Indian Springs Calistoga, Catalina Island, Oregon coast, Hawaii, Mexico (not sure where), Alaska to see the northern lights, maybe a National Park hotel.
Please help me have fun daydreaming about this as I struggle through this long winter of kid illnesses. Where do you think we should go?
My husband told me he wants us to go away for a four day trip next year to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We have two little kids and this would be our first time away for more than 1 night/1.5 hour drive.
If flying, we would be flying out of Reno or Sacramento. The anniversary is in March but we can be flexible on dates.
We like cross country skiing, hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and snorkeling. My husband especially is not into big cities. I have to eat gluten and dairy free and would like some yummy food options. Budget is generous but not unlimited.
I'm considering options like Indian Springs Calistoga, Catalina Island, Oregon coast, Hawaii, Mexico (not sure where), Alaska to see the northern lights, maybe a National Park hotel.
Please help me have fun daydreaming about this as I struggle through this long winter of kid illnesses. Where do you think we should go?
Maybe it's obvious, but Yosemite? The Ahwahnee is expensive but stupidly fun.
The copper canyon is also fantastic, but four days is going to be a bit challenging to pull off. If you can spare a week, I recommend it.
posted by eotvos at 12:30 PM on January 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
The copper canyon is also fantastic, but four days is going to be a bit challenging to pull off. If you can spare a week, I recommend it.
posted by eotvos at 12:30 PM on January 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
Zion National Park in southern Utah is pretty amazing. It is a magical, dramatic place. The closest access point is a 2-3 hour drive from Las Vegas. There is a hotel in the park but it isn't one of the ones you think of when someone says "National Park Hotel". That's ok, because the town of Springdale runs right up to the main park entrance and has loads of different types of accommodations (along with what you'd expect to find). I haven't been in years but even 5-10 years ago there were plenty of interesting restaurants that certainly nowadays would accommodate your dietary restrictions. The town of St. George (you will have to pass through it) is 45-60 minutes away and would be a place to splurge on a gourmet meal or day spa on the way home.
posted by mmascolino at 12:33 PM on January 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mmascolino at 12:33 PM on January 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
After the never-ending rain, I'm daydreaming of Hawaii. (Maybe Kailua, though I haven't been there.)
posted by pinochiette at 12:38 PM on January 13, 2023
posted by pinochiette at 12:38 PM on January 13, 2023
The copper canyon is also fantasticSorry to thread sit, but also, should you happen to choose this, it is absolutely worth it to get tickets for the fancy tourist first-class train. The slow train has more interesting people, but the half day delays are not fun and you might wind up having to sleep on someone's floor because the bus into the canyon has already left when you arrive. (Also, if you bring a fancy camera, keep it hidden until you're in the canyons. It's actually really very safe for tourists, but being mistaken for a journalist could be uncomfortable. But, it's among the most beautiful places in the world and full of lovely and kind people.)
posted by eotvos at 12:48 PM on January 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Maybe some activities in two different places with a Rocky Mountaineer train trip in the middle?
posted by box at 1:01 PM on January 13, 2023
posted by box at 1:01 PM on January 13, 2023
I did an outdoor hiking/camping trip on Catalina Island a few years ago and I don't think I would suggest it for a short trip. It is a super interesting and beautiful place, but transportation to the island plus any transportation you might need ON the island eats up a ton of time--we didn't hike nearly as much as we expected to because we spent so much time spent waiting for various shuttles or ferries.
posted by mjcon at 1:28 PM on January 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mjcon at 1:28 PM on January 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: As a hiker and general National Park enthusiast my two favorite places to hike and stay in nice lodges have been Glacier National Park and Grand Teton National Park. For Glacier you'd most likely fly into Kalispell, MT, which has easy access to the west side of the park, where Lake McDonald Lodge (nicer, more expensive) and Apgar Village Inn (cheaper, mid-century motel vibe) are. There are more lodges on the east side of the park, but travel to those is more involved (like, to get to Swiftcurrent and/or Many Glacier Hotel from the west you enter the park from a completely separate entrance in Babb, MT; Cedar Creek Lodge is just outside a different park entrance also on the east side). Grand Teton National Park has multiple nice lodges. We stayed at Signal Mountain Lodge and loved it, but I don't think you can go wrong except by blowing your budget).
In my experience the park concessionaires that run the restaurants in those facilities are good about marking menu items for allergies and providing (some) options that fit common dietary restrictions. You'd definitely be able to eat on a limited diet, but I guess there's a real risk of getting bored with limited choices if your trip is long.
FWIW there are some really nice lodges in Yellowstone too, but travel to and within Yellowstone is pretty time consuming even on good days. The park service says to allow 90 minutes to travel between any two major developed areas, and that's not even counting stops for oohing and aahing. If I only had three days for Yellowstone I'd be paralyzed with FOMO and worried about overflow crowds at all the major sites. But the hiking was excellent. If nothing else you can do a really nice loop hike in the Canyon area that connects the Ribbon Lake Trail and Artist Point trails with the path right along the canyon, with optional, longish out-and-back spurs to Point Sublime and/or the actual Ribbon Lake (for a shorter hike you skip going all the way to Ribbon Lake and turn at the intersection with the Artist Point trail). It takes you past several different types of thermal features and gets you far enough away from crowds that you actually feel like you're out in nature.
FWIW I think all of those parks have implemented rate limiting lottery access for day visitors as a way to manage crowds, but if you have reservations for lodging or camp sites within them, you are exempt from the lottery and guaranteed access.
posted by fedward at 1:52 PM on January 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
In my experience the park concessionaires that run the restaurants in those facilities are good about marking menu items for allergies and providing (some) options that fit common dietary restrictions. You'd definitely be able to eat on a limited diet, but I guess there's a real risk of getting bored with limited choices if your trip is long.
FWIW there are some really nice lodges in Yellowstone too, but travel to and within Yellowstone is pretty time consuming even on good days. The park service says to allow 90 minutes to travel between any two major developed areas, and that's not even counting stops for oohing and aahing. If I only had three days for Yellowstone I'd be paralyzed with FOMO and worried about overflow crowds at all the major sites. But the hiking was excellent. If nothing else you can do a really nice loop hike in the Canyon area that connects the Ribbon Lake Trail and Artist Point trails with the path right along the canyon, with optional, longish out-and-back spurs to Point Sublime and/or the actual Ribbon Lake (for a shorter hike you skip going all the way to Ribbon Lake and turn at the intersection with the Artist Point trail). It takes you past several different types of thermal features and gets you far enough away from crowds that you actually feel like you're out in nature.
FWIW I think all of those parks have implemented rate limiting lottery access for day visitors as a way to manage crowds, but if you have reservations for lodging or camp sites within them, you are exempt from the lottery and guaranteed access.
posted by fedward at 1:52 PM on January 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
For Glacier you'd most likely fly into Kalispell, MT
Be aware that any camping or hotels in the park are almost completely booked on the day that booking is first allowed (for camping I think it's 6 months in advance). And rental cars can be very hard to come by in that part of Montana. In Jan 2022 we tried to book a car immediately after booking our camping for June and there were no rental cars available at the airport. We found one on Turo for 3 days.
posted by msbrauer at 2:13 PM on January 13, 2023
Be aware that any camping or hotels in the park are almost completely booked on the day that booking is first allowed (for camping I think it's 6 months in advance). And rental cars can be very hard to come by in that part of Montana. In Jan 2022 we tried to book a car immediately after booking our camping for June and there were no rental cars available at the airport. We found one on Turo for 3 days.
posted by msbrauer at 2:13 PM on January 13, 2023
Best answer: Calistoga is a great location. I'm not sure if wine is on your enjoyment list but there's plenty of hiking and trails nearby, not to mention the hot springs which I'm sure is why Indian Springs is on your list. It's a small town and (as someone who keeps to a GF diet myself) I would not say that there's a plethora of options though every single restaurant in town, if they didn't already have a menu item that worked for you, would be more than willing to create one for you. I find it easy to eat in Calistoga. And - St. Helena with its many restaurants is right down the road. I think that everything on the menu at Crisp is GF and dairy free. I vouch for the food there - it's really good.
With the coast so close by, which offers stunning hiking scenery, Calistoga would be a wonderful location to enjoy Napa and Sonoma imo. Easy for a short celebratory trip.
I have family in Kaua'i and a lot of "outdoorsy" people love the Garden Isle. It has literally everything on your checklist except for skiing. It would probably be a much more labor intensive trip what with the flights and a car rental and all that. But - you'd be in Kaua'i.
posted by rdnnyc at 2:31 PM on January 13, 2023
With the coast so close by, which offers stunning hiking scenery, Calistoga would be a wonderful location to enjoy Napa and Sonoma imo. Easy for a short celebratory trip.
I have family in Kaua'i and a lot of "outdoorsy" people love the Garden Isle. It has literally everything on your checklist except for skiing. It would probably be a much more labor intensive trip what with the flights and a car rental and all that. But - you'd be in Kaua'i.
posted by rdnnyc at 2:31 PM on January 13, 2023
For a 4-day trip?
Option 1: Redwood Nat Park and state parks on southern Oregon coast.
Option 2: Mt Ranier Nat Park
Option 3: Olympic Nat Park
posted by polecat at 2:37 PM on January 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
Option 1: Redwood Nat Park and state parks on southern Oregon coast.
Option 2: Mt Ranier Nat Park
Option 3: Olympic Nat Park
posted by polecat at 2:37 PM on January 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
If you want the added frisson of being in a different country, Whistler apparently gets a goodly amount of snow in March. You fly into Vancouver and it's a couple hours drive up.
posted by praemunire at 2:58 PM on January 13, 2023
posted by praemunire at 2:58 PM on January 13, 2023
I hiked Catalina Island last year and loved it. While I’m an experienced hiker and camper, it was my first backpacking trip and did kick my ass a bit. I don’t know your other travel plans but you could do Avalon to Black Jack, BJ to Little Harbor, LH to Two Harbors, but you would be rushing for the afternoon ferry (some people skip little Harbor, but it was my favorite campsite). That being said, with adding in travel on either side, you might not have enough time to make it work for you. (However I would recommend making the trip at some point! It was such a great trip to take last February and help with my winter blues.)
posted by raccoon409 at 3:46 PM on January 13, 2023
posted by raccoon409 at 3:46 PM on January 13, 2023
Oh yeah, the advance planning issue for popular park resources was already bad before 2020 changed everything. When we planned a big trip in 2016 I wrote a couple simple programs that checked the various lodge websites for availability and scheduled them to run every 15 minutes and email me when rooms popped up due to cancellations. Did I rebook our accommodations in one park in the airport bar an hour after my dad’s funeral ended? Yes. Yes, I did.
For rental cars all you can do is book early and check back often. We tend to make speculative reservations when we think we know our plans, and then rebook as plans solidify or prices change. It’s rare for our first rental car reservation to be the one we actually use but it has happened.
posted by fedward at 4:21 PM on January 13, 2023
For rental cars all you can do is book early and check back often. We tend to make speculative reservations when we think we know our plans, and then rebook as plans solidify or prices change. It’s rare for our first rental car reservation to be the one we actually use but it has happened.
posted by fedward at 4:21 PM on January 13, 2023
Best answer: Moab is a Mountain Biking dreamland, plus there are several national parks (Arches, Canyonlands, etc) that would provide days of enjoyment. It can be quite enjoyable that time of the year if this is for the tail end of March as the temps are not yet hot.
United has a flight from Denver to the local airport. Or it is a 13(ish) hour drive from Sacramento.
posted by SegFaultCoreDump at 5:20 PM on January 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
United has a flight from Denver to the local airport. Or it is a 13(ish) hour drive from Sacramento.
posted by SegFaultCoreDump at 5:20 PM on January 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yosemite. Book a ranger-led all day tour, you’ll be blown away. If you can’t do that p, there are private tours. That will take all day, but you’ll see the “greatest hits in the valley. It’s stupendous.
Redwoods is also wonderful, and relatively nearby, with good hiking. Maybe rent an RV and “camp”?
posted by dbmcd at 12:13 AM on January 14, 2023
Redwoods is also wonderful, and relatively nearby, with good hiking. Maybe rent an RV and “camp”?
posted by dbmcd at 12:13 AM on January 14, 2023
Best answer: Look into La Paz, Mexico. I’m actually going soon (under very similar circumstances to yours!) so if it looks interesting to you DM me and I’d be happy to report back :)
posted by lovableiago at 7:41 AM on January 14, 2023
posted by lovableiago at 7:41 AM on January 14, 2023
How about the Russian River? I have a friend who grew up going to a cabin there every year and looooved it.
March is also a great time for Death Valley, if you're up for "wierd and wonderful". Easy to get to from Las Vegas and four days is about the right length for a visit with kids. Might be too late for reservations now though.
There's a resort (Rock Creek Lodge) in the eastern sierras down by Bishop where, if you go in winter, you drive to the end of the road, and they pick you up on snowmobiles and take you into the resort. (The road is snowed in - think 3 feet of snow on the ground since it's way up a canyon.) It has basic cabins all the way up to really spectactular ones. You can cross country ski, snowshoe, play with the kids in the snow, or just sit around the fire. Communial dining hall, but they will accomodate dietary restrictions iirc. Has a real "getting away from it all" vibe. However, depending on where you live, the you may not be able to get there in the winter when the passes are closed.
Zion Lodge is beautiful and has good food and lots of easy hikes. You would need a car for sure.
Catalina could be fun and might work if you flew into Long Beach airport, uber'd to the port, and caught a well-timed ferry to the island. But that's going to eat most of a day on each end of your trip. And you want to go Catalina in the fall when the water is warm (Sept-Oct). At least it gets up to 70 once in a while in the fall!
Another option could be Mammoth Lakes in the summer. Since you mountainbike you probably know about that already though.
posted by bluesky78987 at 9:05 AM on January 14, 2023
March is also a great time for Death Valley, if you're up for "wierd and wonderful". Easy to get to from Las Vegas and four days is about the right length for a visit with kids. Might be too late for reservations now though.
There's a resort (Rock Creek Lodge) in the eastern sierras down by Bishop where, if you go in winter, you drive to the end of the road, and they pick you up on snowmobiles and take you into the resort. (The road is snowed in - think 3 feet of snow on the ground since it's way up a canyon.) It has basic cabins all the way up to really spectactular ones. You can cross country ski, snowshoe, play with the kids in the snow, or just sit around the fire. Communial dining hall, but they will accomodate dietary restrictions iirc. Has a real "getting away from it all" vibe. However, depending on where you live, the you may not be able to get there in the winter when the passes are closed.
Zion Lodge is beautiful and has good food and lots of easy hikes. You would need a car for sure.
Catalina could be fun and might work if you flew into Long Beach airport, uber'd to the port, and caught a well-timed ferry to the island. But that's going to eat most of a day on each end of your trip. And you want to go Catalina in the fall when the water is warm (Sept-Oct). At least it gets up to 70 once in a while in the fall!
Another option could be Mammoth Lakes in the summer. Since you mountainbike you probably know about that already though.
posted by bluesky78987 at 9:05 AM on January 14, 2023
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I marked a few as best answers that especially spoke to me: Glacier National Park, Moab, La Paz (looks like maybe there's mountain biking in Baja), helpful Calistoga details, and Banff (actually where we met so that could be a fun way to celebrate) but I really appreciate all the answers. This will be for 2024 so I have some time to plan ahead and get reservations and I'm usually successful at getting Yosemite valley campsites but I hear you on the national park booking craziness!
posted by carolr at 11:35 AM on January 14, 2023
posted by carolr at 11:35 AM on January 14, 2023
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posted by cleverevans at 12:10 PM on January 13, 2023 [4 favorites]