I needz a routz.

July 15, 2008 8:32 AM

I'm driving from Houston to Seattle. I'd like suggestions for good things to see along the way.

I'm helping my friend move from Houston to Seattle. We're driving a minivan, definitely, and a moving van (maybe). Can you suggest any particular route or things that we should definitely not miss? I've been to Colorado briefly and San Francisco even more briefly but otherwise I'm 100% a Yankee. I'll probably not go this way again anytime soon.

The more direct route the better (for gas consumption), but we can make a couple of detours.

posted by sully75 to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

The Grand Canyon in Az; the Hoover Dam; the Sequoia / Redwood Forests in Northern Cal.

It takes you a little further west through Arizona, Las Vegas, then up through Northern California; but it's generally direct route.
posted by jabberjaw at 8:48 AM on July 15, 2008

Oh! This is actually a drive I've made many a time, and will be making again soon! The route Google Maps recommends as most direct is not so terrible, and includes some downright breathtaking routes (especially that eastern bit of Utah, which involves taking a canyon route through the Wasatch Range, and the trip through the Blue Mountains when you descend to Pendleton, OR). You have the advantage of getting the boring part over with first — once you get to Denver, it's an absolutely lovely drive from then on, through several mountain ranges. So first of all, I'd recommend driving as far as you can on the first day or two, just to get the midwestern part of the drive out of the way.

I've done the trip all the way across the southwest to the Grand Canyon while driving from Houston to Seattle, and it was indeed lovely, but it really added a considerable distance to the trip, on the order of a thousand miles. Without adding quite that much distance, you could instead cut across Texas to Albuquerque, and then that would put you near Moab and Canyonlands National Park. The drive through Utah is beautiful.

If you'd rather not add on any extra distance at all, you could drive I-70 across Colorado to Salt Lake City instead of cutting up across Wyoming on I-80. It doesn't actually add distance, it's just a slightly slower route that takes a bit more time, but it's much more interesting than southern Wyoming. If nothing else, I'd recommend at least making that moderation, though you'll miss that canyon highway I like so much.

Another minor change that wouldn't add too much distance — continue across the northern edge of Oregon to follow the very scenic Columbia River into Portland, then up to Seattle from there. Of course, then you'd miss out on crossing the Cascades into Seattle, so maybe that's a toss-up.

Really, once you get past the first leg of the trip, any route you take is going to be very pretty.
posted by adiabat at 9:33 AM on July 15, 2008

We went from Seattle to Austin when I was younger.

White Sands
Grand Canyon
Death Valley
Las Vegas
driving through N. California, Oregon and Washington was gorgeous
posted by silkygreenbelly at 9:43 AM on July 15, 2008

I've done Seattle to Denver a few times, and I-90 across Montana and Idaho is probably one of my favorite drives. Granted, it's grueling to get across Wyoming along the I-25/I-90 route, but the drive is worth it after Billings. I-25 through Colorado isn't going to get you very much other than views of the front range, you'd have to use I-70 to go west of Denver for any serious mountain driving. Coeur d'Alene, ID is an interesting area to see if you have the time -- a lot of different geology. I-90 along the Cascades in Washington is also great (another of my favorite legs of the trip), especially when you drop into the Seattle area.
posted by rand at 10:30 AM on July 15, 2008

I helped a friend move from Houston to Seattle in 1996. We went west to L.A. and then north. A few of the things we saw on the way:

Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX

Grand Canyon in Arizona

Tuba City in Arizona (nothing there, we just loved the name)

Pacific Coast Highway up the California coast (beautiful drive)

Laughlin, NV (got a four-star hotel for $30).

Route 66

posted by hootch at 11:13 AM on July 15, 2008

Few people know about the Great Salt Plains in northern Oklahoma but it is quite a natural wonder. It is a salt flat 7 miles long by 3 miles wide. It is seems like an endless ocean of salt. There is also a good campground and a beautiful park there. Google Maps directs you up I-35 and the salt plains are about an hour off that route. Also, just off I-35 in Ponca City is the peculiar and stunning Marland Mansion. Here is a blurb summing it up:

"Marland modeled his dream home after the Davanzati Palace in Florence, Italy. Breathtakingly beautiful, this "Palace on the Prairie" denotes incredible attention to detail with carved wood, sculptured stone, wrought iron arched doorways, Waterford crystal chandeliers and hand-painted and gold-leaf ceilings. Today Marland's gracious home and grounds are open for touring and still provide the backdrop for lavish galas, balls and festivals.

The grand Marland Estate Mansion, one of America's castles, is a showplace containing approximately 48,000 square feet spread over four floors -- complete with leather-lined elevator, twelve bathrooms, three kitchens, an elegant ballroom with 24-karat gold leaf-covered ceiling worth over $1.4 million, and seven fireplaces. The workmanship and beauty provide an aura of simplicity in grandeur, impossible to reproduce today. The Mansion is a National Historical Landmark."

Also one of the salons the depicts the history of Kay County beginning with the pre-Columbian Indians through the 1920s painted by an Italian but with writing by local Native Americans in their own language. Also fascinating is the story of story of the owners and their adopted daughter. After the wife mysteriously died young, the husband married the daughter.

Also on your way, a little of I-35 in southern central Oklahoma is the Chickasaw National Park with it's sulphur springs (they smell like eggs and are super cold!). Very scenic grounds and memorable. Nearby is Turner Falls--a 77 foot waterfall. The nearest town is Sulphur, OK.
posted by i_love_squirrels at 11:25 AM on July 15, 2008

Oh, and besides it being a direct route another reason to drive through Oklahoma is that it has the second cheapest gas in the US behind Missouri.
posted by i_love_squirrels at 11:27 AM on July 15, 2008

If you go through Utah, I would recommend the Golden Spike National Monument. They have a nice recreation of the 2 railroads and engines meeting several times a day. The basin is also an ancient lake and you can see the water level on the mountains/hills surrounding the area.
If you want to stop in Idaho, you have to see the Snake River Valley. It was an awesomely worthwhile detour on my drive from Portland to Phoenix. I would also say that the Idaho State Park system's Malad Gorge is a cheap $4 thrill with good photo ops. There is a short hiking trail and a bridge over the devil's wash bowl. I was the only person there mid week, so it felt like I was discovering a new natural wonder.
Off of I-84/30 in eastern Oregon is a place called Mount Emily. If you drive to the top (just a few miles on well maintained roads) there are several points of interest, and what a view! This was the location of a huge Mormon massacre at the hands of the local Indians and the site of the first bombing on US soil by the Japanese in WWII.
posted by phytage at 3:19 PM on July 15, 2008

If you take I-10 to El Paso, check out Sonora Caverns in west Texas. It has the most amazing crystal formations of any cave.

Zion National Park in Utah was more amazing to me than the Grand Canyon.
posted by neuron at 5:02 PM on July 15, 2008