Planning Roadtrip for June in Middle/Western USA

[Erik Larsen]

You only live once, go for it! I would suggest a more scenic route coming out of the Tetons if it were me. Rather than head toward Denver go south through Pinedale, visit the Wind River range if you like then south toward Flaming Gorge and then on toward Moab with the Canyon country and Arches and Canyonlands. You can continue south on the west slope of the Rockies toward Shiprock and Chaco Canyon, monument valley etc. So much to see it’s impossible to list. Or if you want a mountainous route instead you could head through grand Junction toward Ouray and out of mountains near Durango then south to Sante Fe, Albuquerque and continue on your southerly route home. If you are in the area of Grand Junction CO you’re welcome to crash at my little shack I call home. Sounds like a fun trip!

[Drew Wiley]

Ditto. Denver a big sprawling city. Up past the Winds, with a little diversion uphill from Pinedale to the overlook, or perhaps to Green River Lakes, then to the Tetons from there, quite refreshing. I spent a couple weeks in the headwaters of the Green River in the Winds the summer before the pandemic; saw more moose than people, but that was backpacking. Still, even a drive to the Green River trailhead can be memorable. And as far as the Tetons go, the farmed backside is generally overlooked, but lovely too. And there's also a well known scenic route toward east entrance to Yellowstone called Beartooth Highway.

Overall, I've found Glacier NP a lot more inviting than Yellowstone in summer. My favorite visit to Yellowstone was in May the very week the road through was plowed, yet none of the facilities were open yet. Almost had the whole Park to myself, with all the wildlife and its viewing opportunities still acting normal and calm before the crowds arrived. The last thing I'd want to endure a traffic jam for sake of would be "wild wolves" wearing radio collars, or some annoyed bison bull goring yet another "selfie" fool.

Erik's route through the San Juans can also be quite memorable, much more so than the Denver side. Mesa Verde and Black Canyon of the Gunnison are nearby too. But you need to check current snow conditions. There is widespread drought, so snow might be less this year; but exceptionally storms can occur any month of the year.

[Corran]

Great suggestions! I hadn't really looked too much in that area but that all seems pretty doable. I feel like Albuquerque is about as south as I'll go and then due east to Oklahoma City, Memphis, and then meander southeasterly to Chattanooga / home.

Never been to the heartland so I'm interested to just see some of it on the way, even if I'm not stopping/shooting much, if at all, on that final leg.

[Willie]

If you are very lucky you will be going through the Glacier/Montana during the time when the Flathead Cherries are ripe and being sold in roadside fruit stands. Be sure to get some - they may well be the highlight of your trip.

[xkaes]

In the end, you might consider a shorter trip with more time allocated to a region, (your trip has distinct "Northwest" and "Southwest" aspects) and then planning a separate trip for the part of your trip that you did not get to. And if you do find yourself up on some mountains, like Mt. Hood, OR, you can find yourself in a blizzard in June and July.

I could not agree more. In some places, like Yellowstone, you can get stuck in an endless traffic jam for several hours as cars stop to take pictures or break down from over-heating. In Glacier, you'll run into herds of back-to-back 40-foot rented mobile homes driven by incompetent 80-year-old guys towing yachts driving at 2MPH to take pictures. Unfortunately, the better known "sites" are more like Disney World. You stand in line for three hours to see a five minute display. Large format gear? You're asking for all sorts of problems that you never thought of.

Plan a much longer trip to all those places -- or go in the off-season -- or just go to a few of those on your list -- or visit the areas that are out of the way (takes a lot of research -- that is, finding places because THEY ARE NOT IN THE GUIDE BOOKS.

[domaz]

If you do make it up to Olympic National Park, don't miss Hurricane Ridge and if you want a quick hike do the Hurricane Hill trail just beyond it. The mountain views there in June/July there are stunning and there will be quite a bit of snow left most likely- but if it's cloudy/rainy better to skip it (less likely in July than June).

[Corran]

or visit the areas that are out of the way (takes a lot of research -- that is, finding places because THEY ARE NOT IN THE GUIDE BOOKS.

That's why I decided to make the thread. If you have any suggestions, feel free to add them.

Unfortunately the time I am planning is not negotiable due to the conference attached to my travel, and also this kind of trip works best for me in the summer months due to the work I do.

[tomwilliams]

My plan for this is to do a lot of car camping - or more specifically, sleeping in my car, which I've done lots when travelling over on this side of the country. I've not had any issues when doing so at Rest Areas or 24-hour store parking lots. I'm hoping I might can sneak a night or two at some of these NPs the same way as my itinerary is not quite detailed enough for booking a campsite head of time. But if they have an opening day-of that would be fine too, and I was going to bring my tent as well.

There are good reasons not to camp in NPs outside of designated camping areas. No doubt you can work out why you, and the zillion other folks who think that it's fine if they do it, should not do it. Not booking your campsite ahead of time doesn't amount to a free pass to camp anywhere you like.

That might seem a little rude. My apologies for that. Sometimes all the 'special' folks just piss me off.

[Corran]

I was talking about sleeping in a parking lot for a few hours, not full-on camping with a firepit and whatever.

[Alan Klein]

There's a lifetime pass available for all the National Parks. You only need one for yourself and all the people in your car. The pass also gives discounts sometimes at the visitor stops in case you want to pick up some souvenirs.