Planning a road trip to the U.S.A

[TazMac]

DP and I are planning a big holiday (to keep us sane ). We’d like to do a road trip to the U.S.A, probably in 2022 or 2023 (hopefully we’ll be free to travel by then) and are after some off the beaten track suggestions.

We’ve already been to Florida, California, New York and New Orleans.

Any ideas?

Watching with interest prob have to wait 20 years though till youngest flys the nest. I'd love to go to San Francisco . And see the fall in New England

It really depends on the time of the year. But I’d say do a road trip out west to see the magnificent parks! Montana, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico have some of the most spectacular scenery. Glacier National Park, Big Sky, Yellowstone, Arches, Zion, Carlsbad, White Sands!

id be tempted to do some of the national parks, yellowstone and mount rushmore are at the top of my lists

Montana, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico have some of the most spectacular scenery. Glacier National Park, Big Sky, Yellowstone, Arches, Zion, Carlsbad, White Sands!

Sounds amazing!

I think we might end up doing two trips as we fancy New England too.

I know the US fairly well as lived there for several years. For a single road trip I would focus on the South West National Parks - Arizona, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and California.

We are hoping to do a trip to the North West Coast next year - Oregon, Washington state and up into Canada and Vancouver Island. Sadly will need to wait to see what happens with the fires and his much of shat we want to see is left.

Just seen you mentioned "off the beaten track". All the National Parks have soared in popularity in recent years and you'll need to do your research to find the out of the way places. Or hire a 4x4 so you can access backcountry trails. Another option might be to pick a less obvious destination - how about a road trip around Lake Michigan? Some lovely beaches, and you could spend a few days in Chicago which is a fab city (imo much better than NY)

Another option might be to pick a less obvious destination - how about a road trip around Lake Michigan? Some lovely beaches, and you could spend a few days in Chicago which is a fab city (imo much better than NY)

Ok that’s 3 trips 😄.

My friend did a secondment in Chicago and she’s always raves about her time there.

We did SF - Yosemite - Death Valley - Vegas ( only one night and that was more than enough) - Grand Canyon - Bryce Canyon and Zion couple of years ago in October. We did it over 2.5 weeks and it was absolutely amazing!

The Dakotas, especially North Dakota, are fabulous.
Birmingham Alabama to New Orleans was a great trip.
Washington and Oregon are really interesting.
The Great Lakes states - starting and ending in Chicago and going over the top of Lake Superior was an amazing trip.
I've been to every state. They're all so different. Can't wait to get back.

Crater Lake Oregon....only accessible in June once the snow plough has got through!

I'm currently living in Washington state (Seattle). There is so much beautiful scenery here, I would definitely recommend visiting. Highlights for me: Deception Pass, Olympic national park (Ruby beach, Hoh rainforest is magical), Mt Rainier, North Cascades (Diablo lake). Also Columbia River gorge isn't too far if you go down into Oregon.

It's best to visit in the summer months as some of these areas become inaccessible due to snow.

National parks are a must wherever you go. So far outside of WA we have been to Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain. Highly recommend Yellowstone & GT, they are pretty close to each other so many people do them on the same trip. Rocky Mtn was ok but we didn't get the full experience due to the awful weather we had :(

Depends on time of year. If you want to do it in the summer I'd head to the Pacific Northwest. Oregon and Washington are fabulous in August - not humid, just a lovely temperature and sunny. You could visit Olympic NP, Rainier NP, Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, the Columbia River valley - all lovely. Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP are also wonderful in the summer and there are ranches up there where you could stay and play at being cowboys for a few days, if that appeals.

Otherwise, New England in the fall is amazing. We would go up to VT or NH every year in Oct when we lived in the US, because it's just so beautiful.

Alternatively, fly to Las Vegas and do a big loop up to Zion and Bryce NP, then over to Lake Powell and Monument Valley and back via Grand Canyon to Las Vegas.

Thank you all for the ideas. DP and I can have loads of fun planning what looks like it may end up being four or five trips!