Suggestions for cross country travel

[lbp]

Hello all,

My wife and I will be picking up our new van at SMB West in June. We'll likely drive it back to L.A. to say goodbye to our family there before driving home to Massachusetts. We have not yet decided on our route (stay southern, or head up towards Utah and go the northern route), but I would love to hear any suggestions about routes anyone has taken to drive coast to coast. We are wanting to stay more in campground type places than RV parks, and also would boondock.

So, if anyone has some favorite routes, sites to see, places to camp in the van, I would truly appreciate it. I've found this forum to be full of people with wonderful ideas and look forward to hearing what you all have to say! Thanks very much.
lbp

[Twoxentrix]

If you're planning to predominantly use campgrounds, you should put together your itinerary & route quickly so you can attempt to make reservation...many locations are booking as the sites come available, and the more popular destinations may already be full.
Are you in a hurry to get back? Or planning to take several weeks?

[doublevan2]

Ibp -- I'd suggest the northern route - as June should afford you some possible snow still in the mountains of Montana, Idaho, etc. If you go north - check to see if the Beartooth Hwy is open - fantastic mountain views - maybe bears along the way - 12-15 foot snow drifts/canyons to drive thru - just awesome scenery ! Red Lodge is a great place to stop - rest up - gas up - etc. Maybe still some migrating birds heading north too ? Hwy seems to open in maybe (?) mid June based on winter snow fall. Check out the Tennessee River area also for bald eagles too. Good luck !

[Twoxentrix]

Based on our experiences, I would direct you to head East towards Grand Canyon first, then North into Utah for Zion & Bryce - If you've not been to any of these they are well worth the trip!
From there I would head to either Wyoming for Grand Teton NP - Or towards Colorado into Durango (treat yourselves to a ride on the Durango/Silverton Train!). After that I would head North for South Dakoda to see Mount Rushmore.
If your timing is right, go through Minnesota to the Canadian border (Canada extended their border closure to the US through April 21) and stop at Thunder Bay, Take a couple days and tour around the Great Lakes shoreline.
When you reach the Eastern side of the great Lakes I advise you go see the "Grand Canyon of the East" in the Eastern part of NY at Letchworth State Park (beautiful area, stunning park, and they have a little Inn that has a phenomenal restaurant - Glenn Iris Inn).
If you have time, head to the White Mountains in New Hampshire and take the Cog Railway to the top - its amazing!)
After all that you're welcome to come to Annapolis MD and use our driveway - very fun town, and from here you can explore Washington DC (only a half hour away) for a couple days prior to heading back to Massachusetts.

[WhitH]

Early June is the best time for Yellowstone in my opinion. There can still often be some snow and the animals are still around in low areas a lot and the crowds are far less.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by lbp

Hello all,

My wife and I will be picking up our new van at SMB West in June. We'll likely drive it back to L.A. to say goodbye to our family there before driving home to Massachusetts.

Well if you decide to leave out of SMBW and start your adventure from there, Great Basin NP via the Tioga Pass route is a good stopping point in June. Fairly EZ hop to the Tetons from there. Some info here from my website if you're interested:
Great Basin


Have you considered a shake down run after you pick up the vehicle? You might need to go back to SMB for some tweaks. A lot of owners head to a local spot closer to Fresno to make sure that all is in order before heading home. Just a thought.



From LA I agree with others that some spots more towards the south like GCNP or Zion might be a good stopping point.

[lchukar]

You didn't tell us what kind of rig you will be driving. That should influence your itinerary, or at least it would mine. If you have off road capabilities it opens an amazing world of opportunities outside of RV parks and campgrounds where you will be check by jowl with masses of other folks. Boondocking is where it is at in my opinion.

[Sloya]

If you're leaving LA head towards Las Vegas, about an hour north on 15 outside of Vegas is Valley of Fire with limited full and No hookups. Wyoming has the Devils Tower where they filmed Close Encounters of the Third Kind. From there you're on your own with many locations to choose from

[rt66paul]

A shake down run would be a good idea. Take it to see the Ca central coast, check out Big Sur. You can easily put on 600Mi and still be close to Fresno in case something needs service. The coast is awesome as are the Sierras.

[lbp]

Thanks to all who replied to my post. As it turns out, we're going to have to ship the van from SMB West here to us in Massachusetts, as the van is ready and SMB can't hold on to it until June, which would be the earliest we can get there. So...no cross country trip from CA to MA, instead we're having the van shipped to us here.

All of the ideas and suggestions were great, and I'm keeping track of them in a "future travel" folder on my computer. Obviously we won't be able to do a shake down run near Fresno, so we'll hope for the best with the van and all of the systems as we use it here on the East coast. We'll definitely be heading across the country with the van at some point in the future, but no set dates yet. If we find anything that needs dealing with right away, we'll come as soon as we can to deal with it. Hopefully not! My wife and I are birders, so we'll be working on some trips in late fall / early winter to go to some good birding sites, and make our way west that way.

Thanks again for all of your responses. Stay safe and enjoy any travels you do!
lbp