What Are Your Best Cross Country Stops

[SteveTOaks]

I'm cheatin' but...........Thanks Mike and Steve for several new ideas!

Hey, I'm watching for some ideas too!

Obviously, major national parks are all worth a visit.

Maybe it doesn't qualify as a major park, but I was disappointed by Lassen Volcanic National Park in central California. If you've seen anything in Yellowstone that gives off steam, you've probably seen more than Lassen has. OTOH, the visitor's center there has some good pictures of the volcano blowing it's top in the early years of the 20th century.

- Steve

[oldbonesclimber]

You must have missed all the remote camping around Lassen!

Paul

[patrick51]

Like Ole Gus said about his famous fried chicken, "I ain't telling".

[skyrat]

Originally Posted by patrick51

Like Ole Gus said about his famous fried chicken, "I ain't telling".

Huh, I am surprised. These don't have to be secret spots, just ones that might not be obvious to the passer by.

I asked and here are some of mine...

The Wave near Page, AZ
After winning a lottery for a permit here https://www.blm.gov/az/paria/obtainp...cfm?usearea=cb it is about a 7 mile hike, but it is also a one of a kind spot


Lower Antelope Canyon near Page, AZ
Upper Antelope has large rooms, Lower Antelope is pure slot canyon.


Horseshoe Bend near Page, AZ
About 4 miles south of town.


Dinosaur Tracks near the Tuba City Airport, Tuba City, AZ
On the 160, just east of 89.


Kachina Natural Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, UT.
Hiking a few miles to the bottom of the canyon is short and sweet.
There is an amazing archeological site just outside the picture on the left.


Castle Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, WY
Many folks see this geyser every day. It does not erupt often, but stick around on a sunny day for the eruption and there is almost always a rainbow. Make sure you either take the polarizer off the lens or turn it so that it does not keep you from being able to photograph the rainbow.


Fire Hole River Falls, Yellowstone National Park, WY
Everyone takes the one way drive by this spot in summer and it is beautiful, but check out Yellowstone in winter. They can pick you up from West Yellowstone and take you in on a snow cat, awesome.


Mount Bachelor from the Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway. Bend, OR
This highway, 372, is a loop that goes right past about a dozen lakes that all fish well and some rent kayaks. The loop is closed in winter once you pass Mt. Bachelor.


Mazourka Peak, Mazourka Canyon Road, Independence, CA
Take Mazourka Canyon Road, southernmost intersection with 395 in Independence toward the White Mountains. This is a 4x4 road to the top that passes dozens of mine sites. Some still in use.


Emma Wood State Beach north of Ventura, CA
A great lounging and surfing beach just north of Ventura with the most interesting rocks as an erosion break.


Moonstone Beach, Cambria, CA
Neat little beach covered with Bed and Breakfast joints. No Secret, but it is a really nice tide-pooling area though. It is only a few minutes south of Hearst Castle, and a few more from the Elephant Seal breading grounds at Año Nuevo State Park.


Little Lakes Valley near Upper Rock Creek near Bishop, CA
Best hiking bang for buck in CA. Turn off 395 at Tom's place and drive to the end of the road. You can hike to 5-6 lakes in a short 2-3 hours. Closed in Winter unless you have cross country skiis.


Joshua Tree National Park, CA
Again, no secret, but you can roam this desert looking for the most interesting rock formations for days.


Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA
Directions from the visitors center in Lone Pine. Rich in film history as it is the closest Western Location to Los Angeles with an airport. The Alabama Hills create a valley between the Sierra Nevada Range and the 395, keeping you from seeing development in any direction. Only about a 5 minute walk from the car but you would not find it by accident. You can see the lower 48's tallest peak, Mount Whitney, within the arch itself.

[daveb]

Bad ass pictures!

On the west coast, Glass beach is a cool place and a buddy told me about a oddity in Oregon called Thor's Well that is supposed to be a good photo shot.

And although Lassen NP isn't Yellowstone, it has a lot to offer.



And this thread kind of ties in to this one.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1027
Ya gotta eat

[skyrat]

Our last 3 trips to Oregon we planned on hitting Lassen and we still have never been. Looking forward to it. I'll check out those others as "well."

[skyrat]

Steve, Mike, Dave and others, thanks for the ideas.
But come on folks, there are over 9K users here. Now I know most don't post or are totally inactive, but there has to be more than 5 or 6 that have good ideas of places to visit ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY!!

Yeah, I'm calling you out!
Put your thinking cap on!

[86Scotty]

OK, I sometimes feel like I talk too much on this forum, but here goes. We travel from Tennessee across to the Denver area a few times a year usually, and there's honestly not much to see in the plains, but we haven't really looked very hard either. i-70 and i-40 are absolutely boring, but necessary if you want to spend most of your time in prettier places. You have to just put the hammer down and get across the plains in my opinion. There are lots of pretty places in the Ozarks of Arkansas/Missouri if you get off the Interstate. From Denver west, we love Hwy 50 across the state, through Salida, Gunnison and over to Montrose. Black Canyon of the Gunnison is nice, but the whole area is beautiful. Then you can drop down the Million Dollar Hwy (550) through Ouray and Silverton to Durango. Lots of offroading here if you want, including the Alpine Loop and lots of good roads over to Telluride, a really cool place. From there west (I realize you would be doing this backwards) is Mesa Verde, Hovenweep, Monument Valley, Four Corners, and more over towards Page, which it looks like you're already familiar with. Before I forget, of course there's infinite fun up North in Moab and the Maze district of Canyonlands.
Carrying on, we love Zion/Bryce area, Kodachrome Basin is also a cool stop. It gets more interesting the further you dig in to the Southwest, but I'll skip the places which are shared about all the time, assuming you already know a bit about the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, 395, etc.
A really great route we took on our run out to and up the West Coast this past summer was Hwy 50 from Holden Utah all the way across to Reno. It's an awesome road in every way showing the contrasts of crossing the country without the commercialism and boredom of the interstate. Great Basin NP was a highlight of this route for us, which we had never even heard of before we stumbled upon it, but we are lowly Southerners who previously only flown anywhere west of Denver. Before I forget, we like the Big Cottonwood Canyon area just east of SLC. Lots of great camping, skiing (we were there in Summer though) and great roads and views.
Another area we discovered a year or two ago was from Baggs Wyoming across the Medicine Bow NF. This is the area where Aspen Alley is, as well as a beautiful deserted run over the Continental Divide to Laramie Wyoming. We zig-zagged up and down between Steamboat Springs Co and Medicine Bow and also went through Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins, Co. Powder is spectacular, basically from Chambers Lake east to Fort Collins on Hwy 14.
Lots of pics and info from these trips are here:

viewtopic.php?p=112989#p112989

viewtopic.php?p=132869#p132869

[BrianW]

What highways are you planning to take from/back to Calif, and where are you headed in New England? How much time do you have?

See a thread from last year about driving up the east coast, including the Outer Banks, Virginia Beach, Assateaque National Seashore, etc. I forget the forum member that did the trip, but he got some good suggestions. Assateaque is a nice place to camp and see the East Coast seashore the way it used to be.

If you come across I40 you could head to the coast in North Carolina and then head north. Coming up the coast,the "DelMarVa Peninsula" (the spit of land comprised of parts of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia) is very pretty and not on the beaten path. In Cambridge, Md., is Blackwater Nat Wildlife Refuge, which is worth a visit (no camping around there, though).

Near I81 and I40 in Tennessee and Virginia you could visit Great Smoky Mtns NP, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Shenandoah NP/Skyline Drive. All have some nice hiking opportunities. I'm most acquainted with the Shenandoahs out of the three, so that would be my preference. Many folks, especially the ladies, like to check out the Biltmore Estate in NC, off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

If you stop in Philadelphia let me know and I'll give you a guided tour of the historic sites, including Independence Hall, etc. Unfortunately, we don't have a driveway that we could offer up for camping, otherwise we certainly would.

[daveb]

This trip report has always stuck in my mind
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3864