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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
At some point I intend to make a grand western loop road trip. A
length scenic drive. I have the scenic driving books for California, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, but ask if there is some particularly spectacular place I should definitely see along my route? I'm driving generally westward along I-10 to Los Angeles, north along the Pacific Coast Highway to the Olympic Penninsula of Washing State, east across the North Cascades National Park and on into Montana and Glacier National Park, then south through Wyoming and Yellowstone / Grand Teton, then south through Colorado (which I've visited quite a bit already). I like beauty drives, fun drives, mountains and lakes. Have you encountered some place along this general path, that was pecularly regrettable? Such as someplace usually dangerous or otherwise a place to avoid? Thanks, please post! -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#2
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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:2012042718295491481-stephedanospam@maccom... At some point I intend to make a grand western loop road trip. A length scenic drive. I have the scenic driving books for California, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, but ask if there is some particularly spectacular place I should definitely see along my route? I'm driving generally westward along I-10 to Los Angeles, north along the Pacific Coast Highway to the Olympic Penninsula of Washing State, east across the North Cascades National Park and on into Montana and Glacier National Park, then south through Wyoming and Yellowstone / Grand Teton, then south through Colorado (which I've visited quite a bit already). I like beauty drives, fun drives, mountains and lakes. Have you encountered some place along this general path, that was pecularly regrettable? Such as someplace usually dangerous or otherwise a place to avoid? Thanks, please post! -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) Late last Summer we headed north out of Yellowstone via Livingston and Harlowton to Havre then west on US2 to St Mary (Glacier). Then over the Going to the Sun Road through Glacier to Kalispell. From there we followed US2 through Libby to Bonners Ferry and then down to Coeur d'Alene, Spokane, Omak and route 20 to Burlington. On a previous occasion we'd avoided Coeur d'Alene and turned off for Spokane at Sandpoint. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the trip across Montana. Harlowton used to be a division point on the Milwaukee Road (Railway) and they've got one of the old electric locos plinthed in the town centre and another (much smaller) at the preserved depot - there are 2 more in Red Deer I believe. It really is Big Sky Country out there and it goes on for miles. The Missouri River is wide and fast flowing even this far from the sea. US2 from Havre west follows the railroad so you keep having enormous freights coming towards you. And every ten miles or so there is a tiny, half dead, town which was built by the railroad. The Going to the Sun Road is everything people say. Get an early start. We arrived at the visitor centre at the pass at about 1030 and only just got a parking space. It is worth a stop and the walk to Hidden Lake. By the time we got back they were turning everyone away from the lot. My memory of the road from Sandpoint to Spokane is hazy but I think I'd go that way again rather than via Coeur d'Alene if I get back there. There's not much between Spokane and Omak but route 20 across the North Cascades is beautiful. Take food - there are no cafes at about lunch time! One other comment is that about 10 years ago we exited Yellowstone over the Beartooth (the North East exit) which is stupendous. The car we had that year had a very weird gearbox with no real low gear capability and I didn't really enjoy relying on the brakes for the descent but it's worth stopping in the various pullouts along the way so we just did that to make sure the brakes didn't overheat (I once watched someone on Pikes Peak arrive at the half way checkpoint with brakes that I could see were red hot!). The Olympic Peninsular is worth circumnavigating. Be warned about Forks. I had it in mind as a logging town (and it is) but it's also where the Twilight books are set (no I hadn't heard about them either) and the stores now carry everything Twilight! Go into the Hoh Rainforest and also onto the ridge above Port Angeles (name escapes me). Consider cutting across to the Townsend Edmonds ferry instead of driving all the way back to Tacoma or even taking the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria (BC) spending a few days on Vancouver Island before returning to Port Angeles. If you do go to Vancouver Island you need to allow a couple of nights minimum on the West Coast. |
#3
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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
Sounds great.
Parts of LA at night are places to avoid. From Hearst Castle up, it a great drive. If time is not an issue, spend a night in Carmel, Pacific Grove, maybe Pebble Beach. In SF do the "49 mile drive" ( tourist trap but you'll see a lot). Check HERE for LOTS of California travel/driving info: http://touringsfo.info/index.html Such as: "This route is highly recommended because the spectacularity of the trip insignificates the time/distance premium. It's best to take two days, spending the first night in Monterey, Carmel, or Pacific Grove" In Oregon: do a Crater Lake, Mt Hood loop. They have Scenic Route there too. In northwest , depending upon time of year, some roads close for the season, so check your proposed route in advance. Enjoy "Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:2012042718295491481-stephedanospam@maccom... At some point I intend to make a grand western loop road trip. A length scenic drive. I have the scenic driving books for California, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, but ask if there is some particularly spectacular place I should definitely see along my route? I'm driving generally westward along I-10 to Los Angeles, north along the Pacific Coast Highway to the Olympic Penninsula of Washing State, east across the North Cascades National Park and on into Montana and Glacier National Park, then south through Wyoming and Yellowstone / Grand Teton, then south through Colorado (which I've visited quite a bit already). I like beauty drives, fun drives, mountains and lakes. Have you encountered some place along this general path, that was pecularly regrettable? Such as someplace usually dangerous or otherwise a place to avoid? Thanks, please post! -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#4
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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
"Graham Harrison" wrote in message ... "Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:2012042718295491481-stephedanospam@maccom... At some point I intend to make a grand western loop road trip. A length scenic drive. I have the scenic driving books for California, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, but ask if there is some particularly spectacular place I should definitely see along my route? I'm driving generally westward along I-10 to Los Angeles, north along the Pacific Coast Highway to the Olympic Penninsula of Washing State, east across the North Cascades National Park and on into Montana and Glacier National Park, then south through Wyoming and Yellowstone / Grand Teton, then south through Colorado (which I've visited quite a bit already). I like beauty drives, fun drives, mountains and lakes. Have you encountered some place along this general path, that was pecularly regrettable? Such as someplace usually dangerous or otherwise a place to avoid? Thanks, please post! -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) Late last Summer we headed north out of Yellowstone via Livingston and Harlowton to Havre then west on US2 to St Mary (Glacier). Then over the Going to the Sun Road through Glacier to Kalispell. From there we followed US2 through Libby to Bonners Ferry and then down to Coeur d'Alene, Spokane, Omak and route 20 to Burlington. On a previous occasion we'd avoided Coeur d'Alene and turned off for Spokane at Sandpoint. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the trip across Montana. Harlowton used to be a division point on the Milwaukee Road (Railway) and they've got one of the old electric locos plinthed in the town centre and another (much smaller) at the preserved depot - there are 2 more in Red Deer I believe. It really is Big Sky Country out there and it goes on for miles. The Missouri River is wide and fast flowing even this far from the sea. US2 from Havre west follows the railroad so you keep having enormous freights coming towards you. And every ten miles or so there is a tiny, half dead, town which was built by the railroad. The Going to the Sun Road is everything people say. Get an early start. We arrived at the visitor centre at the pass at about 1030 and only just got a parking space. It is worth a stop and the walk to Hidden Lake. By the time we got back they were turning everyone away from the lot. My memory of the road from Sandpoint to Spokane is hazy but I think I'd go that way again rather than via Coeur d'Alene if I get back there. There's not much between Spokane and Omak but route 20 across the North Cascades is beautiful. Take food - there are no cafes at about lunch time! One other comment is that about 10 years ago we exited Yellowstone over the Beartooth (the North East exit) which is stupendous. The car we had that year had a very weird gearbox with no real low gear capability and I didn't really enjoy relying on the brakes for the descent but it's worth stopping in the various pullouts along the way so we just did that to make sure the brakes didn't overheat (I once watched someone on Pikes Peak arrive at the half way checkpoint with brakes that I could see were red hot!). The Olympic Peninsular is worth circumnavigating. Be warned about Forks. I had it in mind as a logging town (and it is) but it's also where the Twilight books are set (no I hadn't heard about them either) and the stores now carry everything Twilight! Go into the Hoh Rainforest and also onto the ridge above Port Angeles (name escapes me). Consider cutting across to the Townsend Edmonds ferry instead of driving all the way back to Tacoma or even taking the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria (BC) spending a few days on Vancouver Island before returning to Port Angeles. If you do go to Vancouver Island you need to allow a couple of nights minimum on the West Coast. More thoughts - this time on the I-10 corridor. It depends how far you are prepared to deviate but in Texas go down to Big Bend. The trouble with that idea is that in the same area but north of I-10 you've got Carlsbad Caverns (stay for the bat flight), Roswell (for a laugh), the Guadelupes and White Sands. If I had to choose I'd go to Big Bend but the choice would not be an easy one. Once you cross into New Mexico you can deviate north to Silver City and the Gila Mountains where there's a cliff dwelling similar to Mesa Verde but much less visited and just outside Silver City there's a state park of rocks (can't remember the name) and an enormous copper pit. Then you get to Arizona where south of the interstate you can deviate to the Chiricahuas (sp?) for hiking and Tombstone for a bit of fun. Then you get to Tucson which has a very good aircraft museum and the USAF bone yard. |
#5
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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
Start he
http://www.us-parks.com/road-trip.html I did similar trip / advice a few years ago. Here's part of my thread/responses then a link to entire thread. My Subject line was " Oregon / Wash Road trip " Link to newsgroup thread - he http://tinyurl.com/OR-WA-roadtrip I got LOTS of feedback. I took trip in Sept so might want to skip down - I got a LOT of pointers. I stopped at Oregon Caves, Crater Lake, Mt Hood, Lewis and Clark Museum, Tillamook Cheese Factory ( I know, but everyone told me to do it), Mt Rainer, Mt St Helens. Weather was bad in northwest corner so we skipped Olympia Nat'l Park as well as Seattle. In Northern California we went to Josiah (somelastname) redwood forest then looped back - up the coast. The redwoods there were impressive. NOTE it is a LONG way into the trees. I met a few folks who where told by a ranger to "park your car here". They had been walking for 20 minutes in when I came upon them and gave them a ride back. I have a lot of saved articles such as: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/15...l/15hours.html but when I click links in my saved files, much of it is not online any longer. Plenty out there. AAA used to have files for "North Oregon Coast Trip Route" as well as "South" . Again - I have the files but couldn't find a good link today. I uploaded a trip video , but "too long" for YouTube. =========================== "Mimi" wrote in message news "- Bobb -" wrote in message old info snipped If doing "roughly" these loops: http://www.us-parks.com/portland_crater_lake.html http://www.us-parks.com/olympic_saint_helens.html Does it matter ? should I head out of Portland and go south to Crater Lake route to CA line then head north - UP the coast - or head from Portland to nw tip ( via Seattle ?) and then drive from north to south ? ( Different coastline views while driving ? ) How's the weather in the mountains looking ? Should I organize one area to do first ( 'before the snow' for example) Are you going this year? If so, better go soon. It can snow in the Cascades in September. Also the weather deteriorates after September. And you are missing some good places. Like the Columbia Gorge, the San Juan Islands in Washington. Of course, we must all make choices, but you might want to give up some time on the Oregon Coast for the Gorge. Marianne Yes, heading there Sept 19th for 2 weeks: that's why asking for specifics now. I WAS gonna go there in May but too much snow in mountains, so thought I'd maybe squeeze in both the coast and the mtns in trip. I've always wanted to drive the coast so don't want to miss that. ( I've done all of east coast as well as : west coast from SF down to San Diego, so want to do WA/ OR coastline to ' see it all'.) "- Bobb -" wrote in message ... Sounds great. Parts of LA at night are places to avoid. From Hearst Castle up, it a great drive. If time is not an issue, spend a night in Carmel, Pacific Grove, maybe Pebble Beach. In SF do the "49 mile drive" ( tourist trap but you'll see a lot). Check HERE for LOTS of California travel/driving info: http://touringsfo.info/index.html Such as: "This route is highly recommended because the spectacularity of the trip insignificates the time/distance premium. It's best to take two days, spending the first night in Monterey, Carmel, or Pacific Grove" In Oregon: do a Crater Lake, Mt Hood loop. They have Scenic Route there too. In northwest , depending upon time of year, some roads close for the season, so check your proposed route in advance. Enjoy "Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:2012042718295491481-stephedanospam@maccom... At some point I intend to make a grand western loop road trip. A length scenic drive. I have the scenic driving books for California, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, but ask if there is some particularly spectacular place I should definitely see along my route? I'm driving generally westward along I-10 to Los Angeles, north along the Pacific Coast Highway to the Olympic Penninsula of Washing State, east across the North Cascades National Park and on into Montana and Glacier National Park, then south through Wyoming and Yellowstone / Grand Teton, then south through Colorado (which I've visited quite a bit already). I like beauty drives, fun drives, mountains and lakes. Have you encountered some place along this general path, that was pecularly regrettable? Such as someplace usually dangerous or otherwise a place to avoid? Thanks, please post! -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#6
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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
Aha ! I found the new version of TRIP ROUTE link:
http://www.oregon.aaa.com/Default.as...w.goo gle.com AAA is American Auto Association and they have "Drive trip routes" Here's some for the northwest part of country. IF you should enter up at a " MAIN AAA page" and need to "Enter a zipcode so we can best serve you" , enter 97217 ( Portland Oregon) "- Bobb -" wrote in message ... Start he http://www.us-parks.com/road-trip.html I did similar trip / advice a few years ago. Here's part of my thread/responses then a link to entire thread. My Subject line was " Oregon / Wash Road trip " Link to newsgroup thread - he http://tinyurl.com/OR-WA-roadtrip I got LOTS of feedback. I took trip in Sept so might want to skip down - I got a LOT of pointers. I stopped at Oregon Caves, Crater Lake, Mt Hood, Lewis and Clark Museum, Tillamook Cheese Factory ( I know, but everyone told me to do it), Mt Rainer, Mt St Helens. Weather was bad in northwest corner so we skipped Olympia Nat'l Park as well as Seattle. In Northern California we went to Josiah (somelastname) redwood forest then looped back - up the coast. The redwoods there were impressive. NOTE it is a LONG way into the trees. I met a few folks who where told by a ranger to "park your car here". They had been walking for 20 minutes in when I came upon them and gave them a ride back. I have a lot of saved articles such as: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/15...l/15hours.html but when I click links in my saved files, much of it is not online any longer. Plenty out there. AAA used to have files for "North Oregon Coast Trip Route" as well as "South" . Again - I have the files but couldn't find a good link today. I uploaded a trip video , but "too long" for YouTube. =========================== "Mimi" wrote in message news "- Bobb -" wrote in message old info snipped If doing "roughly" these loops: http://www.us-parks.com/portland_crater_lake.html http://www.us-parks.com/olympic_saint_helens.html Does it matter ? should I head out of Portland and go south to Crater Lake route to CA line then head north - UP the coast - or head from Portland to nw tip ( via Seattle ?) and then drive from north to south ? ( Different coastline views while driving ? ) How's the weather in the mountains looking ? Should I organize one area to do first ( 'before the snow' for example) Are you going this year? If so, better go soon. It can snow in the Cascades in September. Also the weather deteriorates after September. And you are missing some good places. Like the Columbia Gorge, the San Juan Islands in Washington. Of course, we must all make choices, but you might want to give up some time on the Oregon Coast for the Gorge. Marianne Yes, heading there Sept 19th for 2 weeks: that's why asking for specifics now. I WAS gonna go there in May but too much snow in mountains, so thought I'd maybe squeeze in both the coast and the mtns in trip. I've always wanted to drive the coast so don't want to miss that. ( I've done all of east coast as well as : west coast from SF down to San Diego, so want to do WA/ OR coastline to ' see it all'.) "- Bobb -" wrote in message ... Sounds great. Parts of LA at night are places to avoid. From Hearst Castle up, it a great drive. If time is not an issue, spend a night in Carmel, Pacific Grove, maybe Pebble Beach. In SF do the "49 mile drive" ( tourist trap but you'll see a lot). Check HERE for LOTS of California travel/driving info: http://touringsfo.info/index.html Such as: "This route is highly recommended because the spectacularity of the trip insignificates the time/distance premium. It's best to take two days, spending the first night in Monterey, Carmel, or Pacific Grove" In Oregon: do a Crater Lake, Mt Hood loop. They have Scenic Route there too. In northwest , depending upon time of year, some roads close for the season, so check your proposed route in advance. Enjoy "Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:2012042718295491481-stephedanospam@maccom... At some point I intend to make a grand western loop road trip. A length scenic drive. I have the scenic driving books for California, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, but ask if there is some particularly spectacular place I should definitely see along my route? I'm driving generally westward along I-10 to Los Angeles, north along the Pacific Coast Highway to the Olympic Penninsula of Washing State, east across the North Cascades National Park and on into Montana and Glacier National Park, then south through Wyoming and Yellowstone / Grand Teton, then south through Colorado (which I've visited quite a bit already). I like beauty drives, fun drives, mountains and lakes. Have you encountered some place along this general path, that was pecularly regrettable? Such as someplace usually dangerous or otherwise a place to avoid? Thanks, please post! -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#7
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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
Thanks for all those ideas! It is definitely getting a print-out and
cross-reference to my motoring atlas! On 2012-04-29 10:53:35 -0500, Graham Harrison said: More thoughts - this time on the I-10 corridor. It depends how far you are prepared to deviate but in Texas go down to Big Bend. The trouble with that idea is that in the same area but north of I-10 you've got Carlsbad Caverns (stay for the bat flight), Roswell (for a laugh), the Guadelupes and White Sands. If I had to choose I'd go to Big Bend but the choice would not be an easy one. Once you cross into New Mexico you can deviate north to Silver City and the Gila Mountains where there's a cliff dwelling similar to Mesa Verde but much less visited and just outside Silver City there's a state park of rocks (can't remember the name) and an enormous copper pit. Then you get to Arizona where south of the interstate you can deviate to the Chiricahuas (sp?) for hiking and Tombstone for a bit of fun. Then you get to Tucson which has a very good aircraft museum and the USAF bone yard. Well I have not been to Big Bend, but it is a rather larger diversion. Hmm. Will have to think about it. I've visited Guadalupe Mtns and Calsbad before, pretty swell. I took the foot path down into the caves - the best route. Also brought a hand lantern to shine in all the dark areas. I've been out toe Tuscon too to visit the national park, but I did not even know the boneyard was there. I wonder if you can go inside and check it out. I'll note your other tips and find them on the map. Thanks again! -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#8
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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
On 2012-04-28 18:05:17 -0500, - Bobb - said:
Sounds great. Wow I've really scored on r.t.u-c! I will check into all your suggestions. Unfortunately I was intended to drive-through Oregon as they don't let you pump your own gas and that's something I need to do for myself. Love volcanoes, though, too bad. I wasn't planning to visit Los Angeles except to drive through it. I guess.. the tar pits would be pretty cool but that would mean dealing with "LA". I'm afraid all I know about that city is what I see on The Shield.. no thanks. Thanks for all those little tips. I need to dedicate some future weekend to detailed planning. I mean, detailed map-marking. So the subsequent trip itself can be fluid. -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#9
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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:201204291800212010-stephedanospam@maccom... Thanks for all those ideas! It is definitely getting a print-out and cross-reference to my motoring atlas! On 2012-04-29 10:53:35 -0500, Graham Harrison said: More thoughts - this time on the I-10 corridor. It depends how far you are prepared to deviate but in Texas go down to Big Bend. The trouble with that idea is that in the same area but north of I-10 you've got Carlsbad Caverns (stay for the bat flight), Roswell (for a laugh), the Guadelupes and White Sands. If I had to choose I'd go to Big Bend but the choice would not be an easy one. Once you cross into New Mexico you can deviate north to Silver City and the Gila Mountains where there's a cliff dwelling similar to Mesa Verde but much less visited and just outside Silver City there's a state park of rocks (can't remember the name) and an enormous copper pit. Then you get to Arizona where south of the interstate you can deviate to the Chiricahuas (sp?) for hiking and Tombstone for a bit of fun. Then you get to Tucson which has a very good aircraft museum and the USAF bone yard. Well I have not been to Big Bend, but it is a rather larger diversion. Hmm. Will have to think about it. I've visited Guadalupe Mtns and Calsbad before, pretty swell. I took the foot path down into the caves - the best route. Also brought a hand lantern to shine in all the dark areas. I've been out toe Tuscon too to visit the national park, but I did not even know the boneyard was there. I wonder if you can go inside and check it out. I'll note your other tips and find them on the map. Thanks again! -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) It's the Pima museum and they also operate the boneyard tours http://www.pimaair.org/view.php?pg=11 I know what you mean about Big Bend being a long way. It took us most of a day from Midland to the visitor center/motel and when we left we only got to Fort Davis. It's somewhere you want to spend at least a day even if you only intend a bit of windshield sightseeing. |
#10
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Grand Western Loop - ideas?
"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:201204291807433638-stephedanospam@maccom... On 2012-04-28 18:05:17 -0500, - Bobb - said: I need to dedicate some future weekend to detailed planning. I mean, detailed map-marking. So the subsequent trip itself can be fluid. -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) Do it on Google Maps - easy to modify as you go. Just before starting email it to yourself. You can pull it up as you travel. |
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