Cool places to camp in the south/southwest

In My Humble Opinion
1

My girlfriend and I are planning to spend my sabbatical on a two month cross-country roadtrip this summer.

We’re going to be in a Subaru Outback with two dogs and equiped for easy car-camping. The first leg of the trip (and the leg that remains without concrete plans) will be going from Atlanta, GA to Monterey County, CA, largely along I-40. We plan to take about a week for this leg.

We’re looking for nice, pet-friendly places to car camp. We’re hoping to make reservations sooner than later. We’d rather stay in “rustic” campsites as opposed to having lots of people and concrete and RV’s around us. We don’t mind having to use some 4 wheel drive. We’d rather have some opportunities for a nice dayhike or two instead of strolling around tourist-traps.

So what say ye Dopers?

2

In Utah there is a place called Zion National Park. It is gorgeous. Do not miss it.

Also noteworthy is Bryce Canyon.

Canyonlands is also an amazing park.

Utah is truly an amazing place.

3

Check out Recreation.gov, the definitive guide to all public recreation areas (local, state and federal) nation-wide. It can help you identify pet-friendly areas.

One caveat - Always, always, always, check with the agency responsible for the site before making a decision. Recreation.gov is a great portal, but do not trust the details.

4

I say a week isn’t enough time. You’re going to spend at least three or four full days driving. Doesn’t leave enough time for tourism. As Ghanima pointed out, you could spend several days just playing tourist in Utah.

Not sure if dogs are allowed in the Grand Canyon, but you’re going to pass close to there. (“Close” is a relative term – we’re talking a 2500 mile drive, so a few hundred mile detour is no biggie.) As well as Joshua Tree national monument.

5

When you go through AZ, you won’t be too far from Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon- it’s some really really beautiful country. And if you go to Sedona, you might as well check out Jerome - the most populated ghost town in the US but fairly cool - especially the tours (in my humble opinion.)

Kingman is also cool.

And so is the The Petrified Forest Nat’l Park.

6

Bryce and Zion are certainly on the short list. Shay explored both parks on a cycling/hiking trip she took with Olivia travel this past summer, and was very impressed with both. Aside from flying in and out of the Phoenix and Las Vegas airports, I’ve yet to spend any time in the southwest.

As much as I’d like to take more time in the region, we’re going to have to pass through fairly quickly. We’re hoping to spend 2 weeks with each of our mothers, in Southern Humboldt, CA and Bismarck, ND. We’re also planning on attending the Michican Womyn’s Music Festival, Aug 8th-13th. The time in between will be filled with visits with friends and family near Monterey CA, Portland OR, Minneapolis MN, and Pittsburgh PA.

We’re trying to prioritize and plan our stops in the south and southwest so we can figure out where to drive straight through while taking turns sleeping in the passenger seat, etc.

Thanks for the great suggestions so far!

7

I should’ve had our general route map in front of me and I should’ve been more specific in my OP.

We’re basically slicing through the middle of Arkansas and Oklahoma, cutting through Northern Texas/Amarillo, then slicing through the middle of New Mexico and Arizona. Utah and Nevada are pretty much out, considering our timeframe.

8

I don’t know the geography too well, being a foreigner and all, but I did do a road trip through AZ & NM with my brother a few years ago. The camp grounds on the reservations were all free, and just as good as the ones we paid for. We particularly enjoyed the Navajo National Monument as not only was the camping free but they had a wonderful guided walk by a Native American park ranger, down to a magnificent cliff dwelling. Highlight of the trip.

9

Ditto and Ditto on Bryce and Zion. Their beauty almost defies comprehension. Seriously.

10

If you are a AAA member or know somebody who is, they have free books listing all the campgrounds from state to state. The books list what amenities the campgrounds have as well as their rates and whether they allow pets.

Mesa Verde may be too far north for you but it was tres cool 25 years ago. Very rustic at the time.

11

If you are going through Amarillo near the time you want to camp, try Palo Duro Canyon. It’s got primitive camping, hiking, animal friendly, really close to I-40.

12

Since you are right on I-40, here are a few places to see on the way:
Hualapai Mountain Park
http://www.mcparks.com/hmp/

Absolutely beautiful—a forest in the middle of the desert. Great old, stone cabins and camping sites. Good trails and the place is dog-friendly. Check out the website. We spend several weekends a year there. Can’t recommend it highly enough. Heck, it would even be a cool place just to stay overnight instead of getting a motel room. Near Kingman, AZ.
Mojave Preserve
http://www.nps.gov/moja/

Awesome place to see dunes, old mines or do some hiking and climbing. Mid Hills suffered some damage after a fire last summer, but it’s still a beautiful, accessible place to visit. Hole in the Wall is cool, too, at lower elevation and near some beautiful rock formations. If you have a day to spare, you can check out Cima Dome or Mitchell Caverns http://www.desertusa.com/mnp/mnp_mc.html. Near Needles, CA

Then there’s Joshua Tree:

http://www.nps.gov/jotr/

Never been, but have friends who love it.

Keep in mind that the Parks Service has regulations about pets—on leash at all times, never left unattended.

Hope this helps.

13

I don’t know what your plans are in Monterey, but there’s a really great campground at Pfieffer Big Sur State Park, about 30 miles south of Monterey. I stayed there around New Year’s. It’s $20/night, but you’re surrounded by misty redwoods, and they even have hot showers (a quarter gets you three minutes) in nice private stalls. It was very quiet, too.

Get gas before you hit there, though. It was nearly $4.00 a gallon.

Anyway, the whole Big Sur area is really the most gorgeous scenery I’ve ever seen, and there’s lots to do around there. In any case, have a great trip! I love roadtrips.

14

If you’re traveling I-40, you will be cutting across Arkansas very near Petit Jean Mountain. The waterfalls alone are worth the hike. Since you’ll be looking for campgrounds, you really shouldn’t miss this place. I’ve camped there dozens of times and (IMO) it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth.

15

In Arizona you will be just south of the Grand Canyon. You will also pass not too far north of Sedona, and Arcosanti
When you get to California you could hang a right at Bakersfield and see Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks. A little further up is Yosemite National Park. State highway 49 which runs through the gold country. Very pretty country. On the other hand, you could stick to your existing plan only when you get to 101 drop over to the coast at Morro Bay and drive highway 1 up to Carmel Monterey. If it were up to me, I would not take 101 unless time is important. Highway 1 has some of the prettiest vistas anywhere.
Lots of options here, what floats your boat?

16

Three dopers have already mentioned the ones I came here to suggest – I’ve camped in both Bryce and Zion and highly recommend them both. You get to see parts that most tourists, sticking to the roads or the new bus tours never see – by all means hike Bryce away from the tourist stops, along the bottoms of the hoodoos, and at different times of day. everything looks different from different angles and with different lighting. One thing that people miss is that there’s another entrance to Zion, Kolob Canyon, up north along route 15.

I also recommend Dinosaur and Arches in Utah, especially the latter, since most of the park is away from roads, and you have to hike to see many of the 300+ arches in the park. Even to see the most famous and picturesque, Delicate Arch, you have to hike for at least a mile (unless you’re satisfied with seeing it from a distance).
The hitch is that a lot of people want to see these parks. I understand that you can no longer drive through Zion, but have to taske the bus, and I don’t know how camping works there anymore. and I suspect that camping is so popular that you might have to reserve a space. If that’s the case, look into less famous parks in the state, like Dead Horse Point State Park.

17

Any road trip that ends in Monterey from the south pretty much ought to go up the Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur, that’s my neighborhood, once you make San luis Obispo, there’s pleny of options for easy camping. Stop by and we’ll get some good food.
Larry

18

Since you’re traveling in summertime, it’s likely to be pretty HOT out west. You might want to consider finding campsites at higher altitudes. Outside of Albuquerque, El Morro National Monument is pretty neat. Just north of Flagstaff, there’s Sunset Crater. Someone already mentioned Hualapai Mountain Park–it’s a really nice spot. (If you feel like hopping in a large body of water at that point in your trip, Lake Havasu isn’t too far off the route)

If you want to brave the heat in the Eastern Mojave, Mitchell Caverns has a very small, rustic campground with one of the most expansive views you’ll ever experience. No tours of the caverns during the summer–you’d likely have the place entirely to yourselves. (I’d check to see if they have the water on before you plan on spending the night anywhere in the area, though)

19

Great suggestions, y’all. We’re checking them all out.

Once we get to California, it is looking like we’re pretty much booked. We’re adding some time with friends in Bakersfield who want to take us to Disneyland, so that will probably eclipse Joshua Tree as a destination. And my extended family (grandmother, two uncles, an aunt, and two cousins) live in the Salinas CA area, so we’ll be staying and visiting with them while we’re in Monterey County.

The decision between the PCH and 101 to get to Monterey will probably be made as late as possible, depending on whether or not we have any time to spare. After Salinas we’re heading up to Humboldt to stay with my Mom and go backpacking, so we will at least be able to take the coastal route from Monterey to the Bay Area without too much trouble, but we’ll definitely be on 101 North of San Francisco for the sake of time.

20

Ok, we have a battleplan. MANY thanks for the suggestions y’all made. It helped us greatly.

Being a good little Libra, the results of our plans are a compromise. While we can’t visit all of the locations that were suggested, we did adjust things so as to spend significantly more time in the south/southwest than our preliminary planning had allowed.

If your suggestion was not selected, just remember the wise words of Kittenwar.com: “But all our kittens are winners really…” :stuck_out_tongue:

Our first stop will be Petit Jean State Park (http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com/) near Morrilton, Arkansas, where we will spend 2 nights and one full day.

Next will be Palo Duro State Park (http://www.palodurocanyon.com/) near Amarillo, Texas, where will will spend two nights and one full day.

Then we’re off to Painted Desert/Petrified Forest State Park (http://www.nps.gov/pefo/) near Holbrook, Arizona, where we will spend 3 nights and 2 full days.

From there, we head to Hulalapai Mountain Park (Mohave County Parks) near Kingman, Arizona, where we will spend two nights and one full day.

Then we’re bound for Joshua Tree National Park (http://www.nps.gov/jotr/) near Indio, California, where we’ll spend 3 nights and 2 full days.

The next few weeks we spend visiting friends and family all through California, including about 2 weeks of visiting with my Mom back home in Southern Humboldt, a scrumptuous public 4th of July BBQ at the Grange Hall of my hometown, and 4 days/3 nights of backpacking on “The Lost Coast” (http://www.ca.blm.gov/arcata/kingrange/).

After that we’re making our way to Crater Lake National Park (http://www.nps.gov/crla/) near Fort Klamath, Oregon, where we’ll spend two nights and one full day.

Then we’re off to Portland, Oregon to visit friends followed by a drive to Missoula, MT for one of our only 3 total nights in a hotel the entire trip.

From there, we head to Glacier National Park (http://www.nps.gov/glac/) near Columbia Falls, Montana, where we’ll spend 2 nights and one full day.

Then we drive like possessed people all the way to Mandan, North Dakota to spend a couple of weeks visiting my girlfriend’s Mom and doing some riverboat camping on the Missouri River.

After that we’re bound for the Minneapolis, Minnesota area to visit more friends and family.

Following hotel night #2 somewhere near Chicago, we’re off to attend the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (http://www.michfest.com) camping for a week, near Hart, Michigan. Hotel night #3 will be our way out of town.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is our next stopping point. More visiting friends.

Our last park camping experience will be at Mount Rogers National Recreation Area (http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/mr/) near Wytheville, Virginia, where we’ll spend one night before heading home to Atlanta.

Whew. I can’t wait!!!