Goin' on a solo road trip and looking for ideas of where to stop, eat, and see.

In My Humble Opinion
1

About 2 weeks ago, I got laid off from my job with a nice severance package. So, I’ve decided to go on a little vacation adventure by myself and see parts of America for the first time.

Here’s my route map with me starting off in St Paul, MN and heading West to Mount Rushmore. (Planning on stopping at Wall Drug, naturally).

The next day would be to continue Westward and visiting Devil’s Tower en route to Dillon, MT. The reason for that stop is Patagonia’s outlet store.

From there, traveling South through Idaho, past Salt Lake City and Provo, and probably finding a hotel room in Beaver, Ut.

The next morning would be a drive to the Grand Canyon then heading over to my parents’ house in Tucson.

The route home is a more direct route through New Mexico and up to Denver.

Then through Nebraska, Iowa, and home.

I’ve been going through Roadsideamerica.com and finding some neat places to check out, but those are the fun oddities more than general travel tips. So dopers, where else should my car intentionally stop?

2

If you’re going through Denver, hop on down to Golden, home of Coors. It was actually a fun brewery tour. I’m amazed Coors sucks after seeing how the mountain snow water runs right into the brewery. I was there in the summer and the water flowing down there was so cold you couldn’t even bear sticking your feet in for more than a few seconds. And Golden is a cute little town at the base of a mountain - we drove up it and there are some nice views.

3

Flagstaff has the Lowell Observatory, I enjoyed the visit, they had heeps of telescopes out with volunteers switching the views every ten minutes or so. The wupatki ruins and meteor crater or nearby, but I wasn’t very interested in it.

I’m disinterested in the hoover dam, so I didn’t bother to go there.

The tour at the Coors brewery was good, and the free beer honor system was great too.

Look for some ghost towns in the area, there are a lot around and great when nobody else is around.

My favorite was Grafton, close to your itinerary, and nearby Zion National Park (ZNP is amazing!)

4

It has been maybe 3-4 years, so somebody might need to come up with an update…but the chicken fried steak at the little cafe’ attached to a Best Western Hotel just off the highway, in Adoka (???) South Dakota was truly the best chicken fried steak I’ve ever had. I recall the town as being just east of the Badlands.

And speaking of the Badlands. If it is slightly to mostly overcast and cloudy, a detour through the Badlands is nice. The colors wash out in full sun.

Personally, wasn’t a big fan of Wall Drug.

Allow yourself time to walk around Devil’s Tower. The family and I actually preferred Devil’s Tower over Mt. Rushmore by a large measure.

5

Another cool attraction near The Badlands is the preserved sod house. It’s even furnished. And it’s near a prairie dog hangout. The Badlands are awesome. I think of it as Grand Canyon – Midwest Version.

6

And yet you still wonder why Coors tastes like tourists’ feet?

7

Okay, some logistical problems.

Day 1: St Paul’s to Mt Rushmore. This is a 9hr drive, plus time to stop for food, gas and various bodily functions. Plus a stop at Wall Drug, this means you’re pulling into Mt Rushmore about 12hrs after you leave. Everything, including parking, closes at Mt Rushmore around 6pm. Plus it will be really, really dark, and I’m guessing they don’t light up the monument during the winter season.

Day 2: the drive to Dillon via Devil’s Tower is 11hrs, not including stops. The Patagonia store closes at 6pm. Again, you’re not going to make it in time.

Day 3: An 8 hour drive without stops. Do-able, but not much to see from the interstate.

Day 4: Beaver to Tucson driving time is almost 12hrs, not including stops. You’d probably spend several hours at the Grand Canyon itself. That means you’ve got something like a 16hr day. Also, I have no idea what the weather conditions would be like between Beaver and the south rim, but you’re in some very high elevations, so the weather might slow you down even more.

Days 5 & 6: Over 13hrs driving each day, not including stops. A very long day, and you literally have no time to sightsee.

If you’re hell-bent on doing this, you might find a way, but you’re going to be staring at nothing but asphalt 90% of the time. You won’t be able to see everything you want to see, let alone any of our suggestions.

I’d say give yourself a couple more days and space this out. There is literally a ton of stuff to see along the way that I’d highly recommend.

the Badlands (on the way to Mt Rushmore)
the Black Hills region around Mt. Rushmore (Wind Caves, Custer Park, Jewel Caves, Crazy Horse monument)
Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons
Zion and Bryce Canyons (utah)
tons of stuff around Phoenix and Flagstaff (which I’m pretty fuzzy on details)
the Very Large Array outside Socorro, NM (from the movie Contact

8

With such an itinerary, I don’t think it’d be a huge detour to head over to Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons. Unless you’ve been there of course - then I’d keep going and hit the places you haven’t been. Also, your last two days are going to be bor-ring. Instead of Nebraska, head through equally boring Kansas and get some BBQ in KC.

9

With this in mind, I heartily recommend stopping at the Badlands (at the Circle View Ranch) for the night, and then checking out the park the next morning: http://www.circleviewranch.com/circleviewguestranch.aspx

Also, are you going to see the big ball of twine in Darwin? It is not really out of the way if you take 12 west to start out with instead of 169…

10

Hey Now stpauler—While I am new to the Dope, (though I
have been reading TSD for 20 years), I also love to travel, and have flown to the Twin Cites a couple of times for weekend visits… Salt Lake’s best attractions this time of year are all ski/snowboard related, so if you are not planning a day on the mountain, there is not a ton to do now.

That being said, if you want to meet for a quick beer, or a bite to eat, feel free to give a shout. I happen to know a few places that I like to take visiters to, and everyone seems to have a good time.

Safe Travels, Matthew