"Must-see" Parts of America on a cross-country drive

In My Humble Opinion
21

Doing a google maps search of “Philadelphia to San Francisco”, I think the Utah suggestions are wonderful.

But the first several hundred miles are going to be pretty boring. I’m going to suggest altering the route a bit to head through:

  1. Washington DC - Okay, you may be from Philly, but it’s a wonderful must-see for any American trip, and there’s a bazillion things to see and do.
  2. St. Louis Arch - Not much of an original suggestion, but the map is still pushing me north and through St. Louis - It’s a cliched tourist site, but it’s an easy hour long tour, and interesting, considering the trip ahead of you.
  3. Kansas City BBQ - I’m not going to get into a BBQ debate, but KC BBQ is excellent, regardless of your preference. And as a bonus, it’s actually on the route. Stop by Arthur Bryants or Gates BBQ, both have easy exits from the highway. (Get ribs at Gates, and a sandwich at Bryant’s - I prefer the beef and pork combo.)
  4. Denver - There has to be something to see here, right? Locals want to chime in?
  5. All the Utah stuff and beyond.
22

If you end up just going to CA then make sure to see Yosemite and Big Sur. If you flew into Vegas it’s not unreasonable to drive through southern Utah, then over the Sierras to Yosemite, then to San Francisco and down the coast a ways from there and then and then fly back home out of SF.

ETA: If it’s summer, that is. You can’t get over the Sierras above Tehachapi during the winter and have to go the long way around.

23

is March 5 late enough that the Sierras will be clear?

24

Be sure to see the Largest Hand Dug Well in Kansas!

25

The round-trip in 10 days will be a death march, plain and simple. It’s approximately 45 hours of driving either way. If you enjoy five 9 hour days of driving in a row, and then turning around and doing the same for another 5 days, well… ooookay.

If I were you I’d drive to Chicago (approx, 12-15 hours) and pick up the Zephyr there. Kind of the best of both worlds. Just to be clear, the Zephyr is not a normal train - it has huge glass-walled viewing lounges to take in the scenery.

BTW, “National” car rental allows interstate and one way trips. I picked up a car in Charlottesville, VA and dropped it in Ann Arbor, MI, no problem.

26

Probably not. Usually the highest passes over the Sierras from Nevada are closed until at least the middle of May if not longer, depending on the snowfall that year. What you can do is cross over further south at over the Tehachapis at a much lower elevation and then swing back up north to the lower end of Yosemite. Death Valley isn’t too far off the track that way either and the heat is bearable at that time of year. Once you know what places you want to see I’m sure that some of us can help you map our a route that will get you to as many as possible without ridiculous amounts of driving.

27

My stepfather did a round trip Toronto - San Francisco - Vancouver - Toronto (12 000 km!) as his last holiday with my mom before she passed away. They did this in July and still got caught in a snowstorm up in the mountains somewhere in Wyoming. I’d be dubious about things being ‘clear’ anywhere in the high mountains as early as March, unless you’re way closer to the equator. Like, say, in Colombia.

Edit: and he did the trip in just over three weeks too, doing all the driving. I was astonished.

28

Last road trip I was on, we went from Flint, MI, to Minott, ND, in two days of continuous driving, as part of a four-day journey from Toronto to Edmonton. There were three of us in each car. We took four-hour shifts. One drove, one say up and kept the driver [del]awake[/del] company, and one slept in the back. During this period, the car was on the road for 24 hours a day, stopping only for pee breaks, fuel, and food (I remember Duluth, MN, at 11:30 PM). That’s the kind of commitment you need to get these 5-day cross-continent times, and one person simply can’t do it alone. Everyone has to sleep sometime.

29

If you’re in Florida, US1/A1A between Daytona and St. Augustine has some breathtaking stretches. Most people never see it because uber-quick I-95 is right there to whisk you up the coast, but it’s worth the extra half hour for the alternating beach-on-right and swampy-stuff-on-left views.

30

Not really. I drove from Vancouver, via the US interstates, to Ontario and further on to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 5.5 days. I drove myself and spent an average of 10 - 11 hrs per day on the road (including stops).

I don’t know how on god’s green earth it possibly could’ve taken you guys 2 days of non-stop driving to get from MI to ND unless you drove clear down to Texas first or drove every country backroad you could find.

To the OP, 10 days to do the trip, one-way basically gives you 6 FULL days of driving, not including detours to get here and there. If driving coast-to-coast is your goal, just to say you’ve done it, I’d say go for it. If it’s sightseeing you want to do, I’d say go with your first plan and fly into California or Vegas, rent a car and look around that way.

And don’t bother with Seattle, it’s a two-day drive from SF to Seattle (and two days back again), save it for another trip. There’s tons of stuff to see in CA - SF, Monterrey, the Coast, the Sierra Nevadas, Palm Springs, the Joshua tree, the Coast (worth mentioning twice), Lassen park, Yosemite, the redwoods, the Lava Beds, some place called LA, etc etc etc.

31

Whenever you’re using a map, first make sure it’s completely unfolded. :wink:

Everyone’s got good suggestions here. I like tomndeb’s route that would take you through a scenic East to Texas, New Mexico, southern Utah, Arizona and up to LA. Then you could coast it to SF, turn back east and hit Tahoe, Yosemite, northern Utah and Colorado. Everyone’s mentioned some fantastic spots along the way.

As most all have said though, make sure your agenda fits your schedule. Your ‘to, from and to’ encompass an enormous distance. Last thing you’d want in all these gorgeous spots is to feel rushed and not enjoy them fully.

32

Our big road trip last year went, more or less, as follows:

Day 1: Calgary, AB-Regina, SK
Day 2: Regina-Jamestown, ND
Day 3: Jaemstown-Eau Claire, WI
Day 4: Eau Claire-Chicago, IL
Day 6: Chicago-Iowa City, IA
Day 7: Iowa City-Colby, KS
Day 8: Colby-Cheyenne, WY (by way of Denver)
Day 9: Cheyenne-Sheridan, WY (by way of the Black Hills in SD)
Day 10: Sheridan-Helena, MT
Day 11: Helena-Calgary

That was a LOT of driving in a short period of time, let me tell you. But we did have just enough time to do some sight-seeing. I suspect that going from Philly to the left coast and back in just 10 days would be a serious ordeal, with little time to stop and look at stuff along the way.

Anyway, here are the things I found most interesting in our US travels (and roughly along your travel path): Bryce Canyon in Utah (mentioned a couple times already) is spectacular. Yellowstone National Park and Old Faithful are worth a look if you’re passing close by – prettiest supervolcano I’ve ever been to! The Black Hills in South Dakota are also very picturesque. We preferred the Crazy Horse Monument to the Rushmore Monument, but YMMV. I also really like the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana, just south of Butte, but that’s getting pretty far from your path. I really enjoyed the Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas. No trip through Iowa is even worth making unless you go to Riverside so you can say you’ve been to the future birthplace of Capt. James T. Kirk. :smiley: If you’re down around Vegas, of course there’s the Hoover Dam close by, and, just north of that, the Valley of Fire State Park, also very cool. In Salt Lake City, the Mormon Convention Center, across the street from the Tabernacle, offers free tours and is a huge, magnificent building.

That’s about all I can think of, off the top of my head. :slight_smile:

33

Mapquest says this drive is a bit under 1200 miles and a bit more than 18 hours drving.

Just for the hell of it, I put in NYC to LA. A bit under 2800 miles, a bit over 42 hours.

34

The fastest that I ever made it was in 56 hours but it was grueling and miserable after a while. The point wasn’t to see anything, just to get from NY to CA in time for a concert.

35

Re: Flint to Minott… we turned left and went via US 2 after crossing the Mackinac Straits. I think now that this may have slowed us down (55 mph on two-lane roads, no interstates). The next day, we did Minott to our destination about 100 km south of Edmonton in one long day (arriving around 11:30 PM). I’m now thinking about our departure times… I don’t quite remember when we left Flint but I suppose we might have been disorganized and late. It was dusk at most when we got to the Holiday Inn in Minott.

36

If you go the southern route, see the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX. One of the coolest things in the US.

37

For reference, my son left Yellowstone on a Tuesday evening and was in DC by noon on Thursday but that was with two drivers taking turns.

I don’t think the 10 days will allow much sightseeing.

38

Well, your options are limited.

Highways 80 and 50 through the Lake Tahoe area are both maintained year round and will be accessible.

All of the central Sierra passes - Highway 4 (Ebbetts Pass), Highway 108 (Sonora Pass), and Highway 120 (Tioga Pass) - are closed until the snow melts. Of these three, 108 will open first. I’ve seen Tioga closed as late as the 4th of July.

Highway 178 (Walker Pass) at the south end of the Sierra Nevada is also maintained throughout the year.

39

Seconded. This trip was quite an undertaking, and if I had it to do over, I would take more time at the halfway point and spend at least three or four days in one spot and barely get in the car. Jim and I got pretty burned out doing this trip, and we LIKE road trips!

I would also suggest driving through the lava fields of Idaho if it’s not too far out of your way. They’re pretty cool, too, but then again, I like all that geological stuff. :slight_smile:

ETA: Denver has a really interesting aviation museum if you like aviation stuff.

40

As a gaming nerd I keep meaning to get to see Mammoth Cavern on my occasional cross-country drives but it’s always about four hours out of my way. Perhaps I’ll do it this year.