Road trip through America ideas.

--ski--

--ski--

Active member
Hello America!

Next year some time (probably July or August) some friends and I are coming to your country to experience the joys you have to offer. Basically, we plan to fly into LA, buy a car - we have a friend who lives there to help us out - and fly out of New York 6 - 8 weeks later.

We only thought of this trip the other day so excuse any ignorance or flaws in our plan, but I thought I'd ask some real Americans who live in America about things to do.

So while this is still in its planning phase I'm here for your opinion:

must see towns/places, things to see/do that a guide book or google couldn't tell me etc etc.

So please throw some suggestions my way.

Thanks.
 
National parks, scenic roadways, hikes etc, hit as many as you can. Honestly that's a great place to start. Just in a few national parks you can do a lot, see a lot and get a bunch out of it.

For other stuff depends on what you're into. I'm not much for the touristy tourist stuff anywhere though.
 
Grand Canyon and Zion National Park and Moab

San Fran

Go into Arizona and see the desert/canyon tours

Vegas

I dunno I'm Canadian
 
13135558:theabortionator said:
For other stuff depends on what you're into. I'm not much for the touristy tourist stuff anywhere though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we want to do some non-touristy things, that's why we're getting a car and going about it ourselves.
 
For road trips I strongly advise you to get a Renault Espace 3.5 V6.

From the outside it might look like a boring European soccer mom's children, labradoodle and IKEA Billy carrier with friendly and inoffensive boxy styling.

m1cyj9cb6mnk_600.jpg


But from the inside you will have access to the most stain, child, teenage and chav proof interior ever made, a celebration of man-made materials that will last a 100 years. And best off all it can be rearranged to virtually any setup imaginable. For example a poker setup, with a centre table.

1326496981-renault-grand-espace-iv-20-16v-turbo-120kw-36115.jpg


Or something that resembles the Human Centipede:

Renault-Grand-Espace-3-0-dCi-Privil-ge-729x486-402675730ce274e7.jpg


But why you ask?

Well because this French squishy piece of dough has a Japanese hart, the 3,5 V6 is straight from the Nissan 350Z apart from a few limiters, remove those, add some mild tuning and you have the Starship Enterprise of road trip cars. Inconceivable 250km/h speed with enough wind noise to permanently deafen you. Sub 7 seconds to a 100 and enough place for at least 6 bros.
 
13135603:omnidata said:
For road trips I strongly advise you to get a Renault Espace 3.5 V6.
Click to expand...

Haha good luck finding one of those in the USA. The only European people carrier/minivan thing you'll find is the VW Eurovan or something.

...for a real roadtrip accross america however, you're going to need to go off road.. which is where I recommend one of these motherfuckers.

LaborDay05%20007.jpg


that's right... a 4x4 toyota pickup truck with a camper on the back. fuck the 350z engine, this fucker will swim you across the Atlantic Ocean, put out forest fires, make land rovers it's bitch, withstand nuclear bombs, and stadium implosions while still being home in time for mom's tuna casserole.
 
Omni, while I appreciate the practicality, getting one of those would probably be difficult.

We have our hearts set on a big, dirty American made V8, but what Dingo posted will probably be most useful.
 
13135603:omnidata said:
For road trips I strongly advise you to get a Renault Espace 3.5 V6.

From the outside it might look like a boring European soccer mom's children, labradoodle and IKEA Billy carrier with friendly and inoffensive boxy styling.

m1cyj9cb6mnk_600.jpg


But from the inside you will have access to the most stain, child, teenage and chav proof interior ever made, a celebration of man-made materials that will last a 100 years. And best off all it can be rearranged to virtually any setup imaginable. For example a poker setup, with a centre table.

1326496981-renault-grand-espace-iv-20-16v-turbo-120kw-36115.jpg


Or something that resembles the Human Centipede:

Renault-Grand-Espace-3-0-dCi-Privil-ge-729x486-402675730ce274e7.jpg


But why you ask?

Well because this French squishy piece of dough has a Japanese hart, the 3,5 V6 is straight from the Nissan 350Z apart from a few limiters, remove those, add some mild tuning and you have the Starship Enterprise of road trip cars. Inconceivable 250km/h speed with enough wind noise to permanently deafen you. Sub 7 seconds to a 100 and enough place for at least 6 bros.
Click to expand...

Inb4 you aren't even old enough to drive or just got your license and this is your moms car/the only thing you drive.
 
13135607:DingoSean said:
Haha good luck finding one of those in the USA. The only European people carrier/minivan thing you'll find is the VW Eurovan or something.
Click to expand...

I constantly forget you guys hardly get any of our weird wonderfully wacky automotive beacons of sheer excellence.

Nor do we get big bulky things with engines the size of an average residential dwelling.
 
Spend A LOT of time in Utah. There's plenty of National Parks (Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands and Arches would be a must if you plan to hit up national parks), but if you want to do less touristy stuff, check out the San Rafael Swell. Southern Utah is all really sick. Lots of free camping, you can shoot guns there (if you can get one), just lots of empty voids. You would need more of a truck to do a lot of exploring in the swell and if that's not an option and you want more paved roads, Canyonlands is huge and so there is plenty of hiking you can do without seeing any people (for better and for worse...) we've all seen 127 hours or whatnot... Get GPS, but seriously, go get lost in the desert!
http://www.sanrafaelswell.org/about.html

Utah is the reason I'm not really so motivated to travel abroad. There is soooo much to see there.
 
13135634:omnidata said:
I constantly forget you guys hardly get any of our weird wonderfully wacky automotive beacons of sheer excellence.

Nor do we get big bulky things with engines the size of an average residential dwelling.
Click to expand...

Don't forget, they're the size of a small human domicile but they still only have like 180hp output.
 
So the guy that suggested Moab, Bryce Canyon, Momument valley, Zion national park and that whole area is absolutely right. From there I'd head through southwest Colorado ( Silverton, Ouray, Telluride) those areas. The million dollar highway is breathtaking
 
Make sure you check out some authentic New England states like Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire
 
Moab, Vegas, Yellowstone, San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Chicago (stay out of south Chicago though)

Try to make it up to Vermont or Maine (you don't really have to do anything there just take it all in), Hit one of the Great Lakes (My fav is Lake Michigan)

Only stop at Mt. Rushmore if you are passing through (not worth it to drive out of the way for), St Louis Arch is overrated and you'll probably get shot going there right now, There isn't much in Texas either, except for drinking a lot and shooting stuff

Try to drive somewhere through the South for multiple reasons: It's where most of the stereotypical MERICAN rednecks are, phenomenal chicken, hit up the beach, Waffle House, and it's just the south.
 
13136510:Kooky_Lukey said:
Moab, Vegas, Yellowstone, San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Chicago (stay out of south Chicago though)

Try to make it up to Vermont or Maine (you don't really have to do anything there just take it all in), Hit one of the Great Lakes (My fav is Lake Michigan)

Only stop at Mt. Rushmore if you are passing through (not worth it to drive out of the way for), St Louis Arch is overrated and you'll probably get shot going there right now, There isn't much in Texas either, except for drinking a lot and shooting stuff

Try to drive somewhere through the South for multiple reasons: It's where most of the stereotypical MERICAN rednecks are, phenomenal chicken, hit up the beach, Waffle House, and it's just the south.
Click to expand...

If youre near mt rushmore, go to the badlands. Way more awesome and only an hour and a half from mt Rushmore. Me and my mom went through there when we drove across the country about a month ago and it was extremely cool
 
13136197:Get.Kronk said:
So the guy that suggested Moab, Bryce Canyon, Momument valley, Zion national park and that whole area is absolutely right. From there I'd head through southwest Colorado ( Silverton, Ouray, Telluride) those areas. The million dollar highway is breathtaking
Click to expand...

This all of Utah is amazing. Colorado is amazing too though, Hanging Lake in Glenwood springs is one of the most beautiful place i've been. The upper peninsula is also supposed to be nice but that might be out of your way. Big cities like NY and Chicago are also worth visiting.
 
Given the amount of time you plan on staying I would say go south from california through Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Then go south to Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, then follow the east coast north. That would be a true taste of the country.
 
Fly into LA. Hang out for a few days and go surfing and all that. Then drive up the PCH to San Francisco. Then drive from San Francisco to Yosemite and then onwards through Tioga pass. You should probably stop in Bodie state park (30 km north of Tioga/395) then head back south and drive through Death Valley towards Las Vegas. Then you can check out Hoover Dam and on to the grand canyon, then I would go up the 15 into Utah and from there... my advice ends cause there are so many amazing options.

But if you don't listen to me on the first part, you're totally missing out.

Personal US favorites (outside of what I listed) = Glacier National Park in Montana, Rocky Mtn National Park (Estes Park, CO), Bryce Canyon National Park, White Sands New Mexico, Smokey Mountains (NC/Tennessee).

If you go out in August and are in New York end up September... You may hit just right when the leaves are starting to turn... depending on the year sometimes it's earlier sometimes later. Usually the further north the sooner.

Also, the later you come... the cheaper it will be.
 
13135603:omnidata said:
For road trips I strongly advise you to get a Renault Espace 3.5 V6.

From the outside it might look like a boring European soccer mom's children, labradoodle and IKEA Billy carrier with friendly and inoffensive boxy styling.

m1cyj9cb6mnk_600.jpg


But from the inside you will have access to the most stain, child, teenage and chav proof interior ever made, a celebration of man-made materials that will last a 100 years. And best off all it can be rearranged to virtually any setup imaginable. For example a poker setup, with a centre table.

1326496981-renault-grand-espace-iv-20-16v-turbo-120kw-36115.jpg


Or something that resembles the Human Centipede:

Renault-Grand-Espace-3-0-dCi-Privil-ge-729x486-402675730ce274e7.jpg


But why you ask?

Well because this French squishy piece of dough has a Japanese hart, the 3,5 V6 is straight from the Nissan 350Z apart from a few limiters, remove those, add some mild tuning and you have the Starship Enterprise of road trip cars. Inconceivable 250km/h speed with enough wind noise to permanently deafen you. Sub 7 seconds to a 100 and enough place for at least 6 bros.
Click to expand...

This, so fun to drive!
 
I've driven across the US three times and have done quite a bit of traveling around the country in independent trips.

There are some cities that you just have to see. NYC and San Francisco are the two main ones IMO (I'm in the Bay Area, hit me up if you're in SF).

Other than that, it's all about the parks. There is so much natural beauty in the US, it's unreal. My favorite park, hands down, is Glacier National Park up in Montana. The Tetons are also incredible, and while more popular (and this crowded) Yellowstone and Yosemite are must sees. The southern Utah parks - Zion, Bryce, etc - are awesome as well.

If you have the time Id recommend driving cross country. It's not the most exciting but it'll give you a sense of scale of the agriculture industry and sheer size of the US. You can hit some good stuff along the way (Chicago, Badlands, etc) and it's a good contrast from the sensory overload you'll be getting in parks and cities.
 
I've driven cross country a few times now and so far the best car for the job has been a 1996 honda accord wagon. Its reliable, cheap, efficient and roomy. Plus they made one with vtec....bwaaaaaa BUT, I'm buying a Tacoma soon and it will be driven cross country, and I cant wait.

Anyway, like everyone else said it's all about the parks and if you get the opportunity to drive through a National Forest, take it and find a motor vehicle use map. There's always loads of old logging roads, trails and campsites to play on and fewer people than most National Parks. The amount of sheer nothingness in some of this country is amazing, especially in Nevada and North Dakota. It loses its novelty very quick however. The midwest is mostly super lame but, I'd stick up north for Chicago the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Northern Minnesota. Just remember that every place has something special, even if it's something as stupid as the giant ball of string in Kansas, you will see places that make you say "what the fucking fuck is going on here".

If you go to Yellowstone, see more of Wyoming, really give it a chance. Wyoming is a state of gems, scattered in nothingness. The Bighorn and Medicine Bow mountains are AWESOME and there's usually not a lot of people there. There's a little ski resort in the bighorns surrounded by 13,000 foot peaks and lots of elk. If you're coming that way, the Black Hills (my temporary home) are worth seeing once. Custer state park SD has lots of hiking, wildlife watching and climbing. Mount Rushmore is also really close, its a see once kind of place. As far as Colorado goes, there are so many different kinds of terrain to see!! I could go on forever. There's the red rock of the western slope, the mind blowing San Juan mountains, and the Aspen Valley is awesome all year round. The big cities of the Front Range (Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins) are also loads of fun (another former home). If you have car troubles in Colorado or Wyoming, I can help! The eastern portion of the state has almost nothing in it.

If you plan on heading down south, go to the Great Smokey mountains. I guarantee you won't regret it! Plus you get to see a place where Deliverance is a documentary and Dukes of Hazard is a reality series. The Carolina coast/ islands and the Florida coasts are definitely worth a see as well.

New England (although it may be out of your way) is my real home, and a truly special place. Boston has tons of history, seafood and drunk people to share, and Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are all beautiful, especially in the fall.
 
Thanks everybody. Your input is appreciated. I shall show this thread to the lads tonight and see what the consensus is.
 
I have lived in Washington State for most of my life and I have been able to travel most of the west coast. From what I have herd its the the best coast.

California is huge and has a lot to offer, so you can easily spend weeks taking in all the sights is has to offer.

If you do decide to travel north here are a few must see sights. The first is the Red Wood Forest in California, Crater Lake in Oregon, Olympic Peninsula in Washington. I would also recommend looking into all of the national parks in the area because each one is spectacular. After Washington state you could cruise over to Montana which has some of the best mountain regions excluding Alaska. From there you could drop down into Denver or Las Vegas and either toke up or do some gambling.
 
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