Critique (or help) my summer Roadtrip

I'll be graduating for what may be the last time in my life. For my last summer I'll be doing a road trip for about a month. I'll be posting (and updating!) my plans here and would love to get feedback on things like: routes, trails (for hiking and offroading), and where to stay (campsites mostly but glamping and airbnb's for a little bit).

First and foremost, the rig:
Not trying to go crazy here since I want it to be easy to bring back to stock since trips like this are not part of my typical lifestyle.

I'll be rocking my stock TRD sport 4x4 for this trip.
TRD 4Runnerwheels w/ Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza
Voodoo Max Modular Bedrack
Soon: RTT
Waterport daytank


Itinerary:
I will be staying with some friends in the cities but I have some campsites planned out. For safety, I will refrain from dates and only provide timeframes for certain legs.

ATL->STL
STL->Denver
Denver->Yellowstone
Yellowstone->Bozeman
Bozeman->Glacier
Glacier->Bighorn
Bighorn->Denver
Denver->Breckenridge
Breckenridge->Moab
Moab->Denver
Denver->Pueblo
Pueblo->Elk City
Elk City->Dallas
Dallas->ATL

This is very preliminary since I finally got the skeleton schedule above.
Activities:

Denver(~5 nights of activities)

• Camping
  • Lake Isabelle
  • Red Feather Lakes
• Hiking
  • TBD

Yellowstone (3 nights)

• Camping
  • Snake River
  • Need more plssss
• Hiking
  • TBD

Bozeman (1 stay to recover)

• Just need an airbnb here to recover and do laundry

Glacier (4 nights +1 buffer)

• Camping
  • West Blankenship Bridge
  • Need more plssss
• Hiking
  • TBD

Bighorn (2 nights +1 buffer)

• Camping
  • Got nothing, helpppp
• Hiking
  • TBD

Moab (1 night + 1 buffer)

• Camping
  • Rabbit Valley Camping Area
  • Willow Springs Trail
  • The Wedge Overlook
• Hiking
  • Maybe not since it's hot in June

Pueblo (2 nights)

• Camping
  • Sacred Whiteshell Mountain
  • Helpppp
• Hiking/sightseeing
  • Is this as hot as Moab?
  • Great Sand Dunes NP

Hope to hear back from this community! Let me know. (I'm also trying not to be a lurker and post more so that I can finally post on GA classifieds )

Thanks!

Jan

 

That's an aggressive itenetary! But awesome, that will be a fun trip.

Two things, how long are you planning to spread this trip over, and do you have reservations for Yellowstone already? That whole area fills up fast. I would plan everything else around it.


Edit: I also see multiple returns to Denver. If it were me and I had unlimited time, the ride out would turn north after STL in order to capture the badlands, awesome trails in the back hills, and a brief stop at devil's tower before heading west to Yellowstone.

 

I'm doing this in about 32 days. Initially this was about 50 days but some life things changed so here's my compromise haha.
In the early drafts I was going from Glacier->STL by way of the badlands, but it takes too long and since I don't know anyone there, it skyrockets my costs haha. I'm not an expert camper by any means so I'm trying to be in a house every 5 days or so.

 

I gotcha. It's a busy one for 30 but doable.

How set are you on the middle loop through Denver? Instead of that I would stay west. Glacier/Yellowstone down into western Colorado, the Gunnison, then over to Moab /Bryce/ Zion, then back to Mesa Verde, Durango, Pagosa, then Pueblo.

 

Yeah. Unfortunately, the Denver return is for a couple reasons
1) the housing again
2) trying to get back to my friend's place so we can start heading to Moab around July 4th weekend.

I did Durango previously with my wife and it was great! loved SW CO!

 

LOL did you see my thread? I got some people fired up!

On topic:
Sounds like an awesome trip. If I were coming with you (sorry, I can't this year, already took too much vacation), I'd suggest one less day of hiking and to get a day of whitewater rafting in. I can't really suggest where, as I haven't rafted out west since I was a kid, but if that's something you're into, I'm sure people here could make suggestions.

 

Sounds awesome man! I am in a similar situation with graduation in a few weeks and the whole month of May to do something exciting in a lot of the same places you listed. Over the last two years I took some epic road trips with my girlfriend at the time (recently broken up). We went all throughout CO, UT, NM, AZ and NV making so many memories in amazing areas that we stumbled upon just going with the flow. Being single and soon a fresh graduate, I have all the free time in the world before getting a job to begin paying off my student loans. Are you going to be traveling alone?

 

Lol I actually remember that. You’re a menace to society.



great call on the white water rafting. Will look into it !

 

awesome. Any input on campsites or places to stop in CO? Curious about denver and Pueblo area.

so I’ll be alone in some parts of the trip. I have friends / my wife jumping on for the Yellowstone and glacier legs. For the denver to Utah leg, I’ll be traveling with a friend but he’ll be in his own vehicle and tent.
Basically I get my alone time on my way to/leaving the mountains. And then certain days I’ll be alone in denver area while my friends who I crash with are working.

 

There's always the touristy thing. Pike's peak was pretty fun. Garden of the Gods is a decent place to stretch your legs too.

Great Sand Dunes can burn a full day. The climb up doesnt seem that tall until you realize you are sinking one step down for every two steps up. Many decent campgrounds in that whole area, there are enough to play by ear and grab whatever you happen to be.

 

Seems reasonable. And fun! As part of your Denver to Yellowstone leg, I'd toss in RMNP, Bighorns and/or Wind River Range. Of course, there's plenty of options for side trips in any one of those legs.

When does your trip start and stop? You may want to consider going up north last (latest in year) to avoid the first mosquito hatch and snow. PM me for intel on Yellowstone and Glacier.

Lastly, I'd drop $1200 on AT's (prefer light truck tire vs. p tire, like a Toyo AT3 LT) on the mains and the spare. You could even buy the tires out west at Discount or Les Schwabs (no Toyos, but great regional service). A solid LT AT tire will not leave you stranded on alternate routes. Also, no white lettering, you'll stick out like east coast neon sign.

 

If you plan on camping anywhere near Denver, make sure you have reservations. Ive struck out on weeknights around here. Definitely check out RMNP. If you want to hike a 14er though I would recommend Greys and Torreys Peak. Also some good camping in that general area.

 

If you're into rock climbing, Penitente Canyon is an interesting area to check out. Nice basic campground down the road from essentially an outdoor climbing gym. The San Luis Valley is beautiful on its own to be in. Great Sand dunes has a very fun offroad trail that leads to some free campsites along the river. Pagosa springs and Durango are lovely little towns to stop through as well. Pagosa has some public hot springs. For near Denver, I did an offroad trail outside west of Boulder but cannot remember the name altough there is plenty of beautiful camping in that area.