7k miles in 16 days

Alright.. me and the fiance said fuck a real wedding. We found an awesome photographer that recommended we do Olympic National Park on the complete opposite side of the country from us... why not. Booked our session and our Airbnb for two nights.

Now to plan our trip...

This is a very rough draft itinerary that is going to evolve before we head out April 24th. We contemplated the two scenarios: pick 2-3 spots and chill for several days or enjoy the drive and see more shit. We went for see more shit. Oh, and we are fully aware how bad the first two days are going to blow but we'll power through.

Two nights in an Airbnb, two nights in a budget motel then the rest in our iKamper Mini.

Depending on the drive between destinations I added 1-2 hours of leeway in the arrival time. Again.. this is our first take and open for any and all suggestions. Outside of some 265/75/r16 Cooper ST MAXXs my Taco is stock and don't have any intention on doing some crazy trails. We do want to hike and will be taking our mountain bikes as well.

And away we go:

• April 24th - Saturday
  
  • 5:00 am leave Knoxville, TN
    
    
  • 15.5 hr | 1,094 mi
    
    
  • 9:30 pm arrive at Sioux Falls, SD
    
    
  • Stay in cheap hotel
    
• April 25th - Sunday
  
  
  • 5:00 am leave Sioux Falls, SD
    
    
  • 16 hr | 1,024 mi
    
    
  • 9:30 pm arrive at Glacier National Park
    
• April 26th - Monday
  
  
  • All day at Glacier National Park
    
• April 27th - Tuesday
  
  
  • 8:00 am leave Glacier National Park
    
    
  • 10.5 hr | 668 mi
    
    
  • 6:30 pm arrive at Port Angeles, WA
    
    
  • Stay at AirBNB
    
• April 28th - Wednesday
  
  
  • Photo Time and guess I'll say I do
    
• April 29th - Thursday
  
  
  • 8:00 am leave Port Angeles, WA
    
    
  • 10 hr | 612 mi
    
    
  • 8:00 pm arrive at Shasta Trinity National Forest
    
• April 30th - Friday
  
  
  • 10:00 am leave Shasta Trinity National Forest
    
    
  • 7.5 hr | 484 mi
    
    
  • 7:00 pm arrive at Sequoia National Park
    
• May 1st - Saturday
  
  
  • Sequoia National Park
    
• May 2nd - Sunday
  
  
  • Sequoia National Park
    
• May 3rd - Monday
  
  
  • Alabama Hills
    
• May 4th - Tuesday
  
  
  • 8:00 am leave Alabama Hills
    
    
  • 8 hr | 538 mi
    
    
  • 6:00 pm arrive at Zion National Park
    
• May 5th - Wednesday
  
  
  • Zion National Park
    
• May 6th - Thursday
  
  
  • 10:00 am leave Zion National Park
    
    
  • 5 hr | 320 mi
    
    
  • 4:00 pm arrive at Grand Canyon National Park
    
• May 7th - Friday
  
  
  • 8:00 am leave Grand Canyon National Park
    
    
  • 9.5 hr | 677 mi
    
    
  • 8:30 pm arrive at Amarillo, TX
    
    
  • Stay at cheap hotel
    
• May 8th - Saturday
  
  
  • 8:00 am leave Amarillo, TX
    
    
  • 7 hr | 481 mi
    
    
  • 5:00 pm arrive at Ozark National Forest
    
• May 9th - Sunday
  
  
  • 10:00 am leave Ozark National Forest
    
    
  • 9 hr | 633 mi
    
    
  • 10:00 pm arrive at Knoxville, TN
    

 

me and my wife eloped also. Parents even threw in some money because they were off the hook. Enjoy your trip

 

Being from that part of the country (25 miles from the park) it's beautiful. The traffic not so much.

 

Congratulations on the pending nuptials.

Road trip sounds perfect. Enjoy your trip and each other!

 

Get a national parks pass, that'll probably save you some cash, and time.

Other than that, I'd be hard pressed to do an overnighter in a national park. The grand canyon stop seems pretty meh to me. There's a whole lot more interesting in the canyon than just looking over the edge, might be worth looking for other destionations for that day.

 

I would take 101 back to California from Port Angeles. Slow, but worth it

 

I didn't see anything in there about you getting laid?

Sure hope you have fun, that sounds like a great adventure.

 

Yes it is. Though part of the 101 was washed out not sure if it has been fixed

 

I’d lower the driving a bit and see things a little more. The black hills as mentioned above is worth at least a day. Custer SP just after Mt Rushmore was one of my favorite places when my wife and I went to Yellowstone. Driving 15 and 16 hours per day you are probably not going to want to do anything the next day. I’d try to do more than 12 hrs / day driving and find some smaller things to stop and enjoy to break things up. The National Parks pass mentioned above will pay for itself several times over. Honestly the touristy spots of big national parks kind of suck compared to the smaller less crowded places imo. That’s one of the reasons I like Custer SP so much. It was amazing and not crowded. I was pissed that old faithful had bleachers, half expecting them to have electronic billboards and shit up there by now. Glacier might be like city in a traffic jam for the stuff that’s open.

 

You do know what the weather in Glacier in April can be like?

 

Im not aware.. Was it highway 1 in Big Sur area?

 

I've driven from GA to many of the western spots. Never made it to Glacier, but most of it may not be open in April. I've been to RMNP in Colorado multiple times and it is a monumental effort to get the higher elevations cleared of snow by June 1. They were still working on it well into June 2011. I've had to be flexible and change plans even in June due to snowfall closing roads. Getting major blizzards in the Rockies is still a concern all the way through May

Trail Ridge Road snow removal 2011 - Bing video

My grand daughter and wife at a rest area in Colorado, June 2019



Most of the places in the SW such as Zion and the Grand Canyon will be great at that time and less crowded. It may still be cold but the risk of blizzards is way down.

Be sure to do Angels Landing trail in Zion

angels landing - Bing video

Stop at the Cadillac Ranch just west of Amarillo. Bring a few cans of spray paint.

cadillac ranch amarillo - Bing images

You may want to eat lunch at the Big Texan. To be honest the food isn't that great and is overpriced. But worth a stop to look around and go in the gift shop

Home of the 72oz Steak - The Big Texan Steak Ranch

 

Good God 1k miles in one day is brutal. I drove by myself from Miami, through Orlando to Baltimore in one shot a few years ago. I didn't remember the last few hours. You are braver than I. The driving schedule would ruin the trip for me. I hope you and the fiance can take shifts and sleep while the other drives.

 

Slow down. Do less. That's an exhausting itinerary. Most national parks like Glacier require you to get there, decompress, and take a few good "trails less traveled" hikes to really enjoy and appreciate. Heck, you can't even really drive through the entire park in a single day. Spend a few days with the bride doing nothing scheduled. Hopefully you'll be married a long time; there will be lots of opportunity to take all those trips and see all those parks. And congrats!

 

Not sure my dad went down to Arizona and we were talking about routes to take and 101 was brought up

 

I'm pretty sure it was about 15 miles south of Big Sur. Can't imagine it's going to be open anytime soon.

 

I'd skip Shasta Trinity in April they've gotten a lot of snow this year. I'd go straight to Bidwell Park in Chico for some mountain biking

 

Will there be two drivers? I did 6K miles and my longest leg was 954 miles and it was tough. 700 800 is ok. Just a thought.