Austin to Boise

[CABC]

any tips on things to see and roads to drive?

we're going to the 2 cities because of friends and family. around 27 hrs driving direct, longer for a road trip obvs. I'm thinking 10 days.
en route is Navajo, Monument Valley, Route 66 Auto Museum and SLC. direct roads seem to be the 84, 191 and 6.

Hiring a V8 seems to be difficult. 30 minutes of surfing unearths promises of "exotics" that then don't seem available from Texas. I know the Blue states pretty much outlaw such evil things, but I thought Dallas would provide the choice. not so far.

[Gnits]

Depending on your particular desires obviously:
Austin has an amazing gun range 'The Range' on the south part of town.
Roswell will be on the way (not necessarily a recommendation though!).
Four Corners ('World Famous' but only to about 6 people) do not bother, it is just a plaque on the ground and you get charged to enter.
Monument Valley is incredible.
S Rim of Grand Canyon is a real 'Wow' sight.
There is also Meteor Crater just east of Flagstaff.
Vegas but it is eye-wateringly expensive now.

N Utah and N Nevada I have not had a look around though so can't help for there.

[omniflow]

It depends on what you like / want to see, but the default route on Google Maps takes you right through Moab. Definitely a great place to stop. You can visit both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks whilst you're there. You could spend 3 or 4 days in Moab easily. Stay at the Gonzo Inn as recommended by others on here.

If you're taking a detour to Monument Valley, then also consider Page for Antelope Canyon (you can only visit as part of a tour, but it's still brilliant) and also Bryce Canyon. Of the 3 places, I'd go for Bryce Canyon over the other 2 - it really is spectacular.

[CABC]

Thanks guys. fully noted and appreciated.
Page & Moab def 2 nights each!

[omniflow]

CABC said:

Thanks guys. fully noted and appreciated.
Page & Moab def 2 nights each!

We did 2 nights in Page and probably shouldn't have bothered. Horseshoe Bend takes 1 hour max and Antelope Canyon is probably 2.5 hours. Apart from that, unless you like modern churches, Page doesn't really have anything to offer. Don't get me wrong - Antelope Canyon is absolutely worth seeing but as it's a tour with a guide it takes a set amount of time. We did have an interesting evening in a bar / restaurant where we spent an hour or so talking to a couple of Navajo but apart from that it's a pretty dull place.

[theboss]

Time of year will very much influence vehicle choice. You're looking at traversing very elevated regions with long lasting snow seasons.

Even in the warmer months there's also an advantage in a fat yank SUV in that you can mess around on some of the off-road trails.

I just did a road trip last week starting and ending in Phoenix but taking in the following:

Grand Canyon south rim
Monument Valley
Durango - Ouray (Million Dollar Highway) - the Durago/Silverton railway wasn't working last week but would be well worth checking out
Moab (stopped overnight but didn't spend time in Arches as we did so last year)
Goblin Valley - Escalante - Bryce Canyon
Zion (just drove though)
Then drove down the LV strip and did the Hoover dam tour
Not bad for a week with a 5 and 1 year old. We passed literally dozens of places we would have happily stopped and spent hours at.
For your route heading North you also have vast amounts of CO scenery you could explore, Pikes Peak etc. and could go up into Wyoming before heading East. Endless possibilities.

I drove from Phoenix to Sun Valley ID last autumn and was glad for the AWD SUV with all-road tyres because once out of the Sonoran Desert it got cold and up in ID I encountered snow, and that was late October. I wanted to go to CO same time last year but they had a big snowstorm and it would have been inadvisable.

Here's a few of my pics from last week:

Edited by theboss on Thursday 13th November 21:30