Road Trip: NYC to California and back

Stay off the huge highways as much as possible, especially through the "boring parts".

If you just straight drive for most days, pitching a tent/staying in a cheap motel only to sleep and then continuing on, you can do it one way in four or five days (five more realistically). Alright, I did Vancouver, BC to New York and back, which is the distance-equivalent, and allowing for visiting friends, generally hanging out, I'd say three weeks is alright. Gives you more than a week at your destination. And Casuistry OTM, but then add more to the travel time of course.

Well, I would say go to the Pacific Northwest if you've never been, but I'll work within your specifications.

Here are three proposed routes, a (not very) 'Northern' route, a Midwestern route and a (not very) 'Southern' route. The Northern is described heading West and the other two (which start the same way) are described heading East, but you could also do them backwards. A good way to mix and match them would be to switch between routes along the Mississippi, by, say, heading W following the first half of the Midwestern to STL, and turning N up the Mississippi to follow the Northern the rest of the way. Or heading E on the first half of the Midwestern, then turning S to Memphis, and following the second half of the Southern East.

The Northern route

Head E to Scranton, PA. Take US 6 across Northern PA to Lake Erie, and continue along the shore to Cleveland

Take 6 and/or US 20 W to Chicago, visiting (detouring may be necessary) one or more of Oberlin, Milan, and Clyde, OH and Auburn, Shipshewana, Elkhart, and Nappanee, and South Bend, IN, as well as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

From Chicago, take 20 W through Galena, IL to Dubuque (and detour backwards to Madison, returning W to Prairie du Chien? or going N from Chicago to Milwaukee and heading W through Madison?)

From Dubuque, head SE along the river to Bellevue and follow the Grant Wood Memorial Byway (62 and 64) W to Anamosa, IA, and continue to Cedar Rapids. From Cedar Rapids, I would head W and S to Des Moines on one or both of US 30 (the Lincoln Highway) and 6. The most interesting way might be to turn S to Iowa City, take 6 W to Marengo, turn NW along back roads to Tama, then take 30 W, turning S to Des Moines from Lamoille or Ames

From Des Moines, head W to Stuart, then follow the Western Skies Byway (P28, 44, 30, 183) to Council Bluffs

From Council Bluffs/Omaha, I'd take I-80 to Grand Island, NE, then turn on to 2 NW through the Sandhills region to Alliance. From there, you can detour N to the Badlands/Black Hills. Then turn S towards the Oregon Trail markers around Scottsbluff, continuing into NE Colorado. From there, turn W through the Pawnee National Grassland to Fort Collins.

From Fort Collins, head W across the Rockies to Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction. You can go S to Denver and follow I-70 W, but I think a better route might be turn W at Loveland, N of Denver, and head through Rocky Mountain Natl Park. From there, the quickest way would be to head S to 70 and turn W. More interesting might be a circuitous tour through ski country on 40 S, 70 W, 91 S, and 82 NE. The wildest route would probably be to continue W to Steamboat Springs, turn S to Phippsburg, and head W to Meeker (on an unpaved road) before turning S.

From Grand Junction, detour S to Moab and Arches and Canyonlands. Then either continue W on 70 or loop through canyon country (on 191 S, 95 NW, 24W, 12 SE, and 89 N) to Salina, UT.

From Salina, head W on 50 across Nevada to South Lake Tahoe. Turn S on 395 to Mono Lake and continue W into Yosemite. Then head W to SF.

From SF take the PCH S to LA

The Midwestern/Southern Route

From LA, head up to Death Valley, then turn E to Vegas. From Vegas, head SE to Kingman, AZ, then E on Route 66 to Flagstaff. Turn N to the Grand Canyon.

From the canyon, I would head E to Santa Fe. There are a couple of ways to do this that are interesting. I think the most interesting way for most people would be to go E on 64 and NE on 89, 160 and 163 to Monument Valley. Then follow 163 E along the San Juan River to Bluff, UT, and continue E to Mesa Verde on 262, 41, and 160, before turning S to Farmington, NM (though you can skip Mesa Verde and go more directly across the Navajo Res through Shiprock). From Farmington, head SE towards Santa Fe, detouring on back roads off of, or before joining (via 371) 550 through the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness (the 'Bisti Badlands') and Chaco Culture NHP. Continue on 550 S through Zia and Jemez Pueblos, then turn NE on 4 to Los Alamaos and Bandelier NM, before turning S to Santa Fe.

The Midwestern Route

From Sante Fe, roughly follow the Santa Fe Trail backwards. First, head N to Taos, E on 64, and N on 25 to Trinidad, CO. Then, head NE on 350 and E on 50 to Garden City and Dodge City, Kansas. Continue E on 50 to Newton, CO, then turn S to Wichita. Head E to El Dorado, and turn N on K-177 through the Flint Hills to Manhattan, KS. Then you can head E on the freeway to Kansas City, or take a more interesting loop there, heading N along the Oregon Trail to Marysville, E along the Pony Express trail towards St. Joseph, MO, and then S to KC. From KC, take 50 E to Jefferson City and 94 E to STL.

From St. Louis, head S along the river to Cairo, MO (detour to Memphis?). Then head E along the river to New Liberty, MO, and loop N through the Shawnee National Forest on 146, 1 and Karbers Ridge Road to Mitchellville, IN.

From Mitchellville, head N to New Harmony, IN, then E along the Ohio River on 66 into the Hoosier NF. Turn N on 37, detour W on 64, and then N on 145, through French Lick and West Baden Springs to Mitchell, IN. From Mitchell, head E on 60 through Salem (detouring N on 135 and then E and S on 65 through architecture-filled Columbus and home-of-Mellencamp Seymour?) to Madison IN. From Madison, continue on 56 along the river to Cincinnati.

From Cincinnati, follow 52 along the river to Maysville, then turn NE on 41, detouring to Serpent Mound, to mound-filled Chillicothe. Head E on 50 to Londonderry, N and E on 327 and 374 to Enterprise, and SE to Athens. Cotninue E on 550 to Marietta, and NE on the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway to Woodfield. Then turn E to the Ohio River, and follow it to Pittsburgh.

From Pittsburgh, head SE to Fallingwater, then continue to US 40 E through Maryland to Frederick. Then turn N on 15 through Catoctin Mountain Park to Gettysburg and head W to Lancaster and Amish country on the way to Philly and 95.

The Southern Route

From Santa Fe, head E to Las Vegas, NM. Continue E, joining I-40 at Tucumcari. From here, follow 40 beyond Tulsa towards the OK-MO border, turning off the road to follow the alternate surviving portions of Route 66 wherever possible. Interesting points along the way include Carhenge and Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, the Black Kettle Grassland N of the road in W OK, and the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK.

From Northeastern OK or Southwestern MO, head E through the Ozarks (via Eureka Springs, AR?) to Branson. Turn S on 7 and follow it to Hot Springs, AR. From Hot Springs, head E through Little Rock to Memphis.

From Memphis, I recommend heading SE or even S (all the way down to Natchez on 61 or 1?) into Mississippi and then turning N on the Natchez Trace to Nashville, but the latter is supposed to be a slow road, so you may not want to go too far S. A good compromise might be to head SE on 78 to Tupelo and joining the Trace there.

From Nashville, head E on 70 to Knoxville and the Smokies (Tennessee people to thread). Visit Dollywood, Piegon Forge and Pittman Center. Cross the Smokies into North Carolina.

From the Eastern side of the Smokies, head NE on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Front Royal, VA (detouring to Charlottesville and Staunton, VA?). From Front Royal, continue N to Charles Town and Harpers Ferry, WV and Antietam, before turning E to Frederick, MD. From Frederick, as above, turn N on 15 through Catoctin Mountain Park to Gettysburg and head W to Lancaster and Amish country on the way to Philly and 95. (or, if you've been through here already, head E from Front Royal to DC (and the Delmarva Peninsula?) and head N on 95 or through the Peninsula and So Jersey)

Yeah, finding some awesome midwestern backroads would be really worth it. I hope my travellingmates will agree.

er, Newton is in KS, and Cairo, New Liberty, and Mitchellville are all in IL. And the Covered Bridges Byway in OH is 26.

I can't address most of gabbneb's details except the Mississippi stuff. Going all the way down 61 to Natchez and then all the way back up the Natchez Trace is more than a day's drive by itself. The Trace is indeed a slow road: the speed limit is 50 and it's pretty well patrolled. I don't let myself go over 55 on it. But it is beautiful, and worth driving partways. If you find yourself in Memphis and want to dip down into the Delta, 61 South to Leland, then 82 West to Greenwood, then 7 North to Oxford is a nice loop, and I can recommend eats and drinks in Oxford. Then you can take 6 West to Tupelo and catch the Trace northward.

If you find yourself in northeast Alabama, go to Unclaimed Baggage, the place where all lost and unclaimed luggage from U.S. airports goes to find a good home. Lots of clothes, lots of books, bazillions of CDs (but minus jewel cases and booklets, natch, since they were almost all lost in travel cases, so it takes a lot of patience to sift through a load of shit to get a few gems), all really cheap.

I recommend finding a copy of Jane and Michael Stern's book ROADFOOD. The most recent edition is from 2002. I'd love to take my copy, hit the road, and start eatin'.

Gabbneb, your "north" route isn't north at all. Take US-2 for crying out loud! Then US-50 the other way. I taken both and can vouch for them.

Otherwise, I'm not giving away my secrets.

I figured A Nairn has been to Yellowstone and the Tetons and wants to go to CA, not the PNW, so I figured avoid real North (I also entirely avoided real South).

US-2 through to Glacier Park and then down through Columbia R. gorge, and then OR coast to Arcata and then SF. Otherwise head sound in mid-OR and swing by Crater Lake and down by Shasta, Mt. Lassen and Lake Tahoe before heading to SF

It's probably best to take that left turn at Albuquerque too.

I did this last summer. It's a brilliant time, and if I weren't heading back to grad school this fall I'd begin an annual tradition. Jamie Jenssen's book ROAD TRIP is the absolute best resource you can find. Make sure to avoid interstates, and stop at any of the old, crappy, cheap-o antique hotels, especially the Blue Swallow in Tucamari NM. Yellowstone's over-rated, but Yosemite's NOT, and last year I drove through the middle of a paint-buckling wildfire. Take as much time as you can in Wyoming and Montana, as it's some of the best and most scenic driving in the US. Take the double-line roads, treat the freeway-interstates like bubonic plaguery, and make ABSOLUTE CERTAIN to drive the length of the West coast.

Pick your road trip partners *VERY* carefully. People who seem OK in normal situations can become unbelievably tedious after a couple of days cooped up in a car!

I can give tips on southern arizona if you want to go that route (and maybe take a dip into mexico), also I'll be in St. Louis soon if you want a guide for that area.

"Pick your road trip partners *VERY* carefully."

It's actually a couple Korean guys, so we should get along fairl well, I think. As more plans formulate, I may ask more questions. Thanks for the advice so far.

just be glad you're not tour managing them.

Ok, so I just assumed AN wanted to go straight to SF and then head to LA. But I think a Northern route might be better. Here's my modified (less-direct, much-more-time-in-the-world) version of the Elvis T route:

Going Out

Follow my Northern Route to Clyde, OH. Turn N to Ann Arbor and/or Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw. Continue N along Lake Huron to Mackinaw City and cross into the UP. Head West to Duluth. Follow 2 at least as far as Williston, ND. There, maybe detour S to the North Unit of TR National Park and maybe the Little Missouri Natl Grassland. Continue W to Glacier NP. You can follow 2 most or all of the way, but I think it would be worthwhile to detour S to the the Missouri River Breaks, perhaps taking 200 W to Lewistown, and then heading N to Winifred as a jumping-off point. Eventually get back to 2 W to Glacier National Park.

If you're going N, I say stay N instead of following the Columbia River. Follow 2 W across the Northern Rockies to Newport, WA, but don't follow it to Spokane. instead, continue W on 20 through Okanogan NF and across the North Cascades into the Skagit Valley to Anacortes. Take a ferry through the San Juan Islands.

South to SF

Head S along Whidbey Island, visiting the various state parks, to Everett, and take the ferry to Mukilteo. Continue S to Seattle. It might be worthwhile to take a long detour W from Whidbey, taking the ferry across to the Olympic Peninsula's Dungeness Landing, Olympic National Park's Hurricane Ridge, and maybe even the Hoh Rain Forest and La Push.

From Seattle, head S to Enumclaw, WA, and take 410 SE to Mt Rainier's Sunrise Visitor Center. Continue S on 123 and 12 to Randle, and turn S to Windy Ridge Viewpoint overlooking Mt. St. Helens. Continue S on mountain roads to the Columbia River. Head W down the Gorge to Portland, or loop E to Hood River (the Dalles?), S to Mt. Hood and Timberline Lodge, and NW to Portland.

From Portland, loop NE along the River to Astoria, then South along the Coast to Cannon Beach. Continue through Tillamook to Cloverdale, then head E across the Willamette Valley on 22 into the Cascades. Continue S on 22 and 126 to 242 and 20 E to Bend. Loop W and S to Crater Lake. Head SW to Medford, Jacksonville, Grants Pass, and continue W or SW to the Coast. Head S along the Coast through Redwoods NP to SF.

Coming Back

This is a mix of 50 and my northern and midwestern routes.

Head E to Yosemite, N to South Lake Tahoe, then take 50 E across Nevada and Utah to Moab. From here, you can continue across on 50, but I say take the time for a detour. Head S from Moab to Monticello, and SE on 666 to Cortez and Mesa Verde, then NE on 145 through the San Juans and Telluride to return to 50. Or, continue E on 50, take 145 in reverse (SW), then head E across Southern CO on 160 to Walsenburg, go S to Trinidad (looping W on 12?), and take 350 NE to rejoin 50.

From La Junta, CO, continue on 50 E as per my midwestern route above, follow K-177 through the Flint Hills, but instead of my route above, join 56 E to KC at Council Grove.

From KC, follow the midwestern route to Vincennes, IN. Then take 50 straight to Madison. Then follow the midwestern route to Cincinnati. Take 50 straight to Athens, then follow the midwestern route to Wheeling, WV. From there, skip Pittsburgh and Fallingwater - take 40 E from Wheeling, WV and follow the midwestern route the rest of the way.

Definitely go north. There is no better place in the US than Glacier Park, although the Tetons are a close second.

Go north so you can go through it.

All in all, very thorough (and good) advice from Gabbneb.

Ok, more plans are materializing, and I'm working now so I'll have more money which means more time to spend traveling when I quit working.

I like the idea of northern route out. (I def. want to get to Glacier NP and the pacific northwest) Gabbneb's modified route looks good.

Here is an idea of the way I may head:

Here to Pittsburg to Niagra falls to Toronto. Then from Toronto somehow get around the north or south sides of the great lakes to Wisconsin then through North Dakota to Glacier NP. (maybe via Yellowstone/Tetons. I've already been, but the other guy I'm going with said he may want to see it.) Then to Seattle down the coast through Redwood NP to San Fran (I plan on spending a lot of time on this northern Cali coast) then LA and possible Mexico.

Back through Vegas and Grand Canyon to either Kansas City or maybe rather Texas, because I want to go from New Orleans to Memphis to Nashville to Louisville to Columbus to Pittsburg and then back home.

I think i'll get those ROAD TRIP, ROAD FOOD books.

Two things I fear are getting some place where there is lots to do and eat, but not knowing what it is. And also not being able to find a place to sleep each night either in a cheap motel, tent or relative/friend's place.

How cold does it usually get in the northern US during mid to late September, and how hot is it in Texas during mid October?

Try weather.com: enter a city and state or zip code and then find the tab that says "Averages and Records." That should give you a rough idea.

It can get damn cold on September nights in and around the Rockies. Sometimes there's even big snowfalls at altitude. So watch that.

And maybe I'll get flack for this, but the route north of the Great Lakes, through Ontario, isn't that interesting. The drive through Detroit and then either down to Toledo or across Michigan and then south and west is no great thrill either, but it's easy and quick travel that will allow you to dawdle more going through the Dakotas and then the mountains. And the last reliably good vegetarian food you'll find until you get near the Pacific can be had in Wisconsin and the Twin Cities, if that's of any importance to you.

As I said above the person I'm going with is Korean, and there's a good chance that if we go into Canada or Mexico he wouldn't be able to get back in. I didn't think of that before, but we probably can't go into Toronto and will just go through Chicago.

I'm in LA now and have one week and two days left. I went into Ameoba in San Fransisco and didn't have enough time to think clearly. I paniced and ended up not being able to think of anything rare or good enough that I'd want to get.

Also, I don't always agree with Jamie Jenssen on a lot of things he suggests in his book. The Let's Go U.S.A. has been more helpful (mostly only for cities)

If you stop at Front Royal, VA, do not eat at the Village Idiot.

First time I read that, I skipped over the second 'at'

i'd love to do route 50 end to end

hell yes

have you got the book gareth?

You can go the end and back when I'm at work, G.

50 will only get you to Sackotomato, Gareth! Don't get stuck in Sacto again!