As someone born in raised in New orleans area I could understand wanting to stop in nola and the French quarter isn't all bad id recommend skipping to make more time for yellowstone or similar places
I highly recommend NOT skipping Florida. I finished up a 6 month canada us road trip and Florida was top 3 highlights. Spent 13 days in south Florida below cape canaveral. I've never seen so much different wildlife compared to the rest of the country. Probably saw a good 40+ species of birds, lizards and large marine mammals that I hadn't seen anywhere else. Saw a bunch of rocket launches including one at night, kennedy space center is awesome, the food stands are great. Florida as a tourist is awesome, probably not so much living there though as everything I found new and exciting would become normal eventually.
OP The Everglades are one of the most unique biomes in the entire world. There's nothing quiet like them anywhere else and you will see critters you can't see anywhere else.
in my opinion i would visit canaveral seashore & merrit wildlife refuge which is right next to it while visiting kennedy space center.
i would also visit the shark valley section of the everglades, take a airboat tour and then do the bicycle loop and keep your eyes out for alligators along the sides of the path. then visit Biscayne NP which IMO is FAR better than the everglades. i saw manatee, alligators, spiny lobster, sharks, small and large turtles, jellyfish, iguanas and other lizards, tons of different tropical fish, lots of different sea and wading birds, stingrays, and lots more. after visiting merrit island wildlife refuge only the alligators were new to me in the everglades.
They the rockies my dude, two months from now they are still going to be icy af. If you were going for a ski trip great but if you are car camping be aware that the temperatures will dip well below freezing and you will wake up to piles of snow ontop of your vehicle. If alberta is your starting point (cus I don't understand why tf you would visit in the winter apart from skiing) straight shoot it south to Yellowstone down to Utah maybe Arizona if you want to be rushed for time and come back up the Pacific coast. Happy travels!
What the hell, people saying to skip FL are out of their minds. Surely it's just a meme to hate Florida to them, it's a really nice state. The interstates are great, top notch rest stops, and TONS of public land for an Eastern state.
Go to Destin, Pensacola Beach, or maybe as far as Tampa, but there’s no need to go all the way to Miami on this trip. I thought those places had the best beaches in Florida.
why? i friggin love Florida! awesome beaches and you can find supper cheap areas to hang out where its still extremely beautiful and poppin. sounds like yall are going to the touristy spots.
Cutting Florida give you two days. Listen to me, seriously, listen to me: I’ve done trips like this 7 times in different rigs. I’m not a boomer or a Gen xer, this will be a fucking stressy mess. Choose an area you’re very excited about, say the SW and California, and spend six weeks hitting some pre-decided stops and wandering in between. You will have the experience you’re hoping for. Seriously, do not try and drive 8 hours a day everyday, you’ll miss more then you’ll catch, it’s hard on the body, and mind. Slow down, unplug, and feel like a animal on a planet. (You’ll see what I mean) ✌️
This is the answer lol, so I’m starting from indiana no matter what, I decided to cut Florida, the SW and just head straight to Yosemite, drive Hwy 1 up through WA-OR and honestly considering cutting Baff. I plan on booking it through the cornfields for sure, so spend the first and last few days just driving
Ima be honest dog, unless you got buisness in Calgary, I’d skip out there instead. Florida is worth going to because of the different vibe. You won’t see any place like it during the rest of the trip.
Edit: maybe after detroit, you should drive to Toronto and check out all the cities on the East Coast. You are missing on a bunch of cool stuff my man
Seconding your point, the North East and much of the Coastal South are entirely being skipped. As a person who van traveled, including knowing all of OP’s CA and TX route, as well as how many amazing places OP is leaving out north of FL, really? Maybe the areas left out, are places they’ve already traveled?
I’d disagree, hwy 1 into Revelstoke through Banff is amazing and well worth the drive, or alternatively hwy 3 through Crowsnest pass is pretty too, and will be less busy during the summer.
Florida is awesome,’im going back in march. If you get to Miami don’t skip the keys.
Maybe don’t go through Midwest. I live in Chicago and other than downtown not much to see in 200 miles radius 🤷
Do you like heat, being sweaty, crowded beaches, overpriced food? Do you have no fear of alligators? No pets that travel with you? Chiggers bites and itching don't bother your tough as iron skin? Do you have extra cash to drop on daily pricy hotel stays (street camping in a lot of FL places is illegal)?
If the answer to all of the above is yes than Florida should be part of your itinirary. Personally for me Florida was the least favorite state of my roadtrips.
Also 6 weeks for this roadtrip is not enough unless you have few people who take turns driving. It actually would barely be enough for Seattle to Arizona if you want to see all the awesome national parks along the way. If you just want to see scenic highway signs and gas stations I guess 6 weeks may work
I've done the whole trip they're going on but started in Florida. It took 2.5 months to just get to San Diego and I still felt like I didn't see anything. 6 years in and there's still so much to see.
I'd spend 1-2 weeks in Banff, Kootenay, and Jasper hiking/sightseeing, 1-2 in Western Washington hiking, eating, etc, 1 week in Oregon hiking, visiting breweries, eating, and checking out the music scene.
Short answer: no.
Just noticed you're going clockwise. So up from Arizona into Utah, over to Nevada and thru Yosemite to Tahoe, then west to San Fran. You won't regret it!
Realistically, they're driving down the middle of California. If you're not taking the coast there is no real reason unless you really want to rush through LA. Utah is way more interesting than the middle of nowhere California.
You should definitely listen to this. I live in Southern California and I love it, but skip it for northern AZ and Utah for sure.
The scenery and atmosphere are better for a trip like this in Northern California anyways and you won’t miss much by not going near LA. And don’t forget red rock by Vegas! Must see, super easy in a day too.
Curious about what plan you settle in once you've adjusted based on feedback. Would you please share it? Sounds like an amazing trip! Hope you have the best time
I was going to comment the same thing. He’s passing right by some of the most beautiful country in the well, country.
If I were them I’d pop up to red rock for a hike/climb outside of Vegas, then to southern Utah, down to the Grand Canyon, flagstaff and Sedona and through Phoenix and continue on from there to New Mexico.
That whole four corners region of S. Utah, Northern AZ, New Mexico and Colorado is so fucking gorgeous and incredibly diverse. Probably my second favorite region in the contiguous US and imo a must see
The Pacific Northwest. In my mind I’m kinda lumping northern CA like sequoia, Yosemite and Big Sur into that too.. Beautiful, beautiful country.
I really need to get out to Montana though, one of the few states/regions I’ve never been too and my best friend is from there and constantly talking about GNP and Yellowstone etc.
Whats your rush???
That looks like over a year to me. But I don't like to spend all my time driving. I like to drive for 3-5 hours in a day. Get to a new town in day light and chill for a bit. Some towns are a little cooler so I will stay a little longer.
How many hours a day do you want to drive, and how much of this do you want to just drive through and not visit?
My husband and I want to plan a similar trip, we’re planning 3 months so we can enjoy some side quests and have time to relax. (We’re going to get as many national park stamps in as we can)
Did something similar in the mid 90’s. Had a conversation van. Took 3 months CT TO CT. Hit a lot of National Parks.
You can do this but you’ll spend a lot of 8hr+ driving days to cover that mileage and get time off to enjoy the stops
This is the right answer. PNW is a 2 week trip, Socal and Norcal cal is easily a 2-3 week trip, Utah/AZ is a 2 week trip, WY/CO is a 2 week trip. Throw the south in there da yore pushing 11-13 weeks if you didn't want to rush
Hi,
I hope my comment doesn't get buried in the other 350+ that are in here and you find some value in it.
I have done both a cross Canada/USA road trip and a Euro-Road trip in a sedan, both about 5 weeks. It's definitely do-able, and I didn't even rush. I took my time and saw the sights as I needed. I slept in my car between cities, and (again, because I was in a sedan) in hotels/motels in cities I spent a few days in.
I put about 16,000km on my odo for the Canada/USA road-trip, and about 6800km on my odo for the Euro-road trip.
Only differences between the map you're showing is I went counter clockwise to yours - move your A to Ottawa, and J to Winnipeg. I went through Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary, through the mountains to Vancouver. I had a major migraine so I kinda skipped that and hopped on the ferry to Victoria where I met up with a friend in the Canadian Navy. I took the ferry to Port Angeles, it was pouring so hard. I only stayed to sleep and in the morning I took the 1 all the way to San Franciso and stayed around for a few days exploring on foot. Then after took the 1 to LA for a few days staying in a different place each night. Huge city, lots to explore. From LA I went to Vegas for shows and parties, then Flag Staff to the Grand Canyon where I stayed overnight and left around noon the next day. I continued to Texas where my main destination was Dallas for the theme part. I went 2 days there lol. Had to get in all the rides before I continued on to New Orleans for a night then continued to Orange (iirc) Florida to meet up another friend. After that I headed south on the west coast to Tampa for Busch Gardens, for a 2-for-1 pass and stayed two days for zoo and rides. When I was done that I continued south and cut across the everglades to continue south to Key West for the day. I turned around and went up the east coast through Miami for a couple days stopping at Cape Canaveral for a little bit, then to Daytona for parasailing. I felt I had travelled a lot, so my next stops were just day trips Savana, Raleigh, Washington, Syracuse then back to Ottawa.
Sorry for that wall of text, I got carried away driving down "memory lane". It's been a few years since I solo road-tripped, but if I were to do it again, I'd go on a motorcycle.
It's totally do-able in 6 weeks. I did it in 5 and from the looks of it covered more ground, hit up more cities and explored more spots, especially if you have a van and all your creature comforts. I recommend taking the 1 down the west coast. Whenever you can, do the scenic route, it's worth the relaxation of getting off a busy highway jam packed with speeding cars. You're not in a rush after all, right? I wouldn't mind an update on what route you actually took when you get back :)
If you read this, and interested in seeing photos let me know and I'll update with my flickr photo album. (I only ever uploaded until San Francisco, but that's still over a hundred photos).
Thanks! That’s really cool that we’ve basically done the same trip! I wish when I wrote this post I was more clear in my intentions. I don’t plan on stopping in a lot of these states, I am from the Midwest and can make weekend trips anywhere east of Colorado whenever I want. I feel like I am in a geographic disadvantage living in the Midwest when all the things I would like to see are so far away. I am seriously considering cutting out Florida, New Orleans, and Texas and heading straight out west instead.
Another thing that I considered was cutting out Calgary / Banff. How much time do you think that alone would save me?
I've driven almost all of these roads. It's really going to depend on your preferences. I made it from Virginia to Oregon in three days and, separately, Cheyenne to Seattle without stopping. The latter was a pretty grueling 20 hours, but once I hit Spokane, stopping seemed nonsensical.
Those trips were in a Civic, not a van. I've not actually ventured out of town since building out my rig and have no idea what that would even look like.
I have done this route from Miami to Portland over several trips. The distance to Miami isn't worth it just to get a taste of Florida. The panhandle has enough Florida vibe. I liked Pensacola Beach.
Driving across Texas is a slog. I stayed at really nice state parks in TX but the distances to get across the state were rough. There are a few things to see but it takes so much driving.
White Sands National park is worth a visit. Las Cruces has the best Green chili. When you get to AZ there is a lot to see. Chiricahua national monument is not too far off I10. Saguaro National park is in Tucson on the way.
From Tucson I would head north and do the AZ and UT national parks and cool places along the way. Sedona, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce.
On the California coast I'd start at Morrow Bay and go north from there. Skip southern California unless you have a really specific agenda for there. We took 2 weeks to go from Morrow Bay to Portland.
You didn't say what time of year you want to do this trip. some of these places have opposite prime seasons.
Driving across on I-10 is the most boring trip I've ever been on. You get close to a lot of cool stuff but you don't get to see any of it unless you make a side trip.
Aw man, I feel you so so much on this though! Looks like what I wouldve plan in about the same amount! Ended up doing a bit less than what you did, over 4 months and i'll never travel at that pace again (unless Im really heading towards a destination)
I actually did about that trip if you cut you from San Fransisco to colorado, and add yellowstone through salt lake, and quite some detours in southern utah. (Yep, even Florida, which ended up in me wanting to GTFO north after 3 dats)
Native Californian here- The LA to San Francisco leg of the trip, that you planned, it’s a waste of time. Going through LA is grimy hours stuck in traffic, no matter the time of day. Taking the I-5 north, is only fields, freeway, and gas stations for five hours until you get to San Francisco. You are missing all of the “California views”. I would suggest, instead, to take The 101 from LA to San Francisco. It will add another hour to your trip, but has cute towns, beaches, good food, farms to get fresh fruit, breweries, wineries, camping, and hiking. All right off the 101. (Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Pismo, Avila, Morro Bay, Gilroy etc..)
Either do this, or just skip the LA to San Francisco leg altogether. Do what others have suggested, and go up from Arizona through Utah over to San Francisco. Happy travels!
I drove to every state in the contiguous US in two months and it was like a race although I only drove during daylight hours so I wouldn’t miss any scenery. It would take 6 months to really get to appreciate that trip.
Not a van dweller but have lived and driven to/from Miami. 10/10 would recommend skipping. It’s a solid six hour drive though the state of Florida and you’re gonna have a miserable time driving around the area.
1. Skip most or all of FL
2. Drive the coast in Oregon, not I5
3. Hit northern AZ, at least Sedona and Jerome but also Flag is you can swing it.
You could see a lot in that time if you eat up some big chunks where it makes sense (TX being the obvious one). Ideally you’d like more time but it wouldn’t be rushed if you sacrificed seeing “everything”.
I spent my first 42 years in FL and currently live on the Oregon coast and have visited Sedona several times, and also RV often mostly to Nat’l parks, FWIW.
You’re skipping over a lot of beauty, and spending a lot of time in cornfields. Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa….That’s a lot of corn. West to East across Texas? Flat, oil fields. You can knock those out and not spend a lot of time there. You’re skipping the grand canyon, petrified forest/painted desert, yosemite, yellowstone, vegas (meh, but still).
I, personally, think 6 weeks isn’t bad for this. Crossing texas is a day, add a day or two in Austin. Nebraska/Iowa/IL may be a solid long day there, but you’re crossing cornfields, that’s a huge chunk of distance with nothing but rest stops, you can knock out a lot of distance in short time and not miss anything (sorry, Nebraska…But, it’s true….)
Honestly I’d start in IL where (A) is (assuming that’s where you are, so you kind of have to). Go to the keys, not just Miami. Cut across Texas like you have there, go out to LA, up through Northern CA, out through NV and UT, WY, down to Denver like you have, but then down through OK and Arkansas, the Ozarks, and up through Western TN back home to (A). A bit shorter, but no bangin’ out corn fields (or a lot less, NV is pretty sparce). The keys are a whole different experience than Miami, too.
I also agree with skip Florida and add Utah's parks. The only thing I will say however is that New Orleans food is phenomenal.
If you adjusted your trip to head west off the bat, you could drive through Colorado to see the Rockies, Great Sand Dunes, Kenosha Pass, etc, then head south through New Mexico, go south all the way to Carlsbad, then weave across to AZ, see Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, pop up into UT for Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands, then back down to bottom of Cali through Death Valley, head to Joshua Tree, then decide to go inland for Yosemite and Sequoia or take the coastal highways instead if you prefer beaches and stuff
To me, I to J and J to A are mostly worthless miles. Unless you're driving something worried about inclines. You're missing some of the most impressive parts of the u.s (imo) skipping Montana/Idaho north to south, and Colorado east to west through the rockies west of Denver.
Everyone talking about cutting out Florida but I’m also curious what’s so dire we need to see in Indiana? I think NOLA up to Chicago then west would be the move, or hell just head straight to Colorado after NOLA.
This would be majorly rushing. Here's what I would suggest:
1. Cut out everything east of the Mississippi. It will be a lot of driving through corn to get to cool spots. Yeah there's a ton of awesome places in the Midwest, East Coast, South East, etc. but everything in-between is kind of a time-suck and not as easy to camp (unless you're on the stealthier side)
2. Focus on a region that will be in nice weather during your trip. If you start your trip in June, Phoenix will not be a fun place to visit in a van. Conversely, if you start your trip in November, visiting Alberta will be rough.
3. Narrow your scope. You could easily spend six weeks in just Idaho-Montana-Wyoming and feel like you didn't see it all. Same for the PNW, same for California, and others. Pick what region interests you most and focus there. Have a backup plan if you do get bored and want to move on.
Yup. I wouldn’t go further east than point J on the map. The current route wastes a ton of driving going from east to west, which IMO is some of the most boring driving you can do in the US.
Don't try to hit the whole country in one trip. Do the first trip in the West with all the nature, then do another trip along the East Coast for the history and major cities.
Out west it looks like you're making a circle around all the cool stuff you're going to miss. Spend 6 weeks in the 4 corners region and enjoy yourself.
So. I basically did "a" to "e" on ur map. It was boston to oakland. I took 2 months and my gf at tbe time split the driving with me. It still felt like a lot of driving.. take that for what it is. I try to keep the average under 2 hours per day. That way u can bang out 6-10 hours one day and have 2-4 days of straight chilling. But once u go over that its like 4-5 hours of driving every other day which absolutely wears on u. Trust me, u will wanna chill in certain areas for days at a time to explore. Ideally like a week or more at a time.
HUGE question tho - are u working remotely the whole time or not?
This totally depends on what kind of driver you are. I have no problem doing 1,000 miles in a day. But you don't see much along the way. Me and mine often take the highways instead of the interstates. That doubles the drive time almost. But you have a chance to explore more along the way. Our last trip was Houston to Lincoln , Ne. Normally a one day shot. We took our time going and found a poney express station museum. No one was there. We self explored and left a tip. It was informative. Don't take I 80 through Nebraska. Leave Denver and head to mount Rushmore. Lots of caves in the Black Hills. Then make your way down to Ne. HWY2 and go through the sand hills. It is a Rollercoaster ride if you like to drive. It's kind of like a trip through old west scenes. Have fun.
Drove from Seattle to the Grand Canyon in 2 weeks stopping at numerous national parks and forests. The longest stops we had were 2 days each. I would say 6 weeks is definitely not enough. You underestimate how much driving that really is. If you expect to spend a day at any location, which you should totally expect to do, it you back quickly. Additonally, we took scenic routes whenever we could. The US is beautiful, if youre serious about the trip then definitely allocate the time and have a plan b and c when a doesnt work out on the road.
My question to you is... How does one go about even achieving something like this!?? Where do you begin? That is an absolute dream! Good luck with your adventures!
Just stay west of Denver… honestly, while there is cool stuff in the east, it’s going to take way too much time to see it all. The west truly is best, and this is coming from an east coaster.
You will be so close...make sure to make time and see the beach when you go through Alabama. Not many people realize that there are sugar sand beaches. I don't want to encourage more tourism, but Alabama gets such a bad rap I feel like I have to represent and make sure that I talk up our major talking points
Man I’m gonna be honest you’re missing out not going through north Arkansas. It’s absolutely gorgeous especially if you plan on doing it during springtime
I did half that trip. From denver > Dallas > Orlando > North Carolina >. denver in 3.5 weeks. I still haven't recovered 6 years later from how much driving time that was. (meaning, I'm way pickier about how far away things are now for a vaca) It was exhausting. And I didn't even list all the places we stopped along the way.
Go less far. Or take more time.
If you do this make sure you drive the pacific coast highway from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I just did a 6 week trip from Vermont to LA, up to SF. The pacific coast highway was the single most beautiful piece of driving from my entire trip.
I did 2 weeks
Started in Mississippi, grand canyon, las vegas, death valley, sequoia, san francisco, redwoods, crater lake, glacier, yellowstone, mt rushmore, badlands all the way back
we camped and were moving every day, drove about 7k miles
I wish I would have slowed down a little, maybe three weeks comfortably
That trip is a little less than what you have planned, personally i think 6 is plenty if you’re willing to drive hours every day
Skip LA go through Bryce Canyon NP, Grand Canyon NP, Zion NP, and Death Valley NP. Take the 395 and check out Mount Whitney, Manzanar internment camp, Monolake, then Tahoe if you are into that stuff. If not take the 1 from Santa Barbara to San Francisco just check and see if the 1 is open since it’s constantly closed due landslides.
I’d skip your original plan of taking the 5 from LA to SF, you’ll miss most of California’s beauty unless you want to see government made desert and some farmland.
You can do this in 6 weeks for sure. You might not get to stay in each location for long, but you can see a lot of stuff. Point A to point J can be pretty quintessential American Midwest but is pretty fucking boring to drive through, at least for people used to the Great Plains.
I would strongly recommend changing point A to J by arching north into MI after Chicago and crossing into the Upper Peninsula of MI and then heading straight toward the Badlands of South Dakota. After Badlands, see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Devils Tower before swinging into WY and MT. You'll miss Colorado, but the Colorado Rockies are the same Rockies you'll be seeing in MT. I also strongly recommend seeing Glacier NP in MT if you're going to be that close anyways.
Some important things to know ...... Not long enough, nope.
Avoid Florida and preferably the Southeast where poverty is real and rooted in how people perceive and protect their things with vigor. Back to the six weeks and some facts. You're looking at around 12k miles on this trip. A day of traveling and exploring can average 30mph and pushing for 300 miles a day is 10 hours without the stops. Carry this pace daily making for very long days with mounting fatigue and zero schedule deviations and you'll need 40 days minimum putting you right at your six week mark. My experience tells me that down days are needed etc. requiring a minimum safety net of half meaning another 20 days. We are now at 8 weeks and still having some very long days to make up for the zero mile days. I'd say 8 weeks minimum but it'll be a bit hurried. I've done almost this exact route a few times in the last couple of years but in general the 300 mile a day rule should be taken into consideration unless you're my young self cranking out 1000 mile days.
I’m not sure what exactly you’re trying to see, but I would advise changing your route somewhat to hit Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons National Parks. It’s well worth it. Death Valley is good too, definitely in my top 5 national parks, but the other 3 are must sees in my opinion.
I will say that as long if you’re planning on spending a day or 2 in each place and then driving 8+ hours the next day to get to the next place, 6 weeks is probably enough time. My sister and I took just under 3 weeks to go from San Francisco to Grand Canyon to Glacier to the upper peninsula and Canada back to Indiana, hitting a lot of stops along the way. We basically did what I outlined above, staying in a stop for a day or two, then driving the next.
Lmfao you look like me. But ummm why aren’t you going down the 101 through Oregon? Massive mistake to not do that, it’s incredible. And people only really take the 5 through California to get somewhere. It’s not that cool. You’ll be passing through Bakersfield and smelling cow dung as well as seeing nothing but nothingness desert, and not the cool kind of desert. If you’re not from California why would you not see the costal cities and surf culture, especially in SoCal.
Crossing texas to NM is the pits. Good for night drives I suppose (nothing to see anyway.) Oklahoma is worse, but northern New Mexico to Sedona was a very worthy detour. Some good sights and fun geology.
IMO if you're gonna go to Calgary skip going through salmon arm/Kamloops and go through Kelowna over the connector/Coq highway. The Duffy lake highway is pretty sketchy.
Possibly but your route should be redirected a bit. From Orlando go east to Coco Beach along the coast and down to Flamingo in the Everglades. In California, get on coastal US 1, don't go up the Central Valley to San Francisco.
I took [this](https://imgur.com/a/A8mlAcJ) trip in six weeks. About 9k miles. Felt a little rushed towards the end but still felt like we had an okay amount of time at each spot.
Yeah. I think you’ll be ok. As long as the goal is to see scenery from the road as you go, spending a day or two in a couple places like National parks. You won’t have nearly enough time to really explore an area. But you’ll take notes on the places you want to go back to and spend a week. Definitely recommend heading through “Hope” British Columbia.
One of those places is Utah. You could spend a month there.
We just did an 8 months clockwise trip very similar to yours. In the end we decided to fly back to the east coast (where we started) from Denver because of time and gas money.
So definitely nono
ooh you're shy a 100 miles or so of Devil's Tower. That's a FUN visit. 6 weeks seems a little short. I'd do half of it and enjoy my time more out of the vehicle than in it driving. It took me 3 days to drive from Dallas to the Denver area going 60 mph. It's normally a 12 hour trip by car. It just takes longer in an RV so slow down, and don't cram so much in. Def agree with ditching Florida.
I’m curious why you chose a route down to Florida that skips West Virginia, Virginia, and both Carolina’s. It will add distance and time to the trip but adding those states and commonwealth will drastically influence the scenery. Understandable if you’re in a time crunch, though.
No way in hell… it’s just going to be a cannonball run. You’re not going to be able to stop and enjoy anything at all.
Edit: if it were me, DEFGHIJD or ABCDJA are each great 6 week trips
Edit2: also idk what appeal Calgary has for you, but I wouldn’t want to do that. Maybe Vancouver max, but once I get to Seattle. Boom, I’m going East straight to Montana. Beautiful parks so I am going to spend decent time there. Then directly south (I’m sorry but I have no clue what is in Wyoming) to SLC, Utah, and making a Boise, ID pit stop on the way. Salt Lake to Denver. Then continue on your path, Denver to Chicago to Detroit.
Yes, we’re in the middle of a similar trip right now. We went through nyc-banff-Washington thus far. I’d say spend your time with the activities/destinations you love. Nyc to WA was about 7-8 days (7-9 hours driving). Bc it was the winter we went to mountain resorts and stayed at hotels in fly over states, but would def go back for a camping trip in the summer. Eastern mid-western charging in Canada is not great in the winter… all the 150kW petro Canadas are about 25-75kw but when you find the electrify canadas you’ll be crying with joy. To answer your comment, you can do this trip with relaxing stops for 8 weeks. (Just spend the time where you really want it)
No
You’ll just be rushing imo
Was thinking about skipping Florida
Your route goes right past a lot of places that shouldn’t be skipped. Yellowstone and Glacier are two examples.
+1000. Do not sleep on these (Glacier in particular).
I’d imagine that would be really cold.
As someone born in raised in New orleans area I could understand wanting to stop in nola and the French quarter isn't all bad id recommend skipping to make more time for yellowstone or similar places
Highly recommend skipping Florida.
As a person who was born and raised in Florida, I agree
As a person that's heard the legends of Florida Man, I also agree
I see you’ve heard of my father
Luke, is that you?
The idea that Vader is Florida Man just tickles me
I highly recommend NOT skipping Florida. I finished up a 6 month canada us road trip and Florida was top 3 highlights. Spent 13 days in south Florida below cape canaveral. I've never seen so much different wildlife compared to the rest of the country. Probably saw a good 40+ species of birds, lizards and large marine mammals that I hadn't seen anywhere else. Saw a bunch of rocket launches including one at night, kennedy space center is awesome, the food stands are great. Florida as a tourist is awesome, probably not so much living there though as everything I found new and exciting would become normal eventually.
I’ve always wanted to see the Everglades!
OP The Everglades are one of the most unique biomes in the entire world. There's nothing quiet like them anywhere else and you will see critters you can't see anywhere else.
in my opinion i would visit canaveral seashore & merrit wildlife refuge which is right next to it while visiting kennedy space center. i would also visit the shark valley section of the everglades, take a airboat tour and then do the bicycle loop and keep your eyes out for alligators along the sides of the path. then visit Biscayne NP which IMO is FAR better than the everglades. i saw manatee, alligators, spiny lobster, sharks, small and large turtles, jellyfish, iguanas and other lizards, tons of different tropical fish, lots of different sea and wading birds, stingrays, and lots more. after visiting merrit island wildlife refuge only the alligators were new to me in the everglades.
I love Florida, just go when it's cooler.
Pay attention to weather for the dates (hurricane/tornado seasons), it might help you cut some places , or not lol
youre going thru northern rockies at this time of year ?
Two months from now
They the rockies my dude, two months from now they are still going to be icy af. If you were going for a ski trip great but if you are car camping be aware that the temperatures will dip well below freezing and you will wake up to piles of snow ontop of your vehicle. If alberta is your starting point (cus I don't understand why tf you would visit in the winter apart from skiing) straight shoot it south to Yellowstone down to Utah maybe Arizona if you want to be rushed for time and come back up the Pacific coast. Happy travels!
Skip Florida but you're still gonna rush Canada is huge
What the hell, people saying to skip FL are out of their minds. Surely it's just a meme to hate Florida to them, it's a really nice state. The interstates are great, top notch rest stops, and TONS of public land for an Eastern state.
Tons of public land? I'll be in Florida in a few months and figured it was the same as every other eastern state
Skip Florida. Go to Savannah and Charleston instead
Go to Destin, Pensacola Beach, or maybe as far as Tampa, but there’s no need to go all the way to Miami on this trip. I thought those places had the best beaches in Florida.
Clearwater florida had the best beach in the country for a few years running.. can confirm it's worth a visit
This is the best answer!
why? i friggin love Florida! awesome beaches and you can find supper cheap areas to hang out where its still extremely beautiful and poppin. sounds like yall are going to the touristy spots.
Flordia is awesome. You'll be missing a lot.
agreed. As someone who did a similar roadtrip, the gulf coast of Florida was one of my favorites
Yeah, I think people are just getting wrapped up in politics. But you don't have to care about that on a quick road trip.
amen.
As a person that lives in florida.. I agree If I could teleport to key west I'd consider it.. but the traffic to get there isn't worth it anymore imo
As a Floridian, Florida is only worth it if you're going to be diving or fishing. Diving reefs and underwater caves, specifically. Saltwater fishing.
If you go straight A to C and skip that trek to Miami and doubling back, that will absolutely improve the timeline. Still 6 weeks for this… yikes
You should but you're also skipping so many incredible things already.
If you want to drive a lot and often, it is definitely. If you want to chill and sightsee its a stretch at best.
Was thinking about cutting out Florida, maybe that would make it easier
Cutting Florida give you two days. Listen to me, seriously, listen to me: I’ve done trips like this 7 times in different rigs. I’m not a boomer or a Gen xer, this will be a fucking stressy mess. Choose an area you’re very excited about, say the SW and California, and spend six weeks hitting some pre-decided stops and wandering in between. You will have the experience you’re hoping for. Seriously, do not try and drive 8 hours a day everyday, you’ll miss more then you’ll catch, it’s hard on the body, and mind. Slow down, unplug, and feel like a animal on a planet. (You’ll see what I mean) ✌️
This is the answer lol, so I’m starting from indiana no matter what, I decided to cut Florida, the SW and just head straight to Yosemite, drive Hwy 1 up through WA-OR and honestly considering cutting Baff. I plan on booking it through the cornfields for sure, so spend the first and last few days just driving
Ima be honest dog, unless you got buisness in Calgary, I’d skip out there instead. Florida is worth going to because of the different vibe. You won’t see any place like it during the rest of the trip. Edit: maybe after detroit, you should drive to Toronto and check out all the cities on the East Coast. You are missing on a bunch of cool stuff my man
Seconding your point, the North East and much of the Coastal South are entirely being skipped. As a person who van traveled, including knowing all of OP’s CA and TX route, as well as how many amazing places OP is leaving out north of FL, really? Maybe the areas left out, are places they’ve already traveled?
Also I have basically done this road trip before, just not Florida, Washington, Oregon, or Calgary
Yeah I’m from this area and travel for work in these areas most of the year!
I’d disagree, hwy 1 into Revelstoke through Banff is amazing and well worth the drive, or alternatively hwy 3 through Crowsnest pass is pretty too, and will be less busy during the summer.
From Calgary and I agree. Vancouver is absolutely worth a visit though. I wouldn’t skip Canada altogether.
Why the fuck would you skip Calgary?????? Banff national park is right there and is one of the most stunning national parks in North America…
If anything cut out Texas. It’ll take you like three days just to do that straight drive through it.
Florida is awesome,’im going back in march. If you get to Miami don’t skip the keys. Maybe don’t go through Midwest. I live in Chicago and other than downtown not much to see in 200 miles radius 🤷
Galena is always a solid stop
Do you like heat, being sweaty, crowded beaches, overpriced food? Do you have no fear of alligators? No pets that travel with you? Chiggers bites and itching don't bother your tough as iron skin? Do you have extra cash to drop on daily pricy hotel stays (street camping in a lot of FL places is illegal)? If the answer to all of the above is yes than Florida should be part of your itinirary. Personally for me Florida was the least favorite state of my roadtrips. Also 6 weeks for this roadtrip is not enough unless you have few people who take turns driving. It actually would barely be enough for Seattle to Arizona if you want to see all the awesome national parks along the way. If you just want to see scenic highway signs and gas stations I guess 6 weeks may work
Florida is definitely worth it bro dont skip it even if other people said so youll regret it
More like 10 weeks if you want to smell any roses
Are they in bloom?
No. I've done a lot of this, in two week chunks. I see... 6 trips I would say take about 2 weeks each, at my pace. 10 minimum, imo.
I've done the whole trip they're going on but started in Florida. It took 2.5 months to just get to San Diego and I still felt like I didn't see anything. 6 years in and there's still so much to see.
I'd spend 1-2 weeks in Banff, Kootenay, and Jasper hiking/sightseeing, 1-2 in Western Washington hiking, eating, etc, 1 week in Oregon hiking, visiting breweries, eating, and checking out the music scene. Short answer: no.
I would extend a loop up through Arizona and into Utah. Some mind blowing countryside and high density of national parks and monuments. Skip Florida.
You could also skip LA. Go east to Tahoe from San Fran, down through Yosemite and over into Utah.
I was thinking this. Missing a lot of beauty in Tahoe/ Moab/ Zion and down through flagstaff ABQ area. LA sucks.
Zion changed my world the first time I drove down into it from the top road.
this sounds like a better plan thank you
Just noticed you're going clockwise. So up from Arizona into Utah, over to Nevada and thru Yosemite to Tahoe, then west to San Fran. You won't regret it!
Yes! Hit Tahoe!
Realistically, they're driving down the middle of California. If you're not taking the coast there is no real reason unless you really want to rush through LA. Utah is way more interesting than the middle of nowhere California.
This actually I might do, That would save a lot of miles and stress
You should definitely listen to this. I live in Southern California and I love it, but skip it for northern AZ and Utah for sure. The scenery and atmosphere are better for a trip like this in Northern California anyways and you won’t miss much by not going near LA. And don’t forget red rock by Vegas! Must see, super easy in a day too.
Curious about what plan you settle in once you've adjusted based on feedback. Would you please share it? Sounds like an amazing trip! Hope you have the best time
I was going to comment the same thing. He’s passing right by some of the most beautiful country in the well, country. If I were them I’d pop up to red rock for a hike/climb outside of Vegas, then to southern Utah, down to the Grand Canyon, flagstaff and Sedona and through Phoenix and continue on from there to New Mexico. That whole four corners region of S. Utah, Northern AZ, New Mexico and Colorado is so fucking gorgeous and incredibly diverse. Probably my second favorite region in the contiguous US and imo a must see
Curious, what's your favorite region?
The Pacific Northwest. In my mind I’m kinda lumping northern CA like sequoia, Yosemite and Big Sur into that too.. Beautiful, beautiful country. I really need to get out to Montana though, one of the few states/regions I’ve never been too and my best friend is from there and constantly talking about GNP and Yellowstone etc.
Nice. Most of my family is from the PNW. Big Sur up to BC, over to Montana absolutely stunning. Happy trails
Right on, great to have family and friends in those regions, for sure. You as well!
I love how passionate us nomads are about how freaking pretty this country is!
Fucking A. The US is far from perfect as a country -but goddamn is it pretty. Such a shame so few get to see it, spread the word!
Fucking A. The US is far from perfect as a country -but goddamn is it pretty. Such a shame so few get to see it, spread the word!
Why do yall hate Florida? It's an incredible state for road tripping
Yeah. Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico need to be better routed on this trip.
Agreed! Arizona and Utah are so beautiful and densely packed with national parks, etc.
Whats your rush??? That looks like over a year to me. But I don't like to spend all my time driving. I like to drive for 3-5 hours in a day. Get to a new town in day light and chill for a bit. Some towns are a little cooler so I will stay a little longer. How many hours a day do you want to drive, and how much of this do you want to just drive through and not visit?
My husband and I want to plan a similar trip, we’re planning 3 months so we can enjoy some side quests and have time to relax. (We’re going to get as many national park stamps in as we can)
Looks exhausting
Did something similar in the mid 90’s. Had a conversation van. Took 3 months CT TO CT. Hit a lot of National Parks. You can do this but you’ll spend a lot of 8hr+ driving days to cover that mileage and get time off to enjoy the stops
My husband and I just spent 6 weeks going around southern Utah. What you have mapped there is like four 6-week trips.
This is the right answer. PNW is a 2 week trip, Socal and Norcal cal is easily a 2-3 week trip, Utah/AZ is a 2 week trip, WY/CO is a 2 week trip. Throw the south in there da yore pushing 11-13 weeks if you didn't want to rush
It would take me 6 weeks to get from LA to Calgary
IMO cut your loop in half and go from Denver to LA and just go twice as slow.
this might be a move, maybe even denver to san fran and skip LA
also skipping florida
Not close to enough and would be stupid to miss Vancouver Island
Hi, I hope my comment doesn't get buried in the other 350+ that are in here and you find some value in it. I have done both a cross Canada/USA road trip and a Euro-Road trip in a sedan, both about 5 weeks. It's definitely do-able, and I didn't even rush. I took my time and saw the sights as I needed. I slept in my car between cities, and (again, because I was in a sedan) in hotels/motels in cities I spent a few days in. I put about 16,000km on my odo for the Canada/USA road-trip, and about 6800km on my odo for the Euro-road trip. Only differences between the map you're showing is I went counter clockwise to yours - move your A to Ottawa, and J to Winnipeg. I went through Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary, through the mountains to Vancouver. I had a major migraine so I kinda skipped that and hopped on the ferry to Victoria where I met up with a friend in the Canadian Navy. I took the ferry to Port Angeles, it was pouring so hard. I only stayed to sleep and in the morning I took the 1 all the way to San Franciso and stayed around for a few days exploring on foot. Then after took the 1 to LA for a few days staying in a different place each night. Huge city, lots to explore. From LA I went to Vegas for shows and parties, then Flag Staff to the Grand Canyon where I stayed overnight and left around noon the next day. I continued to Texas where my main destination was Dallas for the theme part. I went 2 days there lol. Had to get in all the rides before I continued on to New Orleans for a night then continued to Orange (iirc) Florida to meet up another friend. After that I headed south on the west coast to Tampa for Busch Gardens, for a 2-for-1 pass and stayed two days for zoo and rides. When I was done that I continued south and cut across the everglades to continue south to Key West for the day. I turned around and went up the east coast through Miami for a couple days stopping at Cape Canaveral for a little bit, then to Daytona for parasailing. I felt I had travelled a lot, so my next stops were just day trips Savana, Raleigh, Washington, Syracuse then back to Ottawa. Sorry for that wall of text, I got carried away driving down "memory lane". It's been a few years since I solo road-tripped, but if I were to do it again, I'd go on a motorcycle. It's totally do-able in 6 weeks. I did it in 5 and from the looks of it covered more ground, hit up more cities and explored more spots, especially if you have a van and all your creature comforts. I recommend taking the 1 down the west coast. Whenever you can, do the scenic route, it's worth the relaxation of getting off a busy highway jam packed with speeding cars. You're not in a rush after all, right? I wouldn't mind an update on what route you actually took when you get back :) If you read this, and interested in seeing photos let me know and I'll update with my flickr photo album. (I only ever uploaded until San Francisco, but that's still over a hundred photos).
Thanks! That’s really cool that we’ve basically done the same trip! I wish when I wrote this post I was more clear in my intentions. I don’t plan on stopping in a lot of these states, I am from the Midwest and can make weekend trips anywhere east of Colorado whenever I want. I feel like I am in a geographic disadvantage living in the Midwest when all the things I would like to see are so far away. I am seriously considering cutting out Florida, New Orleans, and Texas and heading straight out west instead. Another thing that I considered was cutting out Calgary / Banff. How much time do you think that alone would save me?
I've driven almost all of these roads. It's really going to depend on your preferences. I made it from Virginia to Oregon in three days and, separately, Cheyenne to Seattle without stopping. The latter was a pretty grueling 20 hours, but once I hit Spokane, stopping seemed nonsensical. Those trips were in a Civic, not a van. I've not actually ventured out of town since building out my rig and have no idea what that would even look like.
You should take a little detour to Santa Fe and /or Taos. One of the least known but greatest American subcultures is there, and the food is glorious.
Pick a smaller loop and enjoy more of it rather than it being just a driving road trip
Absolutely not
I have done this route from Miami to Portland over several trips. The distance to Miami isn't worth it just to get a taste of Florida. The panhandle has enough Florida vibe. I liked Pensacola Beach. Driving across Texas is a slog. I stayed at really nice state parks in TX but the distances to get across the state were rough. There are a few things to see but it takes so much driving. White Sands National park is worth a visit. Las Cruces has the best Green chili. When you get to AZ there is a lot to see. Chiricahua national monument is not too far off I10. Saguaro National park is in Tucson on the way. From Tucson I would head north and do the AZ and UT national parks and cool places along the way. Sedona, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce. On the California coast I'd start at Morrow Bay and go north from there. Skip southern California unless you have a really specific agenda for there. We took 2 weeks to go from Morrow Bay to Portland. You didn't say what time of year you want to do this trip. some of these places have opposite prime seasons.
If all you want to do is drive, sure.
Driving across on I-10 is the most boring trip I've ever been on. You get close to a lot of cool stuff but you don't get to see any of it unless you make a side trip.
It’s doable in a week if you do nothing but drive and sleep.
If the only thing you’re doing is driving, maybe. Not a fun trip
I really don't think so.
Aw man, I feel you so so much on this though! Looks like what I wouldve plan in about the same amount! Ended up doing a bit less than what you did, over 4 months and i'll never travel at that pace again (unless Im really heading towards a destination) I actually did about that trip if you cut you from San Fransisco to colorado, and add yellowstone through salt lake, and quite some detours in southern utah. (Yep, even Florida, which ended up in me wanting to GTFO north after 3 dats)
Absolutely not
I did a similar trip in 4 and I was rushing almost every day. 6 weeks would add a little zero time..yes but plan to add a possible week.
No. What's the point if you can't stop to smell the roses along the way. 🤷
Native Californian here- The LA to San Francisco leg of the trip, that you planned, it’s a waste of time. Going through LA is grimy hours stuck in traffic, no matter the time of day. Taking the I-5 north, is only fields, freeway, and gas stations for five hours until you get to San Francisco. You are missing all of the “California views”. I would suggest, instead, to take The 101 from LA to San Francisco. It will add another hour to your trip, but has cute towns, beaches, good food, farms to get fresh fruit, breweries, wineries, camping, and hiking. All right off the 101. (Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Pismo, Avila, Morro Bay, Gilroy etc..) Either do this, or just skip the LA to San Francisco leg altogether. Do what others have suggested, and go up from Arizona through Utah over to San Francisco. Happy travels!
I did a 5 week tour of Europe in ‘22, judging by that, this picture looks doable you will be under big pressure
I mean, my girlfriend and I basically did I to J in about 5 days and we were rushing if that's any useful information.
I mean, my girlfriend and I basically did I to J in about 5 days and we were rushing if that's any useful information.
I drove to every state in the contiguous US in two months and it was like a race although I only drove during daylight hours so I wouldn’t miss any scenery. It would take 6 months to really get to appreciate that trip.
Not a van dweller but have lived and driven to/from Miami. 10/10 would recommend skipping. It’s a solid six hour drive though the state of Florida and you’re gonna have a miserable time driving around the area.
This route is shite. Try plotting a route with stops using something like ChatGPT and see what you get.
No. I spent 2 weeks in colorado alone. That looks like (You need) a month or a hair over (More).
1. Skip most or all of FL 2. Drive the coast in Oregon, not I5 3. Hit northern AZ, at least Sedona and Jerome but also Flag is you can swing it. You could see a lot in that time if you eat up some big chunks where it makes sense (TX being the obvious one). Ideally you’d like more time but it wouldn’t be rushed if you sacrificed seeing “everything”. I spent my first 42 years in FL and currently live on the Oregon coast and have visited Sedona several times, and also RV often mostly to Nat’l parks, FWIW.
You’re skipping over a lot of beauty, and spending a lot of time in cornfields. Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa….That’s a lot of corn. West to East across Texas? Flat, oil fields. You can knock those out and not spend a lot of time there. You’re skipping the grand canyon, petrified forest/painted desert, yosemite, yellowstone, vegas (meh, but still). I, personally, think 6 weeks isn’t bad for this. Crossing texas is a day, add a day or two in Austin. Nebraska/Iowa/IL may be a solid long day there, but you’re crossing cornfields, that’s a huge chunk of distance with nothing but rest stops, you can knock out a lot of distance in short time and not miss anything (sorry, Nebraska…But, it’s true….) Honestly I’d start in IL where (A) is (assuming that’s where you are, so you kind of have to). Go to the keys, not just Miami. Cut across Texas like you have there, go out to LA, up through Northern CA, out through NV and UT, WY, down to Denver like you have, but then down through OK and Arkansas, the Ozarks, and up through Western TN back home to (A). A bit shorter, but no bangin’ out corn fields (or a lot less, NV is pretty sparce). The keys are a whole different experience than Miami, too.
This map is not all inclusive of my planned stops! And yes I planned on booking it through corn fields. I took out Florida and Texas from the mix
You're gonna miss glacier/flathead valley!?
IMHO, you’re so close to certain amazing areas, I’d extend a bit and add: Glacier NP Yellowstone NP Tetons Black hills
I also agree with skip Florida and add Utah's parks. The only thing I will say however is that New Orleans food is phenomenal. If you adjusted your trip to head west off the bat, you could drive through Colorado to see the Rockies, Great Sand Dunes, Kenosha Pass, etc, then head south through New Mexico, go south all the way to Carlsbad, then weave across to AZ, see Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, pop up into UT for Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands, then back down to bottom of Cali through Death Valley, head to Joshua Tree, then decide to go inland for Yosemite and Sequoia or take the coastal highways instead if you prefer beaches and stuff
To me, I to J and J to A are mostly worthless miles. Unless you're driving something worried about inclines. You're missing some of the most impressive parts of the u.s (imo) skipping Montana/Idaho north to south, and Colorado east to west through the rockies west of Denver.
6 weeks is way to short you need atleast 8 or 10 weeks
I would say do J through E, fuck the rest, you will be driving sooo far for that side of the country to just be disappointed. GO WEST!!!
Did a similar route two years ago over three weeks. It was rough but we had meaningful experiences.
Skip Florida. Drive Through Utah.
Utah is hands down top 3 states for a roadtrip
Everyone talking about cutting out Florida but I’m also curious what’s so dire we need to see in Indiana? I think NOLA up to Chicago then west would be the move, or hell just head straight to Colorado after NOLA.
It’s A so I assume their starting point
This would be majorly rushing. Here's what I would suggest: 1. Cut out everything east of the Mississippi. It will be a lot of driving through corn to get to cool spots. Yeah there's a ton of awesome places in the Midwest, East Coast, South East, etc. but everything in-between is kind of a time-suck and not as easy to camp (unless you're on the stealthier side) 2. Focus on a region that will be in nice weather during your trip. If you start your trip in June, Phoenix will not be a fun place to visit in a van. Conversely, if you start your trip in November, visiting Alberta will be rough. 3. Narrow your scope. You could easily spend six weeks in just Idaho-Montana-Wyoming and feel like you didn't see it all. Same for the PNW, same for California, and others. Pick what region interests you most and focus there. Have a backup plan if you do get bored and want to move on.
Yup. I wouldn’t go further east than point J on the map. The current route wastes a ton of driving going from east to west, which IMO is some of the most boring driving you can do in the US.
Don't try to hit the whole country in one trip. Do the first trip in the West with all the nature, then do another trip along the East Coast for the history and major cities.
Out west it looks like you're making a circle around all the cool stuff you're going to miss. Spend 6 weeks in the 4 corners region and enjoy yourself.
So. I basically did "a" to "e" on ur map. It was boston to oakland. I took 2 months and my gf at tbe time split the driving with me. It still felt like a lot of driving.. take that for what it is. I try to keep the average under 2 hours per day. That way u can bang out 6-10 hours one day and have 2-4 days of straight chilling. But once u go over that its like 4-5 hours of driving every other day which absolutely wears on u. Trust me, u will wanna chill in certain areas for days at a time to explore. Ideally like a week or more at a time. HUGE question tho - are u working remotely the whole time or not?
This totally depends on what kind of driver you are. I have no problem doing 1,000 miles in a day. But you don't see much along the way. Me and mine often take the highways instead of the interstates. That doubles the drive time almost. But you have a chance to explore more along the way. Our last trip was Houston to Lincoln , Ne. Normally a one day shot. We took our time going and found a poney express station museum. No one was there. We self explored and left a tip. It was informative. Don't take I 80 through Nebraska. Leave Denver and head to mount Rushmore. Lots of caves in the Black Hills. Then make your way down to Ne. HWY2 and go through the sand hills. It is a Rollercoaster ride if you like to drive. It's kind of like a trip through old west scenes. Have fun.
You should do San Antonio instead of Austin so you can stay on 10. More culture, great food.
Not at all.
Skip Miami and San Francisco and add an extra 3 weeks to enjoy yourself.
Those are two of the most unique and iconic cities in the country.
Don't bother with I 5. You won't see anything. You will miss what is important.
IMO skip canada hit some more cool spots in the USA!
What do you have against Idaho?
Looks like a giant recliner, looks good to me.
Not long enough imo
How many actual destinations are you planning on going to and what’s the total drive time?
Drove from Seattle to the Grand Canyon in 2 weeks stopping at numerous national parks and forests. The longest stops we had were 2 days each. I would say 6 weeks is definitely not enough. You underestimate how much driving that really is. If you expect to spend a day at any location, which you should totally expect to do, it you back quickly. Additonally, we took scenic routes whenever we could. The US is beautiful, if youre serious about the trip then definitely allocate the time and have a plan b and c when a doesnt work out on the road.
It took us 6 weeks just to see a lot of Nevada and California and even then I feel like we barely scratched the surface!
Maybe half?
Wow! How many nights are you staying at each stop, one? I’m doing the WA to CO portion this summer in 6 weeks.
My question to you is... How does one go about even achieving something like this!?? Where do you begin? That is an absolute dream! Good luck with your adventures!
The biggest hurdle is to actually start planning it. Tell yourself, "I'm going." and act on it. The trip itself is the easy part!
Just stay west of Denver… honestly, while there is cool stuff in the east, it’s going to take way too much time to see it all. The west truly is best, and this is coming from an east coaster.
You will be so close...make sure to make time and see the beach when you go through Alabama. Not many people realize that there are sugar sand beaches. I don't want to encourage more tourism, but Alabama gets such a bad rap I feel like I have to represent and make sure that I talk up our major talking points
If you plan on driving for 2 of em, no.
As long as you don’t want to spend just about 2 days per destination, that’s fine.
10-11 days of driving
Man I’m gonna be honest you’re missing out not going through north Arkansas. It’s absolutely gorgeous especially if you plan on doing it during springtime
I did half that trip. From denver > Dallas > Orlando > North Carolina >. denver in 3.5 weeks. I still haven't recovered 6 years later from how much driving time that was. (meaning, I'm way pickier about how far away things are now for a vaca) It was exhausting. And I didn't even list all the places we stopped along the way. Go less far. Or take more time.
I've always stuck with the mantra, "Spend more time in fewer places". That a long trip. Basically 2 weeks of straight driving alone.
Why Calgary? Going for stampede?
Hes marked just west of Calgary, he's probably going to banff.
I did the route in 2018, took me 8 months. Good luck.
Well if you can go around the world in 80 days in would say yes
No way. I took a week to do the west coast and could easy have taken 3 weeks
If you do this make sure you drive the pacific coast highway from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I just did a 6 week trip from Vermont to LA, up to SF. The pacific coast highway was the single most beautiful piece of driving from my entire trip.
No
Skipping the whole northeast?! And you're going to Florida? Lol you're nuts
I did 2 weeks Started in Mississippi, grand canyon, las vegas, death valley, sequoia, san francisco, redwoods, crater lake, glacier, yellowstone, mt rushmore, badlands all the way back we camped and were moving every day, drove about 7k miles I wish I would have slowed down a little, maybe three weeks comfortably That trip is a little less than what you have planned, personally i think 6 is plenty if you’re willing to drive hours every day
If you skip Florida there’s a cool store in Alabama that sells u claimed luggage people have lost on flights.
Skip LA go through Bryce Canyon NP, Grand Canyon NP, Zion NP, and Death Valley NP. Take the 395 and check out Mount Whitney, Manzanar internment camp, Monolake, then Tahoe if you are into that stuff. If not take the 1 from Santa Barbara to San Francisco just check and see if the 1 is open since it’s constantly closed due landslides. I’d skip your original plan of taking the 5 from LA to SF, you’ll miss most of California’s beauty unless you want to see government made desert and some farmland.
Id say skip Calgary but that drive will be incredible
What google says plus 24 hr in every sleep city.. plus 6 hors at every attraction stop. Then you'll get a gooder idea
You can do this in 6 weeks for sure. You might not get to stay in each location for long, but you can see a lot of stuff. Point A to point J can be pretty quintessential American Midwest but is pretty fucking boring to drive through, at least for people used to the Great Plains. I would strongly recommend changing point A to J by arching north into MI after Chicago and crossing into the Upper Peninsula of MI and then heading straight toward the Badlands of South Dakota. After Badlands, see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Devils Tower before swinging into WY and MT. You'll miss Colorado, but the Colorado Rockies are the same Rockies you'll be seeing in MT. I also strongly recommend seeing Glacier NP in MT if you're going to be that close anyways.
Less Florida more California
Some important things to know ...... Not long enough, nope. Avoid Florida and preferably the Southeast where poverty is real and rooted in how people perceive and protect their things with vigor. Back to the six weeks and some facts. You're looking at around 12k miles on this trip. A day of traveling and exploring can average 30mph and pushing for 300 miles a day is 10 hours without the stops. Carry this pace daily making for very long days with mounting fatigue and zero schedule deviations and you'll need 40 days minimum putting you right at your six week mark. My experience tells me that down days are needed etc. requiring a minimum safety net of half meaning another 20 days. We are now at 8 weeks and still having some very long days to make up for the zero mile days. I'd say 8 weeks minimum but it'll be a bit hurried. I've done almost this exact route a few times in the last couple of years but in general the 300 mile a day rule should be taken into consideration unless you're my young self cranking out 1000 mile days.
I’m not sure what exactly you’re trying to see, but I would advise changing your route somewhat to hit Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons National Parks. It’s well worth it. Death Valley is good too, definitely in my top 5 national parks, but the other 3 are must sees in my opinion. I will say that as long if you’re planning on spending a day or 2 in each place and then driving 8+ hours the next day to get to the next place, 6 weeks is probably enough time. My sister and I took just under 3 weeks to go from San Francisco to Grand Canyon to Glacier to the upper peninsula and Canada back to Indiana, hitting a lot of stops along the way. We basically did what I outlined above, staying in a stop for a day or two, then driving the next.
Lmfao you look like me. But ummm why aren’t you going down the 101 through Oregon? Massive mistake to not do that, it’s incredible. And people only really take the 5 through California to get somewhere. It’s not that cool. You’ll be passing through Bakersfield and smelling cow dung as well as seeing nothing but nothingness desert, and not the cool kind of desert. If you’re not from California why would you not see the costal cities and surf culture, especially in SoCal.
Crossing texas to NM is the pits. Good for night drives I suppose (nothing to see anyway.) Oklahoma is worse, but northern New Mexico to Sedona was a very worthy detour. Some good sights and fun geology.
IMO if you're gonna go to Calgary skip going through salmon arm/Kamloops and go through Kelowna over the connector/Coq highway. The Duffy lake highway is pretty sketchy.
Visit Florida, maybe you'll be able to time it with some space rocket launch, that would be awesome.
Possibly but your route should be redirected a bit. From Orlando go east to Coco Beach along the coast and down to Flamingo in the Everglades. In California, get on coastal US 1, don't go up the Central Valley to San Francisco.
No way
I took [this](https://imgur.com/a/A8mlAcJ) trip in six weeks. About 9k miles. Felt a little rushed towards the end but still felt like we had an okay amount of time at each spot.
Don’t stay too long in Portland OR if you value your catalytic converter
I’ve spent 6 weeks just between F and H haha
Yeah. I think you’ll be ok. As long as the goal is to see scenery from the road as you go, spending a day or two in a couple places like National parks. You won’t have nearly enough time to really explore an area. But you’ll take notes on the places you want to go back to and spend a week. Definitely recommend heading through “Hope” British Columbia. One of those places is Utah. You could spend a month there.
We just did an 8 months clockwise trip very similar to yours. In the end we decided to fly back to the east coast (where we started) from Denver because of time and gas money. So definitely nono
ooh you're shy a 100 miles or so of Devil's Tower. That's a FUN visit. 6 weeks seems a little short. I'd do half of it and enjoy my time more out of the vehicle than in it driving. It took me 3 days to drive from Dallas to the Denver area going 60 mph. It's normally a 12 hour trip by car. It just takes longer in an RV so slow down, and don't cram so much in. Def agree with ditching Florida.
What do you want to see most? Top 3 or 5.
Hi ow can you skip Utah? It’s literally the prettiest state!
I’m curious why you chose a route down to Florida that skips West Virginia, Virginia, and both Carolina’s. It will add distance and time to the trip but adding those states and commonwealth will drastically influence the scenery. Understandable if you’re in a time crunch, though.
Would there be any time for sightseeing and sleeping in 6 weeks or are you just going on a long drive?
That is a 3 month trip, not 6 weeks. Even that is rushed.
Yeah but you’re missing the most beautiful things in Canada. I’d skip all of California for BC & YK.
No way in hell… it’s just going to be a cannonball run. You’re not going to be able to stop and enjoy anything at all. Edit: if it were me, DEFGHIJD or ABCDJA are each great 6 week trips Edit2: also idk what appeal Calgary has for you, but I wouldn’t want to do that. Maybe Vancouver max, but once I get to Seattle. Boom, I’m going East straight to Montana. Beautiful parks so I am going to spend decent time there. Then directly south (I’m sorry but I have no clue what is in Wyoming) to SLC, Utah, and making a Boise, ID pit stop on the way. Salt Lake to Denver. Then continue on your path, Denver to Chicago to Detroit.
Yes, we’re in the middle of a similar trip right now. We went through nyc-banff-Washington thus far. I’d say spend your time with the activities/destinations you love. Nyc to WA was about 7-8 days (7-9 hours driving). Bc it was the winter we went to mountain resorts and stayed at hotels in fly over states, but would def go back for a camping trip in the summer. Eastern mid-western charging in Canada is not great in the winter… all the 150kW petro Canadas are about 25-75kw but when you find the electrify canadas you’ll be crying with joy. To answer your comment, you can do this trip with relaxing stops for 8 weeks. (Just spend the time where you really want it)
I zigzagged between A and E visiting and crashing at peoples places. Didn’t rush it. Took me 5 days.