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Writer's pictureSocksandSandals Travel

A South Western USA Roadtrip Route- Denver to San Francisco

No Same Sunrise; If you want a road-trip that encompasses such rapidly changing and starkly different unique landscapes like nowhere else on earth, this roadtrip is the one for you. Prepare for an extremely different view nearly everyday. This was my first roadtrip in the USA. After extensive research, we came up with a route. So here’s a breakdown of a 3 week road trip from Denver, Colorado to San Francisco, California. Chosen for their direct flights to and from London. The route focuses on National Parks and San Francisco; navigating through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California. For another USA Roadtrip check out our one for Eastern USA here.


Day 1: Home to Denver, Colorado

Day 2: Denver, Colorado to Vail, Colorado


Drive time: 2 hours

Arrive in Vail and take the cable car up at Lionshead, starting at 2475m to Eagles Nest at 3155m, or take the cable car from Vail Village 2500m to Mid Vail at 3094m. Go explore the various hiking trails and viewpoints from the top. You can opt to hire a mountain bike or check out Adventure Ridge for ziplining, tubing and much more. Short hikes include Eagles Loop 0.5miles at 20 minutes, Fireweed 1 mile at 30-40 minutes or opt for something more difficult and head up higher to Wildwood with the Grand Escape 1.1 miles at 1.5-2 hours.


Food:

  • Blue Moose Pizza


Day 3: Vail, Colorado to Moab, Utah

Drive time: 4 hours

Set off towards Moab as you see the landscape begin to change and turn red as the sandstone rock towers above the road side. Arrive in Moab the gateway to Arches National Park.


Day 4-5: Moab, Utah

If you are doing this full route pick up an ‘America the beautiful pass’ for $80 you can get these at https://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html or at the entrance, it will save you a lot of money, compared to paying individual entrance fees for each park. Spend your time hiking in Arches National Park, the place will make anyone feel tiny against the striking backdrop of colossal sandstone arches and balancing rocks. It’s here you’ll find the largest concentration of natural sandstone arches anywhere in the world. Due to its popularity and acclaim, Arches can be incredibly busy, and prepare for the heat if you’re visiting in the summer, hiking in 40C is not for the faint hearted. Despite Arches being most popular for those visiting Moab, there is another national park just 30 minutes away; Canyonlands. We found Canyonlands to be much quieter than Arches, although this might have had something to do with the change in weather. On the edge of Canyonlands you’ll find Dead Horse Point State Park, with a $10 entrance fee and known to be Utah's Grand Canyon, it's worth the small fee. Take in the views looking over into the Canyonlands, or look down below 2000m at the winding Colorado river. Hiking guides for Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park can be found by clicking on the respective parks.


Top view points close by:

  • Courthouse towers viewpoint (Arches National Park)

  • Petrified dunes viewpoint (Arches National Park)

  • Fiery Furnace Viewpoint (Arches National Park)

  • Park Avenue Viewpoint (Arches National Park)

  • Grand view overlook (Canyonlands National Park)

  • Dead horse point overlook (Deadhorse Point State Park)

  • Rim overlook (Dead Horse Point State Park)


Food:

  • Desert Bistro

  • Pasta Jay’s (absolutely indescribably enormous portions)


Day 6: Moab, Utah to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona / Utah border


Drive time: 2.5 hours

Set off early enough that you arrive with plenty of time to explore Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, stop at the classic Forest Gump point then continue and take the Tribal park loop, a scenic driving route round the park where there are 27 designated stopping points. Alternatively, opt to book yourself onto a 4x4 tour. Follow the route provided upon entry into the park, it's recommended for a reason. Prepare yourself for yet more unique scenic vistas, in the summer as it gets hotter and hotter and hotter, you’ll be thankful for an air conditioned vehicle.


Stay within the park, with one hotel or camping options available, make sure to catch the sunset and check out the starry night sky.


Top view points close by:

  • West Mitten Butte

  • Elephant Butte

  • The three sisters

  • John Ford’s Point

  • Camel Butte

  • The Hub

  • Totem Pole

  • Artists Point

  • North Window

  • The Thumb


Food:

  • Don’t eat at the View hotel, stop somewhere on the way to Monument Valley


Day 7: Monument Valley, Arizona / Utah border to Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona


Drive time: 3 hours

Even more important than catching the sunset at Monument Valley is catching the sunrise, possibly the best of the trip, as it shines through behind the monuments. Unless you book a separate tour to Hunt’s Mesa then you’ll catch sunset through the monuments too. Pack up and head to Grand Canyon National Park, for another trip highlight, making for an insane 2 days. If there's a place to save your budget for it’s here, splash out on a helicopter tour, you won’t regret it, find out why on our Grand Canyon guide. Also read more on rim options, hiking, view points and the 2 different ways we both visited the Grand Canyon.


Top view points close by:

  • Mather Point

  • Yavapai Point

  • Yaki Point

  • Ooh Aah Point

  • Mohave Viewpoint

  • The Abyss

  • Pima Point

  • Desert Viewpoint (climb the watchtower)


Days 8: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona to Zion National Park, Utah


Drive time: 4.5 hours


Watch as the scenery changes from its dramatic red and orange hues to lush green and orange. On the way detour to Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and Lake Powell. Don’t get caught out by the heat, on the drive the temperature peaked at 45C.


Top view points close by:

  • Horseshoe Bend

  • Lake Powell

Day 9-10: Zion National Park, Utah

With an array of places to stay including; lodges, cabins, hotels and camps, we opted to stay at Zion Mountain Ranch, home to a herd of roaming buffalo. Drive east on route 9 and travel through the famous Mt Carmel tunnel, completed in 1930 marvel at the slick sandstone as you pass through then emerge to more views of Zion National Park. Uniquely, Zion has a bus shuttle system, park at the visitor centre or in the town of Springdale and catch the free shuttle to your preferred trailhead or viewpoint. Don’t fancy hiking; horse riding and canyoneering are some great alternative on offer throughout the park. It is important whilst in Zion you pay attention to weather alerts, it is very easy to get caught out by a flash flood, especially in the Narrows. The next day, head north for 1.25 hours to Bryce Canyon National Park. Compared to Zion, Bryce Canyon was a lot quieter, but like Canyonlands this could have been something to do with the turn in weather. You’ll notice the green vegetation has decreased once again, as you approach the famous hoodoos, Bryce is known for. Peer up as once again another unique landscape towers above you. On a clear day the best views you will get will be at sunrise and sunset. Hiking guide for Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park are available now.

Top view points close by:

  • Court of the Patriarchs (Zion NP)

  • Inspiration Point (Bryce NP)

  • Bryce Point (Bryce NP)

  • Bryce Canyon (Bryce NP)

  • Natural Bridge (Bryce NP)


Food:

  • Zion Mountain Ranch

  • Spotted Dog Cafe

  • Cafe Soleil



Day 11: Zion National Park, Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada to San Francisco, California


Drive time: 3 hours


Set off towards Las Vegas, leave as much as you want to roam the city then catch a flight to San Francisco. You may want to schedule a night or more in Las Vegas if gambling and the nightlife is more your thing, we’d rather have more time in Yosemite later on in the trip. We debated driving this route and going through Death Valley National Park, but ultimately decided not to due to a number of reasons; the length of the journey (11 hours non stop direct, 13 hours via Death Valley non stop), the precautions you must take in order to drive through Death Valley, we wanted more time in San Francisco and only had 3 weeks in total.


Day 12-13: San Francisco, California

Arrive in San Francisco and settle in, you’ll probably notice a dramatic dip in temperature, and an ocean breeze that can feel quite chilly. Stay in Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights or Marina areas avoiding the overpriced, over hyped and unapologetically tacky Fisherman's Wharf. You can check out a separate city guide for San Francisco, here.


Food:

  • Tacko

  • Perry’s on Union

  • Roam Artisan Burgers



Day 14: San Francisco, California to Yosemite National Park, California


"Sometimes, you just need to change your altitude."


Drive time: 3.5 hours


Head back into the mountains, this time you’ll be surrounded by the granite rocks that tower above, and trees bigger than you could imagine, unless of course you’ve previously visited Sequoia National Park. You can thank Yosemite for inspiring the protection and idea of National Parks, back in the 19th century.


Top view points close by:

  • If you dare, drive down the windy Lombard street on your way out of San Francisco


Day 15-17: Yosemite National Park, California


‘Today is your day, your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!’

- Dr Seuss



Book a cabin in the woods or bring a tent and go camping, some of Yosemite's campsites are highly sought after and you’ll have to enter a lottery system to grab one of their lucrative spaces. Be bear aware, on arrival we learnt bears can open windows, would you believe it. With 4 days in Yosemite you’ll have the time to explore various parts of the park. You’ll need this extra time compared to Zion and Arches. Check out the view of El Capitan and Half dome at sunset to see them glowing as though they are engulfed by fire. Time your trip to Yosemite right and you’ll see a similar phenomenon happen at Horsetail falls, as the sunlight disappears it will look like the waterfall has turned into a firefall. It is important to note all roads are open all year round. If you’ve seen The Dawn Wall or Free Solo you’ll look up at El Capitan looming high above in Yosemite Valley and wonder just how Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold, Kevin Jorgeson and Adam Ondra each did their insane feats, it will leave you in awe. Our Yosemite hiking guide can be found here.

Top view points close by:

  • Tunnel View - The most famous view of Yosemite and rightly so

  • Valley View

  • Glacier Point - One of the best views of Half Dome

  • Tenaya Lake

  • Olmsted Point

  • Sentinel Bridge

Food:

  • The Ahwahnee Dining Room


Day 18: Yosemite National Park, California to Lake Tahoe, California / Nevada


Drive time: 4.5 hours

After 2.5 weeks of go go go, it’s time to relax. We’d originally planned a route based on relaxing in Monterey or Carmel by the sea located on the Pacific Coast highway, a beautiful part of the California coast. However, there happened to be a festival at the same time we were due to be there, so all accommodation was booked up. Thus, we opted for Lake Tahoe, once you pass the glaring casino signs that light up the roadside you head into some beautiful picturesque coves that line the shore, the water turns from clear vibrant turquoise to a stunning cobalt blue, to the backdrop of snow capped mountains.


Top view points close by:

  • Mono Lake (Drive along you watch the reflection of the mountains appear in the lake beside you and you’ll slowly see ‘Tufa towers’ made of limestone rise out of the lake pull over for a better view)


Day 19-20: Lake Tahoe, California / Nevada


Stay somewhere within walking distance to the beach. Rent kayaks, a stand up paddle board, a boat, go for a swim or if you’ve still got the energy there’s more hiking trails on offer. My top spot for Lake Tahoe has to be Sand Harbour State Park, park up head onto the beach but don’t sit down just yet, make sure you carry on round the bay slightly as you enter the cove surrounded by boulders, that’s where you’ll find the best spot and clearest waters, be sure to rent a sup here. For beaches with more room head to Pope Beach, Kiva Beach, Baldwin Beach of Camp Richardson.


Top view points close by:

  • Emerald Bay State Park

  • Sand Harbour State Park


Food:

  • Evans American Gourmet Cafe


Day 21: Lake Tahoe, California / Nevada to San Francisco, California to Home


Drive time: 4.5 hours


Socks and Sandals


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