USA Road Trip R66 etc

[mattyn1]

Whistle said:

We stayed in kanab when we did Zion, loved the road through the valley and tunnels.

Look at that!

Where would you advise I start from if I was travelling to Vegas?

Edited by mattyn1 on Wednesday 24th May 16:51

[mattyn1]

mikef said:

We flew with Papillon Helicopters from Tusayan at the entrance to the Sourh Rim, it looks as though there are still heli tours from there

Quite exiting to skim out just above the scrub then see the canyon open up underneath you

From what I can see there are two helicopter operators and a fixed wing operator from that airport.

Nothing so far at the north rim that I can find.

[mattyn1]

That’s epic.

[mattyn1]

@Whistle. Those pics are spectacular. The Forrest Gump Point and Horseshoe Bend pics are the photos that have seen many times and is probably the one that triggered the need for this trip.

Reading some mixed reviews about Antelope Canyon regarding its entry policy. We will decide on that when the time comes.

Will do some map plotting and post this weekend, but thanks, I now have a much firmer plan for that part.

Edited by mattyn1 on Sunday 28th May 11:44

[mattyn1]

So a required thread revival.

Last week we both had some good news in that the extended leave has been approved. So we have five weeks that starts the evening of 19 July 24, and ends at August Bank Holiday 24.

Daughter does not want to go. Shame really despite offering to take a mate too but she will be 17 then so can’t really blame her!

Planning about to start in earnest!

Fascinated by the temps reported in DV this summer …….. can’t bloody wait!

[mattyn1]

Looks so cool RDMcG!

[mattyn1]

So it has been a while but having got the festive bit out of the way and finally got the youngest to decide yay or nay (surprisingly it was a yay), we are all systems go in the detailed planning phase. Committed now we have booked the flights

We have shortened a bit and driven by a real want to do the PCH at the end we are minimising Death Valley to a sunset/sunrise, and avoiding the Area 51 -Reno - Tahoe loop, and instead going from DV to Yosemite. Some chunks of R66 missed too to take in Colorado and Bryce/Zion etc.

Some good driving routes I think, and really into the advice re Grand Canyon North Rim - seems a win of gigantic proportions.

Some mileages blank as I have yet to work the exact route.

Day	What	Miles	Sights
1	Heathrow T3 Hotel	-	-
2	Fly to Chicago	-	-
3	Chicago		Willis Tower, Deep Dish Pizza, Navy Pier
4	Chicago-Springfield Il	200	R66, Joliet Prison,
5	Springfield-St Louis	120	Gateway Arch
6	St Louis-Springfield Mo	215	R66
7	Springfield-Oklahoma City	293	R66, OK Memorial
8	Oklahoma City-Amarillo	257	R66, 72oz Steak Challenge
9	Amarillo-Albuquerque	387	R66
10	Albuquerque	-	Rest day, Breaking Bad locations
11	Albuquerque-Canon City	374	Las Vegas NM Longmire Locations,
12	Canon City-Colorado Springs	50	Skyline Drive, Royal Gorge Park
13	Colorado Springs	50	Up/down Pikes Peak
14	Colorado Springs-Glenwood Springs	200	Independence Pass, Aspen, GW Caverns
15	Glenwood Springs-Durango	300	Million Dollar Highway
16	Durango-Monument Valley	170	Four Corners Monument, Forrest Gump Point, Monument Valley Sunset
17	Monument Valley-Holbrook	190 +	Monument Valley Sunrise, Scenic drive, Wigwam Motel
18	Holbrook -Grand Canyon South Rim		GC Helicopter Tour, Sunset
19	Grand Canyon South - Page	-	Antelope, Horseshoe Bend
20	Page – Grand Canyon North	317	GC East Scenic drive, Navajo Bridge
21	Grand Canyon North - Las Vegas	267	Bryce scenic drive, Zion NP, Vegas Strip dusk drive
22	Las Vegas	-	erm – Vegas!!
23	Las Vegas-Death Valley		Hoover Dam, R66
24	Death Valley - Bishop		Poss the long way, R66, DV Sunrise,
25	Bishop - Yosemite	-	Tioga Pass
26	Yosemite	-	more Yosemite stuff
27	Yosemite-San Francisco	184	Golden Gate Bridge
28	San Francisco	-	Alcatraz
29	San Francisco-San Simeon	288	PCH, Big Sur
30	San Simeon-Los Angeles	250	PCH, Santa Barb, Sunset Ranch (Hollywood sign)
31	Los Angeles	-	Universal Studios
32	Los Angeles-Santa Monica Pier-LAX	40	H’wood Blvd, Rodeo drive, Pier, Venice Beach, LAX, Ditch Car, Shower, home!

Edited by mattyn1 on Wednesday 17th January 08:24

[mattyn1]

djc206 said:

Looks good. The only thing I’ll say is that Day 21 strikes me as ambitious depending on where you plan on staying the night before?

I think quite a bit is ambitious and I am a trifle nervous…… but in for a penny etc!

Planning on staying at the North Rim Lodge, get up, do sunrise, breakfast and head off, wanting to arrive in Vegas after dusk!

[mattyn1]

djc206 said:

Personally I’d can Bryce then. Doing rim to Bryce to Springdale, parking up and taking the bus up and down Zion and then back in the car to Vegas is a looong day and you’re not going to really get to enjoy either of the parks. Zion is impressive from the valley floor but to really appreciate it you’ve either got to walk the narrows or better still hike Angels Landing. Bryce is easier to hop in and out of the car and go “oooh” take a picture and keep moving but it’s a bit out of the way.

North Rim to Bryce is 3hrs+

Just to drive from the Bryce visitor centre out to Bristlecone and back without stopping is an hour, even a whistlestop tour will take 1.5 and that’s really rushing it and assuming no queues anywhere. I just checked my photos and even without doing any hikes in Bryce we were there for about 3 hours last time. That was in winter with no traffic.

Bryce to Springdale (for Zion) is 2 hours

Zion in summer is busy so parking, tickets, bus transfer, ride up and down the valley. That’s bare minimum an hour and a half and like I said that’s viewing the whole place from a bus window.

Springdale to Vegas is 3hrs.

I love a good whistlestop myself and I’ve been to Bryce and Zion in the same day before but not before a night in Vegas!

All just my opinion of course but I can only imagine how my wife would react to such an itinerary once we got going…

Your advice is acknowledged and understood. Thank you for that detail, you talk sense. I also fully appreciate how reactive and dynamic the decision making will need to be …….. and deffo don’t want to set up to fail.

[mattyn1]

DodgyGeezer said:

Having just done one may I heartily recommend a Maverick helicopter ride to the grand canyon from Vegas - jaw dropping


Crappy phone-pic for attention

On my list…… well from Tusayan anyway. Seen a couple of firms running those trips from there .

[mattyn1]

By the way - both the wife and daughter are properly scared of heights.

Doomed to failure or possible cure?

[mattyn1]

DodgyGeezer said:

I'm not brilliant with heights (don't freak out either though) and thought the helo was fine

I told her last night her fear was irrational and there was more chance of her being hurt by a spider,………. Yep she is utterly terrified of them too!


We don’t seem to have got on today…… she isn’t keen on flying either ….. planes but especially helicopters! On paper this holiday is not ideal!

[mattyn1]

I think the wife just needs to grow a pair and overcome it…… she admits it’s irrational and she seems to want to overcome it.

It’s a good challenge isn’t it. Partly the reason for heading toward the Royal Gorge Bridge…. Walk over that and she can do anything.

Spiders though are a different ball game!

[mattyn1]

Some great ideas so thank you. Santa Fe is on the to do list after Albuquerque ….. but via Madrid as we want a drink in the Red Pony …… then on to Las Vegas NM to see the rest of the Longmire filming locations.

[mattyn1]

Looking tonight for the helicopter tour….. the plane option looks good and might be more memorable for the right reasons for the two ladies considering their fear!

For the same price (and they are expensive) a 45
Min helicopter ride from Tusayan or a 45 min plane ride with a 2hr sunset open hummer trip.

Plane likely to be calmer so have pre booked on a “pay later cancel anytime” basis! Will have to discuss this decision tomorrow with them both!

[mattyn1]

djc206 said:

mattyn1 said:

I think quite a bit is ambitious and I am a trifle nervous…… but in for a penny etc!

Planning on staying at the North Rim Lodge, get up, do sunrise, breakfast and head off, wanting to arrive in Vegas after dusk!

Personally I’d can Bryce then. Doing rim to Bryce to Springdale, parking up and taking the bus up and down Zion and then back in the car to Vegas is a looong day and you’re not going to really get to enjoy either of the parks. Zion is impressive from the valley floor but to really appreciate it you’ve either got to walk the narrows or better still hike Angels Landing. Bryce is easier to hop in and out of the car and go “oooh” take a picture and keep moving but it’s a bit out of the way.

North Rim to Bryce is 3hrs+

Just to drive from the Bryce visitor centre out to Bristlecone and back without stopping is an hour, even a whistlestop tour will take 1.5 and that’s really rushing it and assuming no queues anywhere. I just checked my photos and even without doing any hikes in Bryce we were there for about 3 hours last time. That was in winter with no traffic.

Bryce to Springdale (for Zion) is 2 hours

Zion in summer is busy so parking, tickets, bus transfer, ride up and down the valley. That’s bare minimum an hour and a half and like I said that’s viewing the whole place from a bus window.

Springdale to Vegas is 3hrs.

I love a good whistlestop myself and I’ve been to Bryce and Zion in the same day before but not before a night in Vegas!

All just my opinion of course but I can only imagine how my wife would react to such an itinerary once we got going…

Seriously, thank you. I have sort of come to the same conclusion re Bryce - so am pleased you have suggested the same. Especially as we want the morning at GC Lodge to be not too rushed.Up for sunrise, breakfast, and head off.

From what I can gather:

North Rim to Jacob Lake is about an hour, then 2-3 hr scenic drive to Springdale, stop for a bit, lunch and a walkabout (the extent of this will need some forethought!!), aiming to head off and get into Vegas after sundown.

[mattyn1]

jurbie said:

I can recommend horse riding in Monument Valley which will give you a slightly different perspective on the place. We did sunrise at Forest Gump point followed by a two hour ride around and it was a real highlight of our visit,

We had planned to also hike the Wild Cat trail but figured we'd covered most of it on horseback. The scenic drive is definitely worth it but don't just drive to John Ford Point and come back which a lot of others seemed to be doing. After enjoying some Navaho fry bread we turned right whilst everyone else was turning left back to the visitor centre.

The following day on route to the Grand Canyon, it's worth a stop at Meteor Crater, it's only about 5 miles off I40 and doesn't take too much time.

As this is a Route 66 tour then you really need to drop into Williams as well, which was the last town bypassed by the interstate back in the 1980's so it still retains a bit of an old Americana vibe. The main street is mostly full of shops selling tourist tat but there is a genuine 1960's diner called Goldies which is worth a stop. There are also a few classic cars lined up outside the gas station museam which are usually worth a look.

In Page, Horseshoe bend and Antelope canyon won't take all day so I would recommend visiting the gun range at Gun Fighter Canyon, they also have ranges in Williams and Flagstaff and all offer the chance to get hands on with some serious hardware if that's your thing. I was most impressed with what a natural Mrs Jurbie was with an automatic rifle.

Really helpful stuff thank you. Horseride there is not something I have considered yet - so appreciate the nod. I think that might be a bit of a win, considering the emotional turmoil I am putting the girls through!! We plan on doing sunset at Forest Gump but depends on timings - we are doing the Moki Dugway en route dos sort of makes sense.

We are now booked into The View Hotel (we were considering Gouldings but The View won that battle) - we have a cabin facing the Valley so should hopefully be able to watch the sunrise in our pyjamas!!

Then intend to do the scenic loop, possibly the horse ride, but we then head off to Holbrook where I have booked the wigwams! Intend to get back onto R66 at Gallup (so going back a touch but minimises the stretch of R66 we miss out).

Then on our way to the Grand Canyon we can do Meteor Crater.Williams definitely a stop for us, then head up to Tusayan, check in to the hotel and nip back to the airport for the helicopter or plane ride, which will give us all a spectacular first sight of the canyon.

In my head it should be amazing.........!!!!

[mattyn1]

DodgyGeezer said:

Depending on timing there's also old London Bridge to visit which may, or may not, be worth a view...

Great idea as bridges are definitely my thing - but I am not sure - as we are doing GC South Rim - North Rim - Vegas - Hoover Dam - Death Valley this might be a stop too far. But not really examined so will do so this afternoon!

[mattyn1]

theboss said:

You’ll be doing that trip alone at this rate… tell her the spiders are nothing to worry about but that you’ll want to give shoes and bed linen a good shake down for scorpions when in the desert states

I returned from AZ yesterday and I’ve really got my missus paranoid now that my luggage contains a few stowaways.

I have not mentioned scorpions to her!


Yet!!!!!!

[mattyn1]

bad company said:

Mrs BC & I drove 66 a few years ago. This book was invaluable to us:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Route-66-EZ66-GUIDE-Trave...

We bought this last year in preparation but I am struggling to get to grips with it if I am honest. We also have the Roadtrippers book which is really clear and am seriously thinking of subscribing to their app.



I think the EZ66 book needs a bit more work as a lot of people say they have sworn by it. Probably just me!!