Hello All,

I'll be travelling the next 10 days or so across the Great West! I've never been, so I'm looking for some suggestions.

Here's the bare bones itinerary:

Friday through Sunday - Vegas for a Bachelor Party.

Monday through Friday - drive to Denver, CO for another Bachelor party.

My question is what I should do in those five intermediary days?

My travelling companion (younger than 79, by the way - so don't feel restricted in your suggestions) is a college buddy of mine. We're both pretty active as well, so things that require a hike aren't unwelcome. We'er thinking about seeing the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, maybe Mesa Verde. Then, it's all up in the air.

So, for those of you who live out there, or who haev been - what do I simply have to see, what should I avoid, etc.

Thanks!

Well, if you want to throw Utah in the mix, Zion and Arches National Parks are great-amazing rock formations.

Capn,

I have traveled to about every major destination west of the Mississippi River. A buddy of mine and I would take 2 weeks each summer during college and backpack and hike the west.

From where you are and where you are going there are countless attractions in between. Arches, Bryce and Zion National Parks in Utah are beautiful. The Grand Canyon is a must see for anyone. If into early Native American History ( I am a fanatic by the way) the ruins at Mesa Verde are unbelievable.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison in central Colorado is not very well known, but also beautiful. Rocky Mountain National Park outside of Denver is neat and the town of Estes Park near there in very nice.

There are countless other places I could tell you about. Give a general area that you would like to go and I can suggest more.

Scott

The Hoover Dam is worth the trip....not far from Vegas since you are already starting there.

I'll second the suggestions to spend some quality time in Utah. Definitely make time for Hoover Dam - it's worth a half-day sojourn from Vegas. There is lots of good beer in Colorado (but NOT in Utah!) - be sure to stay hydrated.

I like the Colorado Springs area quite a bit; a couple decent brewpubs, Air Force Academy, US Olympic Training facility, Garden of the Gods, and Pike's Peak. Worth a day, IMO. I double-dog dare you to stay at The Broadmoor.

I enjoyed the Coors Field tour in downtown Denver (it was not in-season when I was there); it is a very cool ballpark.

I have been on this same route myself and agree with seeing all of ScottA's recommendations.

Thanks, Ken - Zion was suggested to me by someone else too. I'm gonna officially put it on the list of "desirables"

Bryce was also suggested. It goes on the list along with Hoover Dam, too.

My buddy and I figured we'd take time on the flight out to VEags to do some trip planning. RIght now, I think we're wide open. We're packing sleeping bags and tents and renting a car for the week. Mileage is not an issue - just being able to get to Denvr on time is.

As far as which areas we'd like to cover - the answer is I don't know. I don't even know enough about the geography out there to know if I'll be zig-zagging or traveling in a straight line.

Thanks for the suggestions - keep 'em coming.

Tom - we'll be visiting Coor's on Saturday to see teh Cubs play the Rockies.

You could do a lot worse than the first half of a trip I did in 2003 with a bunch of Jeeps. It was all road travel between interesting places, with off roading at all the appropriate spots. Make sure you get to Ouray and the other towns on the (I think) "Million Dollar Highway" run :

"Vegas to Sturgis Mayhem Tour
Quit Your Job and Pack Your Jeep--You're Going

You + Your Jeep + Jp = Mayhem!

In the March '03 Trail Head, we mentioned the possibility of a cross-country Jp event. The idea went something like this: Wanna pull pranks on your pals and complete strangers, drive down the highway with Blow-Up Betty ridin' shotgun and see some of the great attractions of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota all in your favorite vehicle, your Jeep?"

http://www.jpmagazine.com/eventcoverage/154_0307_MAHM/index.html

You could drive from Vegas to the parks in Utah, then drop down to the Grand Canyon. Then head over to Mesa Verde. You could also drive across New Mexico. White Sands National Monument is beautiful. You can drive into the white sand desert and it looks like you are driving through snow. The Million Dollar Highway in SW Colorado is a another good suggestion. Beautiful drive.

If you went north, you could drive through the Tetons, Yellowstone, Big Horn Mountains, Devil's Tower and then drop down toward Denver. It really depends on how much driving you want to do each day. Little Bighorn battlesite in Southern Montana is fascinating.

Really there is so much to see and do it's difficult to decide. If you want any more detailed information on the sites I have listed, PM me.

Scott

On the Hoover Dam thing, don't take a tour (ie bus) out there. The one I tooked completely sucked. We spent about 15 minutes at the Dam and the rest of the time driving around or on a boat, all with an idiot yammering at us.

I third, fourth, or fifth the suggestion for Zion. It's a must-see. This time of year is pretty good to do the Virgin River Narrows hike, which winds through the narrow canyon carverd by the river. Gorgeous!

Adrien, as the others have indicated, the Grand Canyon is a must. Next, in my view, would be Bryce, which is flatout stunning and which I rank ahead of Zion.

I never made it to Bryce, but if what you say is true, I'll have to see it myself, and soon!

Thanks all for the suggestions...

The trip went as follows:

Vegas to Hoover Dam (fine trip, nothing to mention, really). I thought the Hoover Dam woudl be bigger, actually. What do I know. Oh well. It certainly was worth the price of admission to have gone and actually seen it.

Next, we drove through Flagstaff (a one horse town) and had some dinner. Then we drove north up to the Grand Canyon and compaed out near the old Grand Canyon Airlines field (pretty spooky coming across an abandoned airport terminal in the middle of no-where off of a fire-road). I was sure that a chainsaw weilding maniac was going to come chasing after us.

Grand Canyon was, well, grand. Definitely worth going to, but not the highlight of the trip.

We travelled East and North through the Painted Desert, which is one of the most awe-inspiring and gorgeous stretches of highway you will ever see.

Next, we headed West to Zion, but made a quick stop at the Coral Dunes, which is a huge dune field just south of Zion. Really pretty - and you can go off-roading on the dunes, too. We camped in Zion that night and then the next day took a trip up the canyon and hiked a bit. Gorgeous and huge rock formations taht make you feel small and insignificant.

Later that day, we headed to Bryce Canyon. Echoing the sentiments earlier, I agree that Bryce might be the most beautiful place in the U.S. It's indescribable what Bryce Canyon looks like from that elevation. Visibility of nearly 150 miles!

We then drove North-East through Utah up to Arches. Going 110 miles per hour is fun, especially when you're alone for hundreds of miles at a time on the road. We visited Moab, and had some 3.2 beer. What a truly sh*t town Moab is. At one end, they make those blue urinal cakes that have that particular smell to them - you know what I mean - well, the whole town smelled of this stuff. It's kind of gross, then you get used to it - which is also kind of gross.

Arches was neat - it had some of the most unique and dramatic rock feautuers of the whole trip.

Next up was a drive through eastern Utah, which, again, is some of the most unique, desolate, beautiful, harsh, varied and interesting terrain I have ever seen. It's truly like driving on Mars or Jupiter or something (never mind that you can't drive a car on a ball of gas).

Then, we travelled over the Rockies and into Denver (having lost a half day on the planned trip and losing our desire to camp another night in Rocky Mountain National Forest). Denver was fun - lots of hot chicks. We got drunk on regular strength beer.

We then went backwards to Breckenridge for the second bachelor party. Got very little sleep - drank a little too much Bourbon, and then went white-water rafting on the Arkansas river. Good times, cute guide.

It's good to be back, home, though.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. I wish that we could have made Mesa Verde - maybe next trip.

Welcome back.

I wish the Hoover Dam tour was what is was before 911. The best tours had you going down internal stairs and following the path of water leaks. You saw more of the internal workings on the dam. You needed a hard hat.

Too bad many other national treasures are forbidden like this one is now.

Wow....I live in Utah and I know less about the recreational stuff around here than most of you guys. Excellent report.

Maybe I need to get off my duff and see some of the great parks in the south end of the state.