West Coast
The Whole West Coast
This one is for people who have a few months to spend on their trip. This will cover most of the roadtrips mentioned below. There are about 3 times as many national parks on the West Cost of the US vs the East Coast, that gives you an idea of how beautiful this
Why visit: Large cities, incredible mountain ranges and rock formations on seen in this part of the world
Recommended stops: Big Sur, CA; San Francisco, CA; Yosemite, CA; Redwood National Park; Lake Tahoe, CA; Bend, OR; Seattle, WA; Sandpoint, ID; Yellowstone National Park; Park City, UT; Zion National Park; Grand Canyon National Park
Recommended amount of time: At least one month
Recommended time of year: Late Spring or Early Fall (mostly because of Utah, which gets very hot mid summer)
Recommended starting point: Los Angeles, CA
Pacific Northwest
- Seattle and the surrounding area could give you enough to see with three national parks within 3 hours, but go to some of the less known spots and you’ll see any amazing part of the united states. You could easily spend a week just doing Washington, Oregon or Idaho
- Why visit: Mossy hikes, beautiful beaches (but don’t plan on tanning) and large cultural cities
- Key locations to visit: Seattle, WA; Mt. Rainier National park; Portland, OR; Crater Lake, OR; Bend, OR; Boise, ID; Sandpoint, ID; Leavenworth, WA (bonus is to add Kalispell, MT a few hours from Sandpoint)
- Recommended amount of time: 1-2 weeks or 28 hours of driving
- Recommended time of year: year round but some hiking is not accessible in the winter
- Recommended starting point: Seattle, WA