US Roadtrip - Location ideas please!

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Matt.

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I have the following US roadtrip planned for late May into June:

(first number is the day, 2nd is the date, eg. May 23)

1 23 Washington DC (only fly in and have a morning here, so as much as i can see assuming the rain stays away!)
2 24 Pittsburgh (stopover, Duquesne Incline)
3 25 Indianapolis
4 26 Indianapolis (Indy 500)
5 27 Chicago
6 28 Chicago (John Hancock Observatory, Skydeck, Adler, The Bean, Bridges)
7 29 Chicago (Cubs game)
8 30 Sioux Falls (stopover)
9 31 Badlands NP
10 1 Keystone (Mt Rushmore)
11 2 Rocky Mountain NP (there's a remote chance of the Trail Ridge road being open)
12 3 Colorado Springs (Pikes Peak)
13 4 Great Sand Dunes NP
14 5 Ouray (Million Dollar Highway)
15 6 Moab (possibly Mesa Verde NP, i might not have time though)
16 7 Moab (Arches NP)
17 8 Moab (Canyonlands NP)
18 9 Monument Valley (Moki Dugway, Gooseneck Bend)
19 10 Page (Antelope Canyon)
20 11 Page (Horseshoe Bend)
21 12 Grand Canyon NP
22 13 Grand Canyon NP
23 14 Laguna Beach (pickup Corvette)
24 15 Laguna Beach (Ortega Highway)
25 16 Laguna Beach (possibly go out to Joshua Tree NP)
26 17 Laguna Beach (fly out in the afternoon)


If you have specific advice for these areas, or places in between (that i will drive past), then please let me know. I have a month or so of planning time now, so the more advice i can get, the better!

Yes, i am well aware of the distances, and have done these trips before, so no need to tell me about that.
My last trip was: Yellowstone NP > Grand Teton NP > Salt Lake City > Capitol Reef NP > Bryce Canyon NP > Zion NP > Valley of Fire > Death Valley NP > Mammoth Lakes > Yosemite NP > San Francisco > Carmel > Pismo Beach > Santa Barbara > LA.


Thanks
 
Both trips sound incredible.

I was around Monument Valley, Arches and Bryce in January.
I'd thoroughly recommend the drive up the Moki Dugway all the way to Muley Point, and definitely check out Valley of the Gods, it's just off of the road up to the Moki Dugway. The drive through the rock formations is almost as good, if not better in some respects, than Monument Valley itself - if you get the time!

Have a great trip and I look forward to seeing the results.
 
With out knowing what kind of ting you are after - between Chicago and Sioux Falls you cross the upper Mississippi. The area around Lake City, Red-Wing and Frontenac is pretty interesting. The Mississippi has carved a whole series of river terraces that makes a pretty unusual landscape, big bluffs that overlook the river. Red-Wing has some interesting old industrial buildings and a great boot shop. Frontenac village is an old (by US standards) trapper settlement with some really pretty old wooden houses.
 
I am into landscape photography. So big scenery is what i want! :)
 
Sounds like a great trip is in the making, please post lots of pictures for us to see.

My only thought about this is that the light this time of year is going to be very flat with a high sun in "normal person" hours, will you be doing a lot of "photographer getting up early hours " for the sunrise?

We drove down the Moki Dugway going towards Mexican Hat (from Moab) and the view was amazing, we then stayed in Mexican Hat (proper one horse town place) and on to Monument Valley the next day.

We took our hire car round the monumnets, despite the best efforts of the local guides to get us to go with them. It was a bit bumpy but prefectly driveable in dry conditions.

Grand Canyon - again be prepared to get up early for the best light. We stayed out of season so could drive around, not sure how you get to the look outs in season when I think you have to use buses?.

Just noticed "pick up Corvette" and Joshua Tree NP. Have been to Joshua Tree NP - again amazing place, make sure you find the Chola Cactus garden - bizzare.

Have a great trip.

David
 
There is a boat cruise you can take from Page to Rainbow bridge(large natural bridge) although it is obviously a more controled enviorment.

Didnt have the time to visit them myself but the Wahweap Hoodoos are a few miles north of Page near Big Water(look like a decent walk aswell) and look pretty photogenenic.

In the Moab I'd recommend the drive up the colorando to Castle Valley then the loop over the mountain back to town. Generally I found Moab the area I wish I'd spent more time in even with 3 days as you've got, Arches National Park espeically has alot of good walks, it would be hard to fit both Delicate Arch and Double O arch into a single day.
 
Willid1 said:
My only thought about this is that the light this time of year is going to be very flat with a high sun in "normal person" hours, will you be doing a lot of "photographer getting up early hours " for the sunrise?
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Almost certainly :)

My current thoughts are that a lot of Colorado will be snowy/rainy, so i probably wont see too much in Rocky Mountain NP!
 
I didn't have time but the trip between indy and chicago stop off at Gary and go see Michael Jacksons childhood home? and the Indy circuit is an a wonderfull part of town eekkk.
 
The duquesne incline (and the monongahela incline) are both nice, but if you want a full view of the three rivers you need to go just a little further down to the west end overlook. From there you can see past the point and up the allegheny while still seeing the mon and ohio rivers, both stadiums, the downtown point, and the hills around. Google it and you'll see the difference.

Shame you only have 1 day in pgh as there are some great places in the mountains to the south east. If you are driving from DC or philly and have some time for stops en route i can make some suggestions.

Thanks
Rick
 
I am currently writing up what i can see/do each day. It's going to take quite a long time to put this all together!

Does anyone have any additional input?

I'll try and give more info on what i've thought of once i'm a little further with the plans.

Thank you for everything you've all put forward so far, it's very helpful.
 
Planning one myself, just wondering where you'd rented the car/RV from and if you know anywhere I can rent an RV from?
 
jonoooo125 said:
Planning one myself, just wondering where you'd rented the car/RV from and if you know anywhere I can rent an RV from?
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I am going by car, which is rented from National (+ Hertz for the Corvette at the end).
I've never quite understood the RV idea myself!
 
Sedona, near to Grand Canyon - natural water slides in the rocks, and lovely views.
 
I'm going to have to stop reading! Jealous much?! Have an amazing time!
 
Matt. said:
I am going by car, which is rented from National (+ Hertz for the Corvette at the end).
I've never quite understood the RV idea myself!
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It's easier to have a bed and milk making facilities in the middle of the desert when one of your road trip buddies is only a few months old, otherwise we'd go for a car and stay in classy motels haha
 
Google to see if there is a Rodeo on anywhere, I have been to a couple, wicked, take in a horse ride up or through mountains, ask locals for advice, Rockies, if the melt has been slow, there will be great white water rafting, loads west of Denver and Colorado Springs,
Jim
 
Do you need anyone to carry your bags? Sounds like my ideal trip! I love the US mid-west and west coast - one of my favourite places for landscape photography!
 
The weather is currently looking quite rainy for the first week. This isn't any surprise, so isn't that much of a concern. A slight shame though!

However, i have just purchased a Penguins vs Senators NHL playoff ticket :D (they might not play it though... but hopefully they will!).
 
I am leaving tomorrow :)
Hopefully it wont rain too much! (Rocky Mountain NP still looks very snowy too!).

I also booked a Pacers v Heat NBA conference final ticket, though not sure i'll get there as it's same day as the Indy 500!
 
Very jealous... I did a trip from San Francisco out to St George in Utah a few years ago - it was brill.

Try and see if you can fit in a trip to Mono Lake (also worth checking out the fish tacos at Whoa Nellie Deli while you're there!)
 
I went to mono lake on my last trip.

I'm currently in Chicago and the weather isn't very good (no huge surprise!). This first part of the trip is less about photography and more about going to see sports! The NHL in Pittsburgh was amazing, the atmosphere for this Stanley Cup game was really good. The Indy 500 was also totally worth the trip! I did he double with the Pacers v Heat conference final that night also. Lebron James and the Heat destroyed the Pacers! The atmosphere there was nothing like at the NHL though :(

I've currently covered approx 900 miles, am on day 6, and have been through 7 states.

I am posting snapshots to Instagram, follow me and see where I am!
Http://Instagram.com/h_matt_
 
Matt. said:
Almost certainly :)

My current thoughts are that a lot of Colorado will be snowy/rainy, so i probably wont see too much in Rocky Mountain NP!
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Colorado Springs have had some awful fires over the last couple of weeks so some areas around the Peak might be closed off.

Enjoy the trip, well jealous :'(
 
As you can see from my last post, i am back.

I just missed all the fires.
 
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