Where to?? hmmmm....

[Lil Bear]

Ok so here's my query, we are looking at taking a 14-16 day trip around the first of the year. We are currently in the southeast. Where would be some suggested areas from some of y'all that have had the privilege of getting to go to the awesome places throughout the US? Some of my initial thoughts were...New Mexico, Arizona, or that area. Now let me tell you what I'll be driving. We will be in my 16 Nissan Titan XD. I do not have a winch at this time and don't think I will have one by then either. I do have a high lift, traction boards and various recovery items. I will also be more then likely changing tires by then(just not sure to what yet). Currently running 34 inch Cooper ATP's. I am looking for amazing scenic views and campsites. Momma bear doesn't want to stay in the wild the entire time though( ). We may also look at hitting some parks on this journey. I'm basically allocating 2 full days of travel there and 2 back so that would leave me with at the most 12 days to explore and see sights. Please let's not bash on me too much for asking these questions. I will have my 6 month old son with me so I want to know everything I can before setting out on this and most everyone here seems to have the best information. I myself haven't gotten to venture much past GA(home), SC, and NC. Thanks in advance!

 

[ryancarman]

how many hours are you willing to drive those two travel days? i would expect with a child under a year old that 600 miles in a day would be a stretch, but you know your family...

600 miles in a day is likely to take 10-12 hours of travel...

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Ok so here's my query, we are looking at taking a 14-16 day trip around the first of the year. We are currently in the southeast. Where would be some suggested areas from some of y'all that have had the privilege of getting to go to the awesome places throughout the US? Some of my initial thoughts were...New Mexico, Arizona, or that area. Now let me tell you what I'll be driving. We will be in my 16 Nissan Titan XD. I do not have a winch at this time and don't think I will have one by then either. I do have a high lift, traction boards and various recovery items. I will also be more then likely changing tires by then(just not sure to what yet). Currently running 34 inch Cooper ATP's. I am looking for amazing scenic views and campsites. Momma bear doesn't want to stay in the wild the entire time though( ). We may also look at hitting some parks on this journey. I'm basically allocating 2 full days of travel there and 2 back so that would leave me with at the most 12 days to explore and see sights. Please let's not bash on me too much for asking these questions. I will have my 6 month old son with me so I want to know everything I can before setting out on this and most everyone here seems to have the best information. I myself haven't gotten to venture much past GA(home), SC, and NC. Thanks in advance!

This is an interesting area of NM.

Indian Ruins in the Four Corners Area

Ancient Indian ruins in the four corners area of the Southwest

www.neartime.com

 

[Lil Bear]

how many hours are you willing to drive those two travel days? i would expect with a child under a year old that 600 miles in a day would be a stretch, but you know your family...

600 miles in a day is likely to take 10-12 hours of travel...

He travels very well so really momma will get annoyed with being in the truck before he will. Last trip we took was an all day affair well into the night to set up camp and he was a trooper!! 10-12 hours of highway travel should be no problem.

 

[ryancarman]

He travels very well so really momma will get annoyed with being in the truck before he will. Last trip we took was an all day affair well into the night to set up camp and he was a trooper!! 10-12 hours of highway travel should be no problem.

thats awesome, that said the answer at a quick glance is New Mexico, San Antonio is about 1000 miles from Atlanta, (not maximising your potential) and Pheonix is 1850 (too far) im assuming Atlanta because its easy... and you didn't specify what city, which is nbd...

 

[Alanymarce]

My reactions were similar - New Mexico is a l o n g way from anywhere in Georgia. If you have two (or more) people driving then 12 hours a day is fine, otherwise it's easy to be over-fatigued. It would take us at least 3 days.

However if you can get there in 2-3 days it's a very worthwhile destination. We did a circuit starting at Albuquereque, via Santa Fe, Taos, Durango, Mesa Verde, Moab, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, and Sedona to Phoenix in 9 days and this was excellent. You could get away from the "beaten track" in many areas on this route.

 

[Lil Bear]

My reactions were similar - New Mexico is a l o n g way from anywhere in Georgia. If you have two (or more) people driving then 12 hours a day is fine, otherwise it's easy to be over-fatigued. It would take us at least 3 days.

However if you can get there in 2-3 days it's a very worthwhile destination. We did a circuit starting at Albuquereque, via Santa Fe, Taos, Durango, Mesa Verde, Moab, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, and Sedona to Phoenix in 9 days and this was excellent. You could get away from the "beaten track" in many areas on this route.

That sounds like a nice circuit!! but yes there would be 2 of us to drive if needed.

 

[smlobx]

We live in SW Virginia and made a trip to Mesa Verde NP then up to Ouray, Silverton area and had a blast. We rented a JK for a day and did some high altitude routes in the back country and really enjoyed exploring the old mining towns etc. Silverton is a cool little town with a nice old hotel which we stayed in for a night to take showers etc.
Highly recommend!

 

[MMc]

First, traveling with the family is a blessing, making sure the love of you life is happy is a must. Grabbing a hotel to keep her happy is a easy call. It’s her vacation too.
4 corners is a must, Gilda Cliff Dwellings NM , Pesos NM, Chaco Culture NM. Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Spa, spend the day and night here, your wife will thank you.
Check all Alltrails.com for trails. It will be cold and there will be snow, watch the weather.

 

[USStrongman]

14-16 days is a long time to push 10-12 hours a day. Especially coming home. Keep it mellow. You will enjoy yourself more if you are rested. Drive til you cant, then stop.

New Mexico. Southern NM is interesting, northern more so. Cooler in the north due to elevation.

Southern - Warmer days making camping more tolerable for 3 season gear. I-10 towards Carlsbad Caverns, turn north to Cloudcroft (9,000' elevation) then west to White Sands NP. Back south to Las Cruces (beautiful mountains and amazing tacos). Head into Arizona and visit some up and coming communities in Bisbee and Tombstone. The drive along the border of NM/AZ south from I-10 towards Douglas is amazing. Super cool topography. Not a lot of traffic makes it a great place to see. Bisbee is a great 5,500' former copper town turned into a cool hippie, arts and foods town. Great offroading and hiking opportunities all around. Then head out to El Camino El Diablo trail. It skirts along the US/Mexico border. Highly patrolled by BP. You pass in front of two forward command centers there as well. 2 days as long as it does not rain and not nearly as dangerous as people think. Stay in Yuma. Great winter town. head north to Lake Havasu, etc. Then to I-40 to head home.

Northern NM can still start off of I-10 at Carlsbad, Cloudcroft, White Sands/Holloman AFB, north to ALBQ and Santa Fe, Taos, then to Four Corners, Mesa Verde (CO) and then back to I-40 for the slog back home.

The only caveat to this is if Covid shits the bed this winter. You may not be able to enter a lot of areas in NM. Many Navajo controlled roads were closed and the entire town of Gallop was locked down. Everything is back open now, but who knows. Large families living together made the Covid problem really bad and with substandard healthcare available in all reservations, they just shut everything down. If that's the case, Arizona and So Cal should still be options and traveling along I-10/20 (Texas) and I-40 shouldn't be a problem..

 

[Alanymarce]

14-16 days is a long time to push 10-12 hours a day. Especially coming home. Keep it mellow. You will enjoy yourself more if you are rested. Drive til you cant, then stop.

To be clearer than I think I was, I was thinking of long driving days (with at least 2 drivers sharing 50/50) for only the travel to the region and back. So the main period (of somewhere between 8 and 12 days) should be taken far more slowly - 4-6 hours driving a day is our "normal" pace.

 

[Lil Bear]

14-16 days is a long time to push 10-12 hours a day. Especially coming home. Keep it mellow. You will enjoy yourself more if you are rested. Drive til you cant, then stop.

New Mexico. Southern NM is interesting, northern more so. Cooler in the north due to elevation.

Southern - Warmer days making camping more tolerable for 3 season gear. I-10 towards Carlsbad Caverns, turn north to Cloudcroft (9,000' elevation) then west to White Sands NP. Back south to Las Cruces (beautiful mountains and amazing tacos). Head into Arizona and visit some up and coming communities in Bisbee and Tombstone. The drive along the border of NM/AZ south from I-10 towards Douglas is amazing. Super cool topography. Not a lot of traffic makes it a great place to see. Bisbee is a great 5,500' former copper town turned into a cool hippie, arts and foods town. Great offroading and hiking opportunities all around. Then head out to El Camino El Diablo trail. It skirts along the US/Mexico border. Highly patrolled by BP. You pass in front of two forward command centers there as well. 2 days as long as it does not rain and not nearly as dangerous as people think. Stay in Yuma. Great winter town. head north to Lake Havasu, etc. Then to I-40 to head home.

Northern NM can still start off of I-10 at Carlsbad, Cloudcroft, White Sands/Holloman AFB, north to ALBQ and Santa Fe, Taos, then to Four Corners, Mesa Verde (CO) and then back to I-40 for the slog back home.

The only caveat to this is if Covid shits the bed this winter. You may not be able to enter a lot of areas in NM. Many Navajo controlled roads were closed and the entire town of Gallop was locked down. Everything is back open now, but who knows. Large families living together made the Covid problem really bad and with substandard healthcare available in all reservations, they just shut everything down. If that's the case, Arizona and So Cal should still be options and traveling along I-10/20 (Texas) and I-40 shouldn't be a problem..

Thank you thank you for the detailed information!!! And I'm glad you reminded me of the Covid effect. I had kinda let that slip through my planning. Hopefully it will remain the same or get better. That would suck to plan and get out there only to find out its all closed down again!

 

[grubworm]

@Lil Bear, that's funny....the wife and i always go to georgia in january for our anniversary....last january we spent 10 days at Vogel State Park and LOVED that area!

@Alanymarce had a good route. i'm about 8 hrs from atlanta, so from here we have done many trips out west and basically its get on I-10 and stop in san antonio to see the alamo and the river walk, etc to break up the trip, then head west on 10 and at fort stockton, head northwest up to carlsbad, nm and see the caverns then shoot up to roswell and see the crazy UFO stuff and then go north to santa fe and check out the sights there and then up to taos and red river or skip red river and shoot up hwy 64 to chama and then up to pagosa springs and then over to durango. VERY scenic route. from durango, you can ride the steam train to silverton or drive there and check out that area. then you can go up to oury and check out the hot springs and then shoot over to the arches nat'l park or skip that and head southwest to the four corners and then scoot over to the grand canyon and then drop down to flagstaff and then youre just and hour or so from sedona, which is very cool. then coming back on i-40 youll pass thru the painted desert and petrified forest which is neat to see and you can do most of that in your car so its not a lot of walking and hiking unless you just want to.

i did a version of this trip a long time ago where i went out from the grand canyon to las vegas then up to bryce and zion nat;l park in utah and then drove thru the desert up to moab and then over into colorado. lots of good stuff to see no matter which route you take. durango and hwy 550 is definitely worth the drive and there are state parks in the area as well as boondocking outside of silverton right on the creek