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[gerben1986]

Hi guys,

This year will I visited the USA with my girlfriend.
We planned our trip this way: https://www.tripit.com/trip/publicMap/id/1A54B65330CD

Monday 10-jun Glacier NP
Tuesday 11-jun Driving
Wednesday12-jun Yellowstone
Thursday 13-jun Yellowstone
Friday 14-jun Grand Teton or Cody
Saturday 15-jun Rapid City
Sunday 16-jun Mount Rushmore
Monday 17-jun Wind Cave / Badlands
Tuesday 18-jun Cheyenne
Wednesday19-jun Rocky Mountains NP
Thursday 20-jun Rocky Mountains NP
Friday 21-jun Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Saturday 22-jun Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Sunday 23-jun Page
Monday 24-jun Page
Tuesday 25-jun Page
Wednesday26-jun Page
Thursday 27-jun Zion
Friday 28-jun Bryce
Saturday 29-jun Grand Canyon / Las Vegas
Sunday 30-jun Las Vegas
Monday 1-jul Flying

Do you guys think this is possible and nice to see?
And what shouldn't we forget to visit on this trip (car musea, Porsche's, other interesting things, historical, tasteful, nature etc.).

We decided to stay not to long in the south part because I have seen a lot of the NP's there already (Zion, Bryce, Monument Valley, Capitol Reef NP, Arches NP, Hoover Dam etc.).

Thanks!

[ideola]

Ambitious, but definitely doable!

I would recommend skipping Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It's too deep and dark to be very interesting, unless you like killing yourself on vertical hikes. Instead, head through Grand Junction Colorado (stop by and say hello to Tyfighter, one of our forum members), and then pick up highway 28. This parallels the Colorado River, and is a fantastic drive. You can visit the Fishers Towers, Professor Valley, the town of Moab (which is replete with Jeep tours and offroading opportunities).

From Moab, then proceed to Arches National Park (the largest concentration of natural arches and bridges in the world), and then go visit Canyonlands, which is where the Green and Colorado Rivers converge. If you have time and an appropriate vehicle, drive part of the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands. If you haven't been to Canyonlands, you need to go.

I would also highly recommend getting over to Capitol Reef and seeing it from a different perspective. Drive the Notom-Bullfrog back country route, which takes you right into the Waterpocket Fold, a geographic feature that distinguishes all of Capitol Reef National Park.

From the end of the Waterpocket Fold, you can jaunt your way through the Grand Staircase of the Escalante and on over to Vegas. On your way down to Vegas, stop in St. George UT and visit Snow Canyon State Park, and a little close to Vegas, drive through Valley of Fire State Park.

Not much car stuff in that vicinity, but if your route takes you through Salt Lake City, you will find one of the only Porsche Design stores in the country right downtown in the shopping mall directly across from Temple Square. There is also a Tiffany's next door to Porsche Design, so you and your girlfriend can both be happy

I'll post back later with some pix...
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[gerben1986]

Hi Dan,

Thank you for the tip! I'll discuss it with my girlfriend.
Also skip "Great Sand Dunes National Park" which is even further away then Black Canyong of the Gunnison National Park?

With Highway 28 you mean the 128 I guess (according to Google Maps)?

That looks better then drive directly from the Great Sand Dunes NP to Page.

Buth in the USA there is one big problem: holidays are to short and there is to much to see...

[gerben1986]

I talked with her. We'll change the route to arches and the drive along the Colorado, looks nice! Thanks for your advice.

If someone else has ideas, please tell me!

I'm also thinking about driving to the Death Valley on the sunday in Las Vegas.
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911SC - 1980

[gerben1986]

[ideola]

The Notom-Bullfrog road is definitely drivable in a two-wheel drive vehicle. The Burr Trail portion would be best to check at the National Park HQ before you go..there is a very steep section of switchbacks where the Burr Trail intersects with Notom-Bullfrog road to get out of the Waterpocket Fold valley up onto the ridge; I think you could do it with a normal car, but I did not drive much of the Burr Trail, so I can't comment on its condition beyond a few miles of the Waterpocket Fold. Weather can always have an impact, but when I drove the road, it was really no big deal. Very well maintained and no issues. Total drive time will really depend a lot on how frequently you plan to stop for photos. It is very scenic with lots of different geologically interesting views along the way.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[MikeJinCO]

I live on Hwy 50 on the way from Rocky Mountain to Black Canyon. Unfortunately we'll be leaving about June 19 for a river trip not too far from Glacier. I'd definitely skip Sand Dunes and take a 1 hour stop at Black Canyon on the way to Telluride. Then skip over some back roads over to Moab and spend a day or so there going to Arches and definitely taking a 4wd Tour at Moab, I think they run a route called Fins and Things which is over some very steep sandstone boulders several hundred feet high, a really a wild ride in a Jeep or Hummer . The Utah desert will be over 100deg F so it will be baking hot although it cools off at night. From there go to Capitol Reef and south to Bryce and Zion. Hike the Wall Street trail in Bryce early in the morning, it is a different world. Then head south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and over the Lake Powell bridge to the South Rim which is really packed with people in the summer.

We were there last Wednesday and it was merely crowded.

The only thing of interest in Cody is the museum for a couple of hours unless you are a gun nut where one could spend a week or two in the basement, They have probably every model of gun made in the US. There is literally nothing of interest in Cheyenne unless the rodeo is on at which time the crowds are overwhelming. My wife says skip the Black Hills as it is a long way east and make sure to take the 4wd tour in Moab as that would be a real trip highlight. Moab is the rock crawling capitol of the US. One of our favorite areas is the San Juan Mountains around Ouray, Colorado, renting a jeep and heading up into the mountains for some easy 4wd and absolutely spectacular scenery. It is also on the way toward Telluride, a mountain resort town/ski area in a beautiful box canyon.
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Mike


'67 MG Midget Dp
'71 Ocelot Dsr Kawasaki 1000(under rebuild)

[gerben1986]

Thanks guys (and Mike's wife !

We changed our route a little.
Skipped Grand Teton and Cody, but we'll visit the Devil's Tower near Rapid City.

Also skip Cheyenne, we drive from Wind Cave directly to Rocky Mountains (maybe a campground between these 2).

We hope to save a half or 1 day on this way, so we have a little longer in Page, Moab etc. A pity that you're on a trip right then Mike, always nice to meet other Porsche-enthousiast
We are gonna take the 4WD-trip, a good idea Mike!

The "Lake Powell bridge", is that the brige near the Dam in Page? We definitly want to go there, but I'm not sure if it is doable to go also to the South Rim, because of the available time...
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911SC - 1980

[Grenadiers]

We're leaving Prescott, AZ this thursday, back to the cold tundra of Wisconsin. We have a built jeep wrangler that is perfect for Moab, and around here, in Sedona, and the local mountains. If you plan another SW trip in the future, come on down, sooner~!
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'83 944 Track car.
'88 924S Track car.
'89 944 Turbo
2004 Winnebago Vectra monster RV
2012 Jeep Wrangler
2014 Kia Soul
2001 Ford F350 powerstroke

[gerben1986]

Hi,

After all of your tips (unfortuanally we don't have the time to visit Wisconsis/Arizona and Ideola's new shop..), we updated the schedule:

9-jun Amsterdam - Kalispell
10-jun Glacier
11-jun Driving
12-jun Yellowstone
13-jun Yellowstone
14-jun Devil's Tower (via Highway 20 from Yellowstone)
15-jun Rapid City
16-jun Badlands
17-jun Mount Rushmore / Iron Mountain Road / Wind Cave
18-jun Driving via Cheyenne
19-jun Rocky Mountains NP
20-jun Grand Junction / 128, Fisher Towers
21-jun Moab / Arches
22-jun Moab / Jeep-rental
23-jun Canyonlands / Dead Horse Point State Park
24-jun John Wesley Powell Museum / Capitol Reef (Notom-Bullfrog back country route)
25-jun Bryce / Zion / Snow Canyon / Grafton (ghost town)
26-jun Page
27-jun Page (Antelope canyon)
28-jun Grand Canyon
29-jun Grand Canyon / Las Vegas
30-jun Las Vegas/Death Valley
1-jul Las Vegas

As you can see, things has been changed, added etc.
What should you skip if it was your trip?

Within 5 weeks we're flying
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911SC - 1980

[gerben1986]

Hi guys,

We're back in the Netherlands for a few days already.
It was an amazing trip!
Especially your tips!

It seemed that the 128 which Ideola noticed was the #2 nicest road in the USA
And we rented a Jeep in Moab, a lot of fun to drive around in that vehicle We really loved that. The rafting in Moab was a little bit dissapointing (quit water, no real angry rapids).
Snow canyon was really nice, we didn't expect it, but very nice, a lot of things to see, nice campground.
And from my own experience I can tell you that the Death Valley was really hot last weekend While we drove there is was 126 degrees Farhenheit (52 Celcius)... But it was to late to take a tour through Scotty's castle, I'ld like to see that...

Both the Notom-Bullfrog and the Burr trail is drivable with a normal car, it was a nice quiet road, nice views (yellow, black, read, purple rocks and sand).

Thanks for your advice! It made our trip so much better!
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911SC - 1980