Denver to LA Roadtrip

[Abbi_x]

Hi everyone!

My husband and I got married in the summer and drove LA to SF and back again and we absolutely loved it.

We’re looking to roadtrip again in 2019 but starting in Denver and ending in LA. Anybody who has done this route previously, can you advise me on the best routes/national parks/stops/hotels/motels.

I’d love to hear about your experiences! Thank you

[jdouds]

Hi this year we flew to denver stayed over and took a short flight to bozman , from there we drove into yellowstone via the beartooth pass fantastic. What have you planned to do on route.

[jdouds]

Have you considered mount rushmore , deadwood made famous in calamity Jane, little big horn, Salt Lake City

[lindasarahlou]

We did a national park road trip this year from L.A. to San Francisco that took us out as far as Moab for Arches National Park. We only had 1 night but it is one of the only places on our trip we wish we had stopped for longer. Arches NP was amazing, the town of Moab looked interesting but we didn't have time to explore. There are also other places in the area we wish we had had time to visited, including Dead Horse Point and Canyonland NP. From Moab you could head south to Monument Valley, Page for Antelope Canyons and Horseshoe Bend, then on to the Grand Canyon. Or from Moab west a bit then south to Bryce and Zion. There is so much to see, all stunning!

[Olympiad]

Hi,

Assuming you want to head broadly in the direction of LA from Denver, you've probably got two main options - heading west out of Denver and tracking through Utah into Nevada and then on to LA. Plenty of national parks along the way and easy to include Monument Valley, Las Vegas etc and at a push Salt Lake City (not worth the detour in my opinion).

Or head south from Denver and into New Mexico then track west following rough route of Route 66 to LA - again loads to see - Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Grand Canyon etc.

Either would make a great holiday. We did a route from Santa Fe to San Francisco via LA a couple of years ago so broadly the second option, but added in detours to Monument Valley and Las Vegas.

[Sew109]

We have done this route twice the last time in October for me it is far better than any of the SFO, LAS, LAX combinations. https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1105477

I am not a massive city person we stayed one night in Denver and then drove to our favorite place in the world Estes park we stayed at the Historic Crags Lodge which is one my favorite hotels ever, Estes Park is the entrance to the rocky Mountain national Park. Eating out the Egg and I is my wifes fave and mine is Blazing Daves BBQ these are both excellent and not expensive.
diamondresortsandhotels... ic-crags-lodge

For Denver and Estes Park you will most likey need a jacket of jumper at night depending on the time of year also be aware that you need to acclimatise a little as you at like 2000m or something and you do notice it at first. As well as the beauty of the place the STanley Hotel of Stephen Kings Shining is well worth a visit. We have not been in August but apparently Estes Park gets busy now in the high season.

I would visit the hot springs but unless you want to do the canyon cable car there is nothing to keep you here.

We have stayed in Moab but to have more time in Vegas we stayed in Blanding. Blanding is not a nice town its OK overnight but that's it limited dining choices and just feels rundown and grim though not unsafe. If you stay in Moab both Canyonlands and Arches national parks are easy to get to.

The view in Monument Valley is a must again you don't need a huge amount of time here arrive in the afternoon leave the next morning see sunset and sunrise food is OK but little other than the natural beauty here but this for me was the highlight and we will stay here next time. monumentvalleyview/

After Monument Valley you really have two choices Grand Canyon or Zion and Bryce Canyon all NP's. We chose Grand Canyon again this time and stayed in one of the NPS owned hotels you need to book as soon as available most you can cancel. If you have not been before then if you can get in Bright Angel Lodge has great little cabins but you can hear a pin drop in the adjoining room IMHO El Tovar is not worth the money, I would like to stay at Thunderbird but cant justify the cost we stayed at Maswik and loved it. Arrive lunchtime ish and leave after breakfast you will see sunset and sunrise and IMHO that is enough you are just looking at the same again and again. This site is managed on behalf of the NPS and is the only place you can book directly in the Park if you book though a consolidator they will book using this grandcanyonlodges/

Assuming you are going to drive to Las Vegas from here if you cant make it one hit stop overnight in Laughlin its nothing special just a small casino town but you get good cheap rooms and food. We did it one hit this year but the drive GC - LAS is boring as hell !

Its 10 years since we went the other route I remember that Zion was very busy and we could not actually stop as we could not park anywhere this was in September. We stayed in Mesquite which was as cheap as chips but other than the casinos nothing there.

Drive to Vegas and I will assume you will be coming from GC there really is very little makes sure you fill up at GC we stopped just outside Vegas and was recommended the Grand Canyon Caverns we did not have time but others say its great gccaverns/

You can see the Hoover Dam on the way and get a cheap buffet at the Railroad Pass hotel and casino, we didn't this time.

Wont talk about Las Vegas there is enough on this site

We drove from Vegas to Anaheim late breakfast enroute at Luxor then drove I think to Barstow where we got some drinks and McDonalds two night and Disney drove the last morning to LAX and flew hme we did this in 12 nights last time we had three weeks preferred three weeks

[Abbi_x]

Thank you everyone!

Your replies are so informative and have given me so much to go on when looking at our options! Seriously looking forward to planning it all out... I’ll update with plans when they’re finalised.

Thanks again