Southwest Trip, Help Needed!

I%26#39;m trying to plan a trip for this summer, and I need help with our itinerary. We would be leaving in the beggining of July, are have 14-18 days. I was thinking of flying in El Paso, Texas, and out of Jackson Hole, WY. We would be coming from New York, with kids ages 11 and 16. I need advise on which roads to take, and where to stay.

The Places where we would like to see are:

1)El Paso, and possibly Ciudad Juarez

2)Carlsbad Caverns National Park

3)White Sands National Monument

4)Albuquerque and Santa Fe

5)Durango, Mesa Verde, and possibly Telluride

6)Moab and the national parks aroud there

7)Salt lake city

8)Yellowstone

9)Flying out of Jackson hole

-we have 4 free trips with American Airlines, so we can fly into, and out of whatever city we want.

-Is it worth the extra driving fling into El Paso, or should we just start the trip from Alququerque and then head straight to Santa Fe.

Southwest Trip, Help Needed!

i%26#39;m not a huge fan of the el paso/juarez area but that%26#39;s just me. you could cut 350 miles off the trip by flying into albuquerque area. you are going to see some beautiful country from there to jackson. my problem would be trying to figure out whether to go through utah or colorado. both would be great drives. the drive from el paso to sante fe wouldn%26#39;t be that scenic i don%26#39;t think (although i%26#39;ve never made the drive). sounds like you have a great trip planned.

Southwest Trip, Help Needed!

We have made this in two separate trips- Carlsbad, Grand Canyon, etc. in one trip and Yellowstone, GT, etc. in another. In fact we are going back to YNP this summer because you cannot see it all in one trip.

And we did the Colorado, Salt Lake City and RMNP trip in another visit.

My immediate reaction is you are trying to do and see too much. You are also behind in your planning for Yellowstone -- you need to finalize these plans pronto and try to get decent and convenient accommodations. You don%26#39;t say when this summer, but most in-Yellowstone accommodations are completely sold out. Keep trying to get lodging in Yellowstone – there are cancellations, the best way to find them is to keep calling back, don’t rely on the Xanterra website.

For what it%26#39;s worth, here are my thoughts:

1) El Paso and Juarez. I am also not a fan of El Paso and Juarez is certainly not somewhere I would take a family.

2) My suggestion would be to fly into Albuquerque and stay in Sante Fe the first night. Something you need to remember is the roads to Durango, through Colorado mountains and southern Utah are not interstates. Often you will be on two-lane roads and winding mountain roads. This will be slower driving than you would think from a map program. This is beautiful country and you want to be able to enjoy the journey, not dragging from spot to spot.

3) Plan to spend at least 7 days in the Yellowstone area, plan a night in Cody to visit the museums and nite rodeo and stay in Jackson Hole at least a night (but I would guess your family would be happier with 2). Try to spend a night in the Tetons, if possible. Things to look into for your family: float trip, chuckwagon dinner, horseback riding, kayak tour on Yellowstone lake.

4) When driving from Salt Lake to Yellowstone, drive up through Wyoming instead of Idaho – it’s much more scenic. Plus you get to stop and pick up some Star Valley cheese.

Hope this helps – it sounds like a wonderful family vacation.

The only reason I can see for flying into El Paso would be to see Carlsbad Caverns. It is something I have been wanting to do for awhile. We made the drive from Albuquerque to El Paso when I was a teenager and I remember it as being very long, and boring, empty desert landscape, worse than the trips across Nevada. So I can%26#39;t tell you whether Carlsbad Caverns would be worth that long of a drive but I expect it is time spent driving that could be better spent in the other parks.

Hi skimountains123,

1.I also am not a fan of El Paso.

2. Calsbad Driving out of El Paso on US-62 you drive by Guadalupe Mountains National Park. You will see Guadalupe Peak long before you get there.

I really enjoyed Calsbad, but I am a cave person. We drove from El Paso, stopped at Guadalupe and went thru Carlsbad in one day we stayed the night in Calsbad,NM.

3.White Sands, have not been there

4.Santa Fe is a great area. It has been 20 years, so I do not remember much.

5.Durango, take the train to Silverton, but take the bus back.

Mesa Verde, The cliff dwellings were amazing. There is one you can walk thru.

6.Moab I have not been to Utahs eastern parks,yet.

7.Salt Lake City I would go stright to Yellowstone.

8.Yellowstone I would spend a mimimum of 3 days here. More if you can. It may be too late for lodging in the park, but I would call. There is always cancelations. 866-439-7375. If not I would try West Yellowstone, MT.

9.Jackson Hole Give your self a day to visit the Grand Tetons.

Remember, you will be doing a great deal of driving. Build in days where you will not be in the car all of the time.

Enjoy your trip!

I posted to your Durango CO post, so check there.

I agree, fly into Albuquerque.

Also you will need to get your lodging for Yellowstone and Teton quickly, as mentioned before, most places inside YS are already sold out. Visit www.travelyellowstone.com and also call them directly to check for any additional rooms. Just recently rooms were opened up at Old Faithful Inn.

I would plan on no more than 4 hours of travel per day. This will allow you to enjoy the scenery, not have cranky kids, and also the high altitude of the west can make you tired.

Visit www.nps.gov for each park to get ideas on activites, recreation and other tips/info.

Enjoy.

I agree, sounds like a fly-by.

Moab and the S. Utah parks? I%26#39;d strongly suggest at least 3 days. Though fairly close to each other, they are very different and each deserves its own time.

YNP? At least 2 full days, preferably 3.

I hope you realize that the SW part of your trip will be very hot. Very hot. Dry, but very hot. So much so that, given your travel schedule in July, I%26#39;d suggest reconsideration and possibly places like Jasper, Banff, Glacier/Waterton, YNP and Tetons.

Thanks everyone for all the advise. You are all right, going to El Paso is too much.

-which trip do you all think would be better...

1) The Current trip, but flying into Albuquerque

OR

2)Flying into Jackson, and going to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Calgary, Banff, and Jasper

- with this trip would it be better flying out of Calgary, or Edonton? What about also going to Waterton Lakes National Park, considering it is not much out of the way

-Can you rent a car in the U.S, and return it in Canada?

In terms of weather and that you have two kids I would take the Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons, Cody, Wyoming, Yellowstone NP and Glacier. The kids would love the raft trips, horseback riding and neat things to do and of course the wildlife and scenery. You might even think about Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore if you do not want to go up to Canada. Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are my kids favorite places.