Road Trip to US Southwest- Arizona, New Mexico, UT, CO

Hi Everyone!

My boyfriend and I are doing a 2.5-3 week road trip across the Southwest USA. We will be starting in San Francisco,CA and then hitting Joshua Tree, Sedona/ Flagstaff, Santa Fe/Taos, Boulder/ CO, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and possibly St. George (Mt. Zion).

Does anyone live in these areas or know them well? Any and all suggestion are welcome.

Our goal is to do mostly free camping (car camping) and day hikes for the trip.

We've never done such a long trip before and any suggestions on the below would be awesome:

-Free camping spots you recommend especially near Sedona/ Flagstaff; Arches, Bryce Canyon and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

-Cheap but tasty eats in the area

-Places we should visit that aren't "main attractions"

-Tours that are worth the money

-Any scenic roads or routes that we shouldn't miss?

-General tips for a road trip this freakin' long. LOL



Thanks!

Drive slow in Arizona. Some of those roads are on windy cliffs.

Posted by pinkbird03
Drive slow in Arizona. Some of those roads are on windy cliffs.

Also lots of cops looking to give tickets to drivers in cars with California license plates.

@Nightcap2

We are leaving on 9/16 will be gone until early October

Colorado is the part I'm least familiar with. My bf just decided he wanted to go (I suspect its for the weed lol).

My first thought was Boulder because I have a fried there but any places to visit are super welcome. It's a gorgeous state for what I've seen (been to Boulder and Durango).

I will look up Carlsbad Carven maybe we can day trip it from Santa Fe.

So excited for Taos, we will be there the longest. Deciding between an earth Dome house and a cabin on a goji farm as our accomdations. 😄

Posted by rabidtalker

Posted by pinkbird03
Drive slow in Arizona. Some of those roads are on windy cliffs.

Also lots of cops looking to give tickets to drivers in cars with California license plates.

click to expand

Uh oh! Someone said we should avoid going too near the border also.

Thank you for the info.

Are either of you familiar with the Sedona/ Flagstaff area?

Posted by Loladoll

Posted by rabidtalker

Posted by pinkbird03
Drive slow in Arizona. Some of those roads are on windy cliffs.

Also lots of cops looking to give tickets to drivers in cars with California license plates.

Uh oh! Someone said we should avoid going too near the border also.

Thank you for the info.

Are either of you familiar with the Sedona/ Flagstaff area?

click to expand

Sedona/flagstaff are nowhere near the border so you will be OK. Sedona is great for "vortexes" and red rocks, lots of scenic stuff. You pretty much can do nothing wrong if you see anything at all. Take lots of sideroads off the interstate to see some really beautiful stuff, I think Fodors has scenic drives listed near sedona that are breathtaking.

Flagstaff is just a stopover until the grand canyon, nothing special there, it's just a college town otherwise. I like to eat/drink at Beaver Street Brewery:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/beaver-street-brewery-and-whistle-stop-cafe-flagstaff

@Koniucha