Driving across North America!
 

Hiyo!

It's long been on my bucket list that I just have to do a drive across North America and hit up some of the best roads and vistas in all of the USA and Canada (sorry no Mexico at the moment).

I would greatly appreciate it if you guys could throw in some of your best suggested areas to drive through in your respective areas and some good places to eat, see or stay.

Right now my VERY PRELIMINARY itinerary looks like this:

TIME FRAME: 4-6 weeks.

ROUTE:
Since I am in Toronto, I plan on heading East first to Montreal, Quebec City and then Halifax and finally Sydney, Nova Scotia. This would be as East as I can get and the straight drive alone is roughly 22-24 hours non stop. Throwing in stops this would mean it would pretty much be a 3 day trip just to get there with minimal stopping.

From there, I would cut south down into the US in the following manner:

Boston (LOVE this city - been here twice)
Providence
NYC (been here multiple times)
Philly
Baltimore (been here three times)
Washington (have a friend who lives here)
Charlotte
Atlanta

And here's where it becomes UGH for choosing: do I swing south into Florida?

Tallahassee (never been but I love the name lol)
New Orleans (LOVE this city - been here once for extended stay)
Houston
Dallas

And here's another gap in my info... New Mexico??? I have no idea whats there. Or do I cut up into Kansas?

Denver (PIKE'S PEAK!!!) is definitely on my list.
Las Vegas
Los Angeles (might want to be careful here)
San Francisco
Sacramento
Salem (just for the namesake!)
Portland
Seattle

And back into Canada to Vancouver!

From there, head back East homebound:

Kamloops
Banff
Calgary

And here's another pause... I hear middle of Canadia is boring so would I want to cut south into Montana?

Ideas, suggestions and routes are always appreciated!

Cheers.

Assuming you have like 10k just saved up lying around to finance this trip (gas alone would cost a grand or 2 easy lol), then it would be by far the most epic drive I've seen undertaken, definitely bucket list worthy

If I could I do this I'd hit these cities in exactly this order

East Coast:
Boston
NYC
Phili
Baltimore
DC

South: (assuming you don't do the Floridan peninsula)
Charlotte
Atlanta
Tallahassee
New Orleans

Midwest:
Houston
Dallas/Ft. Worth
Phoenix
Vegas

West Coast:
San Diego
L.A.
San Fran
Portland
Seattle

(it helps that the route takes you through geographic wonders like The Rockies, Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Redwoods etc..) I'd include places like Chi-Town, Denver, Pittsburg or Miami but all take you hundreds of miles out the way from the "directional chain of command"

How long are you planning to take for this road trip?

I did a road trip from Rochester (3 hours from Toronto) down south to Florida and then west to LA/San Diego as my final destination.

Unless you have more than enough time, I would skip Florida to allocate my time to the rest of the cities.

From Dallas to Denver, there's no good route. You can go West to Amarillo, then cut up to Denver, or go north to Kansas. Both are boring with absolutely nothing of note to see.

Of the two, I'd rate the drive north to Kansas slightly higher. It's the lesser of 2 evils though. And that way you at least get to hit 2 more states.

There are decent places in New Mexico, but they are in the North and Northwest side of the state, which you really can't get to without going way out of your way. I suppose you could go Amarillo to Santa Fe, NM and then north. That would put you in the realm of the Raton Pass, so it's likely a nice route, but I've never tried it to speak for it.

This is the route that I would take from Dallas to Las Vegas (attached image). There are some possible changes aside from the Amarillo option I mentioned above.

From Colorado Springs (Pike's Peak) you can head straight west towards Pike's Peak, to Salina, and ultimately to Durango -- the single best bit of driving road I've come across in the country (and I've been everywhere). Or, if you're dead-set on Denver, you can go to Pike's peak on the way through Colorado Springs, then continue on to Denver and then head back south on the route shown. This will add a solid 4+hrs on to your trip with some back-tracking, but gets you to Denver. The plus side is that the route I've drawn has you heading out of Denver through the Breckenridge area, which is gorgeous.

From Durango, I've got you heading north through Arches National Park (beautiful) on the way to Provo (but not quite getting there). And from there taking the interstate to Vegas and to Hoover Dam (adds a couple hours, but worth seeing once).

Alternately, there are 2 other routes you can take from Durango. You can head further south, catch the interstate at Gallup and continue through Flagstaff and cross Hoover Dam into Las Vegas more directly. Or -- and I haven't done this route, but it looks like good fun on the map -- is heading directly west from Durango on state highways 160 and 89 running right along the border of Arizona and Utah until you hit I-15 at St George -- this has the additional 'plus' of putting you into New Mexico "officially" by, literally, just a couple miles as it barely nicks the northwest corner of the state.



Well, they're both very, VERY boring. Eastern Montana across North Dakota is no better than crossing Canada. I'd say it's even worse actually. Straight south from Calgary puts you just missing anything worth seeing in the US Pacific Northwest. You come into either Great Falls or Havre, MT which are the cusp of the boringness.

If you're willing to add an extra day or two onto your trip, find a way to backtrack a bit from Calgary in a southwesterly direction. Even as far west as Sandpoint, ID if you can. The head east from there through Kalispell and across the Glacier National Park before you get into the boring stretch on eastward from Great Falls.

Of course once you venture that far south into Montana then you're hard pressed to not justify a trip to hit Yellowstone National Park. Some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. But it's a solid day getting there and worth a day or two visiting on its own. So it is a fairly lengthy detour. It's justification for its own trip in the future if nothing else, so you can hit it some other time.

Thanks for the info!

As for people asking about a time frame, I am again, VERY ROUGHLY, estimating at least 4-6 weeks to enjoyably do this? Remember, this isn't a marathon and I do want some lovely drives and things to take to the grave with a smile.

I am contemplating crossing some of the wheatfields of Manitoba - there was a beautiful short story I've read about the middle of Canada and I wouldn't mind some peace and quite... or not. Again, just trying to put dots on the map to get a rough plot.

This won't be happening for at least 2 years but I want to get a head start planning this and lining up maybe a few sponsors here and there.

I plan to do something similar in a year, as I live in AZ & my family lives in VA, so I travel back once a year to see them. Normally I fly, but I want to go across in my brz.

Grand tour United States.

I'll need some good all seasons first.

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All told, you're looking at something like a 10,000-mile trip directly, and probably 12,000-mile once you put some detours in there.

In my experience on road-trips -- I used to do them for fun very often, now I just spend a lot of time on the road for business -- you do about 400-miles a day on average when you're traveling for fun; plus or minus 100 miles depending on how much you want to stop. Some days you get 1000 miles in. Other days you get 0.

So, that said, in my opinion, you're looking at a 40-ish day trip as I would think for all the trouble, you'd go on the low-end of the daily mileage so as not to rush it. So I'd bet on 6 weeks to do it right. You certainly could knock it out in 4 weeks, but you'd really have to cut out almost all your 'stop and sightsee' moments. To do it in 4 weeks, you'd have to do every route as directly as possible with only a few instances of actually stopping and spending some time at the locations.

Get yourself a job in the meantime where you travel and can rack up your own personal hotel 'points'. I can stay for months and months in several hotel chains with the points that I've racked up over the years of business travel all-week, every-week. That'll knock off a few grand off your expenses. Or get used to sleeping in your car every other night will save you a couple grand. Or staying in dumps... but I'd just rough it in the car every night and stay someplace decent/clean every other night (plus a lot of the best roads don't have good places to stay anyways, so sleeping in your car is just convenient).

I'd figure on $120/day in expenses. $50 for gas (~13gal/day), $40 for hotel, and $30 to eat. You could probably cut that down to $100/day i.f you weren't picky on the hotel, careful with the gas, and ate cheaply. So that's some $4,500 in expenses. Plus all that memento stuff you'll buy along the way will undoubtedly add up. Also figure a depreciation on the car for the mileage of about $1,000.

Holy crap imagine how much mileage you are going to put on the car by the end of your trip. Good luck, I envy you for being able to do that!

you come through charlotte, you gotta hit us up. there's a decent amount of us here.

Also, Blue Ridge Parkway

If you are starting in Sydney then you better be going around the Cabot trail! Just thinking about it now makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, and ive probably been around there 100 times. If the timing works out I will definitely meet you there and I'm sure others would too.

http://www.paradisefoundbb.com/cabottrail1.jpg

Ill just leave this here...

Already work :)

I travel for work and I've been a Holiday Inn Platinum member ... forever lol. Also a reason why I downgraded (I don't see it that way) from an IS300 to the Echo Hatch I drive now. The money they give me for mileage goes more into my pocket than the car.

I've been racking up points lately and not trying to spend any - maybe they might want to sponsor me. Doesn't hurt to ask especially given my standing with them.

As for Cabot Trail... OMG! OMG! OMG!

THANK YOU! This is why I ask others for advice!

Very ambitious campaign.
So much of the center is unapealing, you may want to consider splitting this into two separate trips.
One for the east and one for the west.
I've been contemplating a run up the Mississippi for years, but have not generated enough tuits to cross the great plains.

There have been statistical studies performed definitively proving (suitably scaled) that Kansas is much flatter than any pancake can ever hope to be.

The eastern parts of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado are equally plain.
Raton Pass between CO and NM goes way up then way down, but it's just another freeway at the end of the day.

I'll throw this suggestion out there and others may disagree... I suggest heading directly east after hitting Charlotte so you can go through the Smokey Mountains into Tennessee. There are some fun mountain roads (NOT the dragons tail/Cherohala skyway, unless you want a slow scenery drive) that can break up the highway miles. I mean, if you want to go to FL go for it, but if you're wanting to enjoy the drive cutting over into TN and then continuing south to ATL or your other more Southern locations.

Those mountain roads are what this car was made to enjoy!

Definitely hit up the Cabot trail if you plan on starting the trip in Cape Breton. Also, if you have time, drive Hillside Road along the Mira River. It was recently completely repaved and has some steeply banked sharp curves that would make most civil engineers shudder.


I'm from Sydney myself and I cannot wait for the spring so I can make a trip home and do the trail with the BRZ. I had the chance to drive portions of it a couple of times in the summer with work and it was an absolute blast in my Accord. The scenery there is second to none. Tons of fun at legal speeds.


Also, when you get to Cape Breton, take the old Route 4, NOT the 104 to Sydney. They're just finishing a complete replacement of that route now, and although it bypasses Kelly's Mountain it is a much more exciting drive with plenty of curves. It's also about a half hour shorter than the 104 and burns less gas to boot!

I'd rather go through NM and see the breaking bad settings in Albuquerque and hit up the grand canyon in Nev. and Sedona among other places in Arizona, then to Cali. If you're going through Houston you might as well stop by San Antonio since they have most of the historical sights, Houston just has good food. If you're a foodie like me then don't cheap out on food. Look up must eat places and eat while you're there cause you don't know when you'll be back. I plan on doing a trip similar to this but split into two separate trips so i won't get burned out. GL!

Cabot trail is a must as others have said. I have done the trip myself with the GF (across N/A and back a year and a half ago) and it was a great trip. We did a lot of camping and the grand total was 2500 or so. Spent roughly 1500 in gas and it took a little over a month.

I went up over the great lakes on the westward half, and came back through the northern states on the way back. ABSOLUTELY do the cabot trail, and drive through the rockies when you're out west. Highlights of my trip.

When you do go to sydney, make a post in the "Canada" forum to let people know. The last time I did the Cabot a guy from here on the forum from Montreal came along for the trip. It was a good time and I would absolutely be up for it again.

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions guys!

I think I might break this trip down into two parts based on all the stuff people have posted. Eastern Canada and USA are just way too jam packed for me to skip anything (so is western but I have double back for central then west).

So far I think it will break down to three trips:

1- East seaboard
2- Central / southern USA
3- West

I will definitely post in the forums when I do start my trip.

Keep posting up great areas to go to and I'll pop you a PM when I need more explicit details!

Cheers.

I can't comment on the best routes outside the east coast, but for an epic journey, if you can miss Baltimore/Washington, you could easily fit in the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). Even if going to Washington, it might be worth heading west from there to pick up the BRP. It is, IMO, the best 460 miles on the east coast. Not super fast and curvy, but sections of it have some bends and the lower sections typically don't have too many slow pokes (especially during the week).

The BRP dumps you into the Smokey Mountains.
I agree with this. The Tail of the Dragon is a nice thing to check off the list and the Cherohala Skyway is beautiful but there are LOTS of roads in that area.

I'm not sure how to tell you to fit that into your itinerary, but BRP and Smokey Mtns are places I love to visit. And, for what it's worth (and not to diss the Florida members), but I personally would skip Florida all together.

Edit - Sorry I missed your post above. Sticking to the coast probably eliminates the possibility of doing the BRP.

Stop in Nashville, sleep on our couch, we will have fun!

If you do stay with bestwheelbase be sure to visit Puckett's Grocery for some good southern eats! Love that place!

http://www.puckettsgrocery.com/

What an epic trip! I too have this on my bucket list, but probably will have to wait until I retire (all the time in the world) and have the means to do it (cushy RV, minimal responsibilities, enough funds, etc.)

For the mean time, my wife, dog and I have done a couple of road trips over the years, here are our favorites so far:

Washington
-Space needle area, Seattle
-Olympic National park
-Boeing Museum

Oregon
-Oregon coastline on 101, lots of stops (personal favorite, devil's punch bowl)
-Tillamook Cheese Factory
-explore city of Portland
-Drive through Hwy 14 along the Columbia river
-Oregon Dunes

California
-Yosemite National Park
-Samoa Cookhouse (best breakfast, Eureka along Hwy 1)

Utah
-Mormon temple (Salt lake city)
-Bonneville salt flats
-Arches National Park (Moab, off-roading heaven)
-Zion National Park

Nevada
-AlienInn (along the loneliest road in the US 50)

Arches national park in Moab UT is beautiful, I drove my FR-S there. Also Mesa Verde in Colorado is amazing! Both are national parks, and mesa Verde is a world heritage site. Theses places are stunningly picturesque! Highly recommended!


Also, crater lake in Oregon is awesome! Only the road is not open all year. Checking conditions is recommended... Have fun!

Mesa Verde and Pikes peak are on the list for the next road trip, so is Yellowstone in WY. I can't believe I forgot about Crater Lake! That place is amazing.

Coming from someone who truly does love Philly, you can save yourself a day or 2 and just skip it. There are plenty of other places you mentioned that an extra day would be much better spent there then Philly. Unless you're a history buff of course.

I took my BRZ to Moab Canyonlands road last summer

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=231

Hmm pick up some cheap FT86 parts and visit @ft86SpeedFactory along the way

Sounds nice.. Just a couple of suggestions via my own bias and experiences..
Skip Dallas.. Lol.. Not much to see that's scenic, charlotte is nice with lots of nice mountain roads not far away.. Beautiful time of year for the high country and those switchback roads thru NC and TN.
New Mexico is great for driving.. Other than the altitude power robbing.. The drive up to the sandia mtns is awesome as well as the other nearby mountains. Check out Los alamos too via the jemez mountains.. Beautiful scenery and nice roads..

Stay away from Atlanta. If your truly in this for scenic and not planning to hit Florida. Come into ga from the north, drive around the mountains then head on over to a different state anywhere below blue ridge/ellijay. Downtown Atlanta is nothing to see, unless your wanting to go see a play at the fox, or our super small aquarium. South of Atlanta is just a bunch of flat open land. The mountains though...that's where it's beautiful and fun drives. Best way I can suggest, come down, hit the tail of the dragon/deals gap. Follow 129(same road as TOD/DG is on) down into the top part of blue ridge/elijay and cruise around there for a few minutes.

You could hit dahlonaga if your into history. Or Helen if you like good scenery.

But seriously, I don't know why anyone visits Atlanta. It's absulutely horrible. And that's coming from someone who lives 15 minutes from it and works in it every day

Don't skip Arizona either. The run up to Prescott on white spar road & the 89A route up to Jerome & on to Sedona & then Flagstaff is simply gorgeous mountain driving. Not to mention that Prescott, Sedona, & Flagstaff have very nice weather in the summer, not the miserable heat we Phoenix folks put up with.

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