Dreaming about hiking this summer/fall (U.S.)

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jcisthelight

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It’s been icy where I’m at, so hiking has been tough. I can’t wait to get back in it!

And with vaccines becoming more available, I’m planning a big trip with my BFF out west. Maybe a 4-5 day trip. I’d love to fly into one city (Salt Lake City?), rent an SUV, and hit up a different town/trail each day. Ideally: wake up, find a trail, hike a good 5 miles, get back in vehicle, drive to a new town, check into hotel (for one night) and have an awesome meal with a few beers before passing out and doing it all over again. Ok if along the way we find a semi-bougie town that has some fun things to do (shop, massage, etc.) to break up the trip.

Long shot, but has anyone done a similar trip? I’d post in a hiking subreddit, but usually people are a little too serious on those and look down on people not “toughing it out” by camping.
 
@jcisthelight I just did a 2 month national park trip, camped a few times but also did very bougie hotel stays, and very cheap motel stays. If you’re in Utah I suggest Lake Blanche hike!!!
 
@jcisthelight I’ve done a few similar trips in the USA, Canada and NZ and will be doing a similar one in Australia this year.

It’s definitely my ideal way of doing a multi day hiking trip!
 
@jcisthelight I wouldn't go in peak summer, but I did a week looping around Utah national parks one May and it was awesome! We hit up Zion, Byrce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches. We camped the whole way, but Moab (near Arches/Canyonlands) or Springdale (Zion) would be a nice towns to do the more shopping/spa thing. It's such a beautiful state. Your only regret would be not having more time to spend in each park.
 
@jcisthelight My husband and I did a 12 day road trip like this, it was great. We also mixed a few camping nights and what I can only think to describe as "offbeat" lodging - one night in a sheep wagon, another at an elementary school turned hotel/restaurant - and some Airbnbs. We did Glacier, then south into Idaho (hidden gem), and southern Montana. I think Glacier to Boise would be doable. There are a lot of hikes in the national forests between the two.
 
@jcisthelight There’s a lot of really good suggestions here already! If you’re open to flying in and out of different airports, I did a route on a road trip a few years ago that might be fun. You could fly into Jackson Hole and spend a couple days exploring the Tetons. This park is very car-friendly and the main spots are easy to drive up to and then you can do day hikes. I might be tempted to backtrack a little bit east to hike around Squaretop Mountain, it’s so unique! Plus then you’ll see the giant Jackelope in Dubois, lol.

From there you can head north to Yellowstone. Once again, a lot of this park is very vehicle-friendly. I hit most of the high points in a day with my car, but there’s definitely options for longer day hikes.

After that, head into MT. This was a long day for me, I think I drove all the way to Missoula. I chose to stop there because it’s a college town and has kind of a fun vibe, but Bozeman and Butte would work too. From there, I drove to Flathead Lake (it’s so beautiful) before driving through Glacier National park- once again, a great park to drive through! Going-to-the-Sun road is a feat of engineering and very scenic, although it’s often closed until late in the summer because of snow.

After that, you could circle back south on the East side of the park and fly out of Great Falls.
 
@jcisthelight A few years ago my SO and I did a similar trip in PNW. Started in Portland and hiked Multnomah Falls, then drove up the Oregon coast (some beautiful hikes with incredible views, also Cannon Beach and Astoria), stayed in Seattle a few days, hiked in Olympic NP and North Cascades NP (stayed in Airbnbs/small inns close to the parks) and then ferried to Victoria BC before heading to Vancouver. We went in July and the weather was perfect, although there was still snow on some high elevation trails. We went for two weeks but spent about 5 full days in cities so you could definitely see and do a lot of hiking in less than a week. Highly recommend! It was definitely one of my favorite trips and would love to go back and explore the area some more.
 
@jcisthelight We went out to Bend, Oregon for the eclipse a few years ago and turned it into a longer vacation -- so many pretty trails, and a fun town with lots of nice restaurants and shops. (Several of the trails we'd planned to hit were closed due to forest fires, but the ones we did instead were nice too.) Crater Lake would be a good stop south of there. (We rented an SUV and bikes and had a week rental in Bend and just drove to trails in different directions because one thing we hate about the tour-style vacations is re-packing every day, but if you don't mind that your plan sounds awesome.)
 
@jcisthelight I know you said US, but you could fly to Calgary Alberta and easily do your plan in the Canadian Rockies. I live in Calgary and there are amazing hikes of all lengths and difficulties within a 3 hour drive from my house. If you sayed in Banff you would cut off an hour driving time to the trailheads. Then head to Jasper and do it all again.
 
@jcisthelight I cannot recommend Zion and Arches enough. I am not a tough it out hiker but I still prefer national parks. I am a water child so the Narrows was possibly my favorite experience ever. It's really busy at first but the crowd thins out the further you go. My husband and I are fans of flying into Vegas, hitting national parks then going back to Vegas for typical eating/drinking for 2 days. That's covid dependent though.
 
@jcisthelight My husband and I did a holiday like this a few years ago and it was amazing. I can't help you on details but we had a great time. We road tripped to one location with a bunch of good day hikes, stayed a few nights and hiked and ate everyday. Then we drove to another location with some good hikes and did the same. And repeat. On the travel days we did some sightseeing too. (Specifically we went to Hall's Gap in Victoria and hiked in the Grampians, Apollo Bay in Victoria and hiked in the Otways, and then to Mount Gambier in South Australia and did some walks there).
 
@jcisthelight We did this about 2 months ago in the middle of our summer and it was great. My only tip is: don’t go in wet season if you choose somewhere even mildly tropical. I think I’m only just drying out properly now. We have never seen so much rain in our lives.
 
@jcisthelight Ok if you’re looking at Utah, you’ve got Zion, Grand Staircase Escalante, Capitol Reef, Bryce, and Vermillion Cliffs all in one area and Arches, Canyonland, and Dead Horse Point all in another area.

If you do Vermillion Cliffs, highly recommend trying to get a permit to hike the wave, but if you can’t get it Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch is a bomb ass slot canyon. I couldn’t get a permit for the wave but wasn’t entirely disappointed bc I this hike was amazing. I recommend a highish clearance vehicle to get to the trailhead, with 4 wheel drive if it’s rained recently.

If you do Arches, just north of there is Dinosaur Megasteps Trail which was completely empty the time I went, and you can literally stand on top of old Dino prints!!!! I’d download the map ahead of time though bc the cairns were a bit hard to spot at times.

I would also recommend if you can, staying at Airbnbs rather than hotels. It’s cheaper plus having a kitchen is so nice and the locals you rent from always have great recommendations.
 
@jcisthelight I did this all the time pre-Covid. Except I didn't drive in between places, I hiked.

I'd take a train out to a village somewhere, get on a trail, hike to the next town, stay overnight at a bnb, then repeat the next day or couple of days. Then train back home. Of course this is in the UK where things are a little closer together! In 2019 my friend and I did 4 days on the Southwest Coast Path (630 miles total length), and made a promise to do a bit of it every year until we are finished. It will take us about 17 years but we're going to do it!

I looooooove hiking but camping is meh. There's great things about it, but there's also great things about a hot shower and sleeping in a soft bed after a full day of traipsing about the wilderness. I have no shame about that.
 
@sitakele The SWCP trip that I mentioned was definitely top! We took a train from London to St. Austell that arrived late morning. We hiked St. Austell - Fowey - Looe - Millbrook - Plymouth, and from Plymouth took the train home. Last year we were supposed to start at the actual beginning going the other way, and go Poole - Worth Matravers - Lulworth - Weymouth - Isle of Portland, but that got cancelled. :(

We were only hiking about 20km/12 miles a day, which isn't much for a full day, but the trail is very hilly, and we wanted to give ourselves lots of time to stop at beaches, pubs, and really enjoy ourselves and not rush.

I use an app called Viewranger that also has a desktop version for planning. Support has been discontinued but it's still the perfect tool. First I look up a trail that looks interesting, then divide it up into reasonable sections per day, and then look for accommodations at the beginning/end of each section. If there aren't any available, I might adjust the section to stop earlier or later, or switch dates. It's a lot of back-and-forth to plan it but I really enjoy the process.
 
@jcisthelight There are so many destinations that work with your concept, but you have to be really smart about planning.

I'd look into the following towns as starting points:

- Seattle. You're a few hours from Mt Rainier, and with some extra time, you can explore North Cascades or Olympic NP, both of which have small towns, but not really bougie ones.

- Portland. Tons of amazing areas, including Columbia River Gorge, the coast, and Wilamette Valley for wine country afterwards.

- Las Vegas if you're not traveling July-August. Vegas is a day's drive to no less than 8 national parks, including Zion, Death Valley and the Grand Canyon. And there's even world-class hiking within 30 minutes of the airport. Also home to amazing spas and dining options, and right now, it's hella cheap.

- Phoenix, again if you're not travelling in summer. Phoenix is closer to the Grand Canyon than Vegas, and also is close to the vortexes of Sedona, a great bougie spa town.
 
@jcisthelight That’s essentially what my SO and I are doing next week! Flying into Phoenix, renting an SUV, and flying out of Las Vegas. Planning for Sedona, Grand Canyon, Zion at least. Currently thinking about planning to do massages or winery tours in Sedona as well. (We are fully vaccinated healthcare workers). I’ll try to update this reply with what we end up doing exactly!
 
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