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

@jcisthelight I love this idea! In my opinion Utah is best experienced in the Spring or Fall since it can get REALLY hot in the summer. I would highly recommend checking out Idaho that time of year. It's a little less crowded than popular hiking spots in Colorado, but just as gorgeous.

If I was planning this trip here's what I'd do:

My suggestion would be to fly into Boise and do a short hike there on the day you arrive, then head down to Stanley. There are a TON of really incredible hikes in the Sawtooth Mountains in that area, it's truly breathtaking. Depending on the length of your trip I would suggest doing multiple nights in the Stanley area since there's so much to see, and you could also have a more chill day at Redfish lake and rent paddleboards or something.

From Stanley, I would head to Sun Valley. It's a fancy resort town with a ton to do, it would be a great place to splurge on a massage or something along those lines. You could hike up Baldy (the ski mountain) or head back up into the sawtooths for more hiking since it's not that far.

Once you're done in Sun Valley you could head out to Craters of the Moon which is pretty cool, although it will also be uncomfortably hot that time of year and honestly that part of the state isn't as scenic to drive through. You could also just loop back to Boise and either do more stuff in Boise or catch your flight home.

I LOVE Idaho and I had a lot of fun writing this out, feel free to DM me for specific suggestions if you actually end up doing any of this.
 
@sosoxxomar Not OP, but I'm intrigued by what you're saying. I've never thought of Idaho when thinking of nature and hiking. Have you done any backpacking there? Any good, longer trails you'd recommend for this?
 
@kirankumar If I could only backpack one trail in Idaho it would be the Alice-Toxaway Loop in the Sawtooths, it’s an 18 mile loop that’s best done in 3 days. Lots of longer options too though! What’s your ideal length of trail?
 
@sosoxxomar If I were going all the way out there, I'd probably try for a trail that would take 4-7 days. So maybe 40-60 miles? Could be an out and back if shuttle services aren't really a thing. I know long trails like that can be sometimes hard to come by, so maybe I'd just have to do two different trails.
 
@jcisthelight If you identify a driving route based on towns you think you'd stay in, I recommend using AllTrails.com (or the app) to look at what the good hikes are around a particular area. E.g., if you google "best trails near salt lake city ut", you'll see All Trails as a top hit. Just a tip that could be helpful in getting the most bang for your buck if you'll be on the move each day.
 
@jcisthelight We did this years ago - flew to Denver, rented a car, and drove west for 10 days. We’d stop at a National Park for a few days, have a hotel room, and then do some day hikes. We hit Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, and ended at the Grand Canyon. Our day hikes were usually 4-10 miles, we’d drive back into town where our hotel room was, and devour a giant pizza or something. It was one of the best trips of my life.
 
@jcisthelight We've done a few similar trips. My favorite was staying in an airbnb in Keystone, CO. We stopped and stayed in Ouray on the way there and hiked in the San Juan National Forest. From Keystone we could easily access Breckenridge, Vail, Golden, Boulder, Estes Park, etc. The only place I wanted to go that was too far was Aspen. It was nice having a home base for the trip, but you could also stay in the different cities each night and cut down on the driving. Also lots of great food and shopping.

I live in Arizona and wouldn't recommend here or Utah for the summer. All of the scenic red rock areas become ovens in the heat. We have incredible trails, but it is crazy hot and people die here cuz they underestimate the sun.
 
@jcisthelight There are so many places this could work! I’ve done sort of similar things. Just pick a spot and you will have a great time! My only caution with Salt Lake City would be when are you planning on going? Utah is beautiful but basically uninhabitable during the summer because of the heat, so I would recommend spring or fall.
 
@jcisthelight Did this going north from SF to Seattle along the coast one year. Budgeted 2 weeks and it was not enough time. We ended up skipping most of Washington because we spent so much time in Redwoods and Oregon.

The major lesson learned from that trip was to really make sure you have a good understanding of the mileage you're planning to drive. The distance from SF to Seattle is about the same as from DC to Orlando (and we had definitely made that drive in under 2 days so 2 weeks sounded like plenty). But there was a LOT that we wanted to see while we were out there so planning on 100 miles per day was actually a terrible idea. If I were to do it all again, I'd do two weeks from SF to Portland and then two weeks from Portland to Seattle.
 
@parentingpod I did a similar trip with a friend in my early 20s and it was so glorious that I did it again with a former boyfriend a few years later, ha. But we did it in a week, with much less emphasis on hiking than you or OP

Flying into SF and making your way north up the coast is the easiest way to accomplish what OP seeks, imo, because you can make it as scheduled - or spontaneous- as you want.
 
@jcisthelight Northern New Mexico might be a great option for you! If you fly into ABQ it’s only a short drive up to Santa Fe, Taos, or Chama. Lots of gorgeous national forest and plenty of cool cultural stuff. Plus Santa Fe has great spas for your rest days.
 
@dpbrock Yes! I was planning a NM road trip, pre-COVID. In fact, I still have the pins on my Google maps. Some of the things I wanted to hit up were the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, Tent Rocks national Monument, Ahi-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, Gila National Forest, White Sands National Park, and a night or two in Santa Fe to hit up the old town and Meow Wolf. This definitely would have been at least a week-long trip because my list covers a good 2/3 of the state!
I’ve already been to SW NM and done the Caverns and Roswell.
I really loved how vast and empty a lot of the landscapes are in NM, and the old abandoned towns. The stars at night are amazing! I think it’s an awesome place for a road trip!

Edited to add: omg and the chile. Such good food in NM too.
 
@jcisthelight Last summer we went to Denver for a similar adventure. We based ourselves in Golden, and found many hikes of varying length and difficulty within a 1-2 hour car ride. I am a good walker but not a great hiker (we have zero altitude and elevation change where I live) but I felt semi-prepared by walking several miles at a time at an incline on my treadmill in the weeks leading up. We had to adjust our plans a few times due to overestimating our skill level but there really is a hike for everyone out there.

It was really beautiful, easy to stay away from other people, and there was always great beer waiting at the end of the day.
 
@jcisthelight I haven’t done a trip like that, but if you want to fly into SLC, there are so many options! You could drive down to Moab and do Arches National Park (honestly, I’d stay there several days, it’s amazing) then head to Western Colorado and hike Ouray/Telluride/Durango.
 
@samolub You could also drive south and hit Zion and the Grand Canyon after Arches and Canyonlands - I highly recommend Canyonlands. I personally think it’s a lot better than arches, although arches is beautiful and I do like it.
 
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