Hello, I am from Maryland and I want to drive to the Grand Canyon. Maybe see the hover dam along the way.I got:10 days offa decent budgeta good cara tent (might be sleeping in my car)and I'm going alone.Yes I'm a massive neet. I've gone out and traveled before but mainly for work or within the tri state area, never across time zones. What's the best route to take? Anything else to see along the way? What should I be wary of traveling for so long alone?I like cozy cultures, not a big fan of population. I will go out of my way for local museums. if you know any model railway places I'd be down.I'll be leaving mid May
>>265113136 hour drive from Maryland. Let’s say you drive 12 hours a day you’ll be there in 3 days, and it’s 72 hours roundtrip so 6 days of traveling out of 10. That gives you 4 days to see the Grand Canyon and whatever else you want to see on the trip. The drive is scenic no matter which route you take and that’s worth it by itself to see each biome shift into each other. You won’t have much opportunity to drive off of the main highway artery cities if you want to make it back on time, so incorporate your tourism with your travel by splitting the drive into sections and stopping somewhere for 30 mins to an hour before driving again. Chart out each day of driving and have a plan ahead of time for where you’re going to sleep. If you deviate, you will not make it to the canyon and back, and all will be lost.
>>2651139>If you deviate, you will not make it to the canyon and back, and all will be lost.I guess with time being a factor, I can extend my vacation period to two weeks. I kinda have the heart to wonder around. it will feel fruitless to just see without experiencing. Thanks for the bit of math.
Long post incomingI've done 4 different routes from east to west across the US. Since you want to do the Grand Canyon, you're beasically locked in to taking Route 40 for most of the way. And it's not a fun drive. Oklahoma City, Amarillo, and Albuquerque are the only cities you'll see for 30 hours and they're all terrible. 90 percent of the drive is just flat highway driving with nothing but grass to look at. The stretch from Maryland to Nashville in cool. You can do a few slight detours and drive through Shenandoah National Park, The Smokey Mountains, and Asheville. But everything between Nashville and Flagstaff is an endless cow pasture. To top it off, the grand canyon weather sucks in the summer. It's too hot to hike into the canyon. Knowing what I know now, I'd fly out to the West Coast, rent a car, and do a point to point car rental instead. Fly into Salt Lake City or Denver and Fly out of Orange County. Do Arches National park, Moab, Telluride, Ouray, Durango, Bryce National Park, Vegas, The Grand Canyon, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach. The drive is gorgeous. There are endless things to stop and see like waterfalls, cool towns, state parks, national parks, etc. Utah is a great state for car camping. You can camp for free on most BLM land in Utah. The whole state is practically BLM. You end up saving so much money camping that you come out ahead even after the car rental costs.
>>2652282Thanks for the long post. I've been considering changing things around route wise. I've been warned plenty about the drive but that was a bit of the dream of it. I'm looking at flights and they're about the same of what I'd assume gas would be. Maybe I can do a one way trip..The names help too. I'm writing them down. Thank you.
>>2654272I definitely recommend a west coast only loop. But if you're really considering a coast to coast route, it the same distance and time from Maryland to LA as it from Maryland to Seattle. The Seattle drive has a lot more to do. Maryland-Pittsburgh-Cedar Point Ohio-Chicago-Rapid City (mount rushmore)-Deadwood-Bozeman-Missoula-Coeur d'Alene-Seattle.
>>2652282retard boomer alert. Huntington Beach is a fucking trash can. Laguna, Crystal Cove, San Clemente, La jolla all beauftiful socal areas. Huntington hasnt been nice for 40 years.Also vegas lol. lmao even >>2654272That anon is a fucking clown. Only thing he got right are the national parks
>>2651131Fly to Vegas and rent a car to maximize your time spent out west. The route out there is a boring slog. The West is the best, ignore the flat and gay Midwest.
>>2655085Also, go the desert southwest first, see GC, Utah national parks, then go to the mountains and Colorado to cool off because it will be hot as shit. Fly out of Denver. Vegas to Denver isn't a big distance on a map, but taking curvy desert mountain back roads will make for a shit load of driving for two weeks.
>>2655084Their are a lot of faggy closeted Mormons who dislike Vegas because they're afraid that they won't get a planet when they die if they drink alcohol on the strip or put $10 into a slot machine. With that said, Vegas one of the most unique cities you will ever visit and is absolutely mandatory if you're driving across the US. Huntington Beach is fine to use as a base. There are almost zero options for hotels in Crystal Cove or San Clemente, and Laguna can get very expensive because they don't allow Airbnbs and the few local hotels on the beach have a monopoly. Huntington Beach has some larger hotels and cheaper motel options. It's also has a better bar scene and a younger crowd. I live 10 minutes from Laguna Beach. If you go out down there, everyone is 50+ and it's expensive as shit.
