After doing beach vacations the past 3 summers, we're wanting to take a mountain road trip (from Houston). NM, AZ (Grand Canyon), UT, and CO all on the table. Kids are 8 and 11.

What all would you do?

TIA

On you way out of Texas you can hit the Texas Musial at Palo Duro Canyon. http://www.texas-show.com/

We saw it on our way from Houston to LA last year

Carlsbad Caverns is good if you go a more Southern Route. White Sands NP is fun with sand sledding in the same general area.

Wally World!

nimrodag99 said:

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On you way out of Texas you can hit the Texas Musial at Palo Duro Canyon. http://www.texas-show.com/

We saw it on our way from Houston to LA last year

Carlsbad Caverns is good if you go a more Southern Route. White Sands NP is fun with sand sledding in the same general area.

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Kinda what I'm thinking. Never been to Palo Duro. Would it just be too brutal in August? I know my boys would love the caverns.

We went in early June and it wasn't too bad. Hopefully CanyonAG77 will be along soon. He lives nearby and should know all the details.

Cool, thanks. I guess one thought is to take the southern route, and hit up Carlsbad and White Sands. Then on to the Grand Canyon (maybe via Albuquerque; I can't remember if it's worth a visit).

From GC, go somewhere in Utah. Never been, so need to research. Maybe 4 Corners. Then into CO. Durango, Telluride, or some other awesome place. I'm more familiar with Summit County, so this would be an adventure.

On the return home we could hit Palo Duro.

Palo Duro would seem brutal in August. But not speaking from experience. Only been at the end of April.

Saw my bat signal. Will chime in later.

Southern Utah is incredible: can't go wrong with Zion NP/Bryce Canyon NP area (southwest part of the state)
or
Moab area- Moab/Arches NP/Canyonlands NP (east side of state, near Colorado border)

I would focus on one, but not both, of those general areas if going to southern Utah- difficult to tackle all of it in one trip, especially if going to a lot of other destinations.

I've been all over the area you're taking about and you've already got some good suggestions in Carlsbad, White Sands, and Grand Canyon. I'd add Monument Valley and then Ouray, Silverton, and Ridgeway to the list. Love that 550 corridor. Then I'd come back along Hwy 50 hugging the Gunnison River, pop up into the Black Canyon, and visit Blue Mesa Reservoir heading back East, not to mention Monarch Pass. That's such a beautiful and underrated area in summer I hesitate to recommend it on a public forum...

Man, you've got me all nostalgic now. My then-boyfriend and now husband took a western road trip in August 2009...its where I realized I would marry him.

We started in Santa Fe, north through the southwestern part of Colorado (Durango), then southern Utah, to Moab/Arches. Phenomenal. From Arches north to the Tetons, stayed a day or two, then to Yellowstone. My heart still hurts from how beautiful it was...the drive too. Left Yellowstone after a few days, the went to some place that held itself out as the greatest milkshake in the world. It was filth. Luckily found a DQ up there and rectified within 30 minutes. Get gas every chance you can. We almost ran out of gas but thankfully found a single pump at a place called muddy gap that charged us $6/gal...and we were happy to pay it. I grew up driving long distances across Texas, but somehow, Wyoming never seemed to end. Just keep your tank full. Lots of those dots on the map are ghost towns with no working gas stations.

On to Independence Rock, and a few other nondescript stops on the long trek back to Texas.

Damn. I want to do it again. So awesome.

First, wander over to this thread:

https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/2852777

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It covers some of the same far western areas. It also has a link to a photo thread of mine that covered Yellowstone, Tetons, Dinosaur, Grand Canyon of the Gunnison and a few others.

Next, a recent thread, in which I link a lot of threads concerning Palo Duro Canyon.

https://texags.com/forums/39/topics/2846493

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And if you just want to hit New Mexico, here's an old thread about must see places in New Mexico.

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2436800

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My first thought on the trip in general, is you're in for quite a beatdown. If you did nothing but drive to the Grand Canyon and back, you're spending about three hours a day doing nothing but driving. About 40 hours total @60mph.

You have two weeks off and you're considering spending one full work week in the car? Not my cup of tea.

I'm also not keen on a southern route in the summer. I love Big Bend, Ft. Davis, Carlsbad, White Sands, etc. But in the summer, the temperatures are ungodly.

And if you're thinking about Grand Canyon, Utah, and Western Colorado, I'd suggest you hop on Southwest Airlines to Albuquerque, then rent a car.

All of your destinations sound good, and you're getting some good input. I'd just take a good hard look at the driving distances involved and your tolerance for the same. While some of the western deserts are fascinating to travel through, some are just flat out boring.

Regarding Palo Duro in August, I'll cut and paste what I said on the Outdoors Board

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Do not go to Palo Duro in August. Hottest ambient temp I have ever seen was there at that time. Park thermometer said 130 in the canyon. We did not get out of the car.

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Since the highest temp ever reported in Texas is 120, I'm going to suggest instrumentation error.

You can never predict Panhandle weather, but the average high for August is 89, the average low is 64. The records are 106 and 44. Obviously, early August is going to be hotter. Down in the canyon, it's a few degrees hotter because it's 800 feet lower, and the wind is mostly blocked. Humidity tend to be higher, too.

For the OP at home in Houston in August, the average high is 4 degrees hotter at 93, but the average low is 11 degrees hotter at 75. Records are 106 and 64. That's where the Panhandle gets bearable. Most nights, it's nice and cool, and we don't have the high humidity.

I'm not saying it won't get oppressive, but the averages are much less then the OP faces every day at home.

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And the outdoor musical Texas! is a lot of fun, even the kids will enjoy it.

One more thing before I turn in....

What is your objective? Do you want a BIG TRIP to see the BIG THINGS like the Grand Canyon? Or do you just want to get out of the heat, and see some mountain scenery?

For the latter, I'd consider places in northern New Mexico like Red River or Chama. Or maybe South Fork, Pagosa, Durango in Southern CO. Cut about 1/3 off the drive, and still fun.

We did Carlsbad, White Sands, Santa Fe, Grand Canyon, petrified forest one summer. White water on the Rio Grand North of SantaFe was good, but those kids are old enough for the Mad Mile on the Gallatin River in Montana. None of them are that "mad" in the summer.

Oregon/Washington > Montana/Wyoming >>> SanDiego/SanFransisco > NewMexico/Arizona all great two week trips "West of here" with kids. A lot depends on the kids and their age.

That's the age we did the Madras Oregon to San Juan islands Washington trip. That will always be the best summer vacation ever. The ">>>" doesn't mean much, they were all great trips.