Roadtrip to Vegas

Your route, both coming and going, skirts the norther edge of Zion National Park in Utah. That park is very scenic and the roads are nice too (around the southern part anyway). Not usre of the road network through the park but if you can do some kind of loop through it without taking you off course too much; I'm sure you'd love it.
 
Wow Beartooth Highway looks amazing. Thanks so much for posting this. My brother lives in Calgary so he is meeting us in Billings. I had no idea about that road. I think it could be the highlight of the whole trip

BeartoothHighway.jpg
 
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How much time do you have on top of what you've planned?

Your route takes you through Colorado but only highway 70. You are only km's away from the most scenic mountain passes I've ever been through. Take a 2-3 hour detour, for an example, through Aspen which will take you through Independence Pass.

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Also, instead of taking Highway 70 through Utah which looks pretty straight, try Highway 141 from Grand Junction. This is about 150kms of non-stop scenic twisties through the Canyons. Very scenic and very fun. Not very much traffic when I went, but then again it wasnt tourist season. http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=...458966,-108.693237&spn=0.240881,0.676346&z=11

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If you end up taking 141, you can take Highway 163 Scenic Route through the bottom of Utah. Same scene from Forest Gump where he was running down a long stretch of highway in Utah. If you're comfortable with Dirt, check out the Valley of the gods. Amazing scenery as well

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Taking this route instead of highway 70 will probably add a day to your trip but well worth it.

BLM free camping in Grand Junction and at the Valley of the Gods by the way.


http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&sour...38.5632,-109.333191&spn=0.962125,2.705383&z=9
 
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I'll be in vegas from june 25-july 5.

Maybe we will see eachother down there!

Have a safe trip!
 
Wheelieboy said:
How much time do you have on top of what you've planned?

If you end up taking 141, you can take Highway 163 Scenic Route through the bottom of Utah. Same scene from Forest Gump where he was running down a long stretch of highway in Utah. If you're comfortable with Dirt, check out the Valley of the gods. Amazing scenery as well

Taking this route instead of highway 70 will probably add a day to your trip but well worth it.

BLM free camping in Grand Junction and at the Valley of the Gods by the way.[/URL]
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Thanks Wheelieboy - 141 is definately in the plans. I don'y have a lot of extra time in the schedule to get to Vegas but I have an extra 4 days on the back end. My brother only has a week off so the time crunch will be getting there. I am free to do some exploring on the return leg although I'd prefer to avoid dirt roads. I must confess your trip was what inspired me to do this. Thanks for posting such a great adventure.
 
Wadadli said:
Wow Beartooth Highway looks amazing. Thanks so much for posting this. My brother lives in Calgary so he is meeting us in Billings. I had no idea about that road. I think it could be the highlight of the whole trip

BeartoothHighway.jpg
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This picture is from the plateau, the slope side is a different beast :-).

IMG_0401.jpg


Also you mentioned Vegas and no Grand Canyon? I would understand that if you've been there, already. If you have a few extra days on the return trip, I would suggest to spend a day or more in the Black Hills area (Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Badlands, Sturgis, Deadwood, Devil's Tower and many excellent roads).
 
tiborgh said:
spend a day or more in the Black Hills area (Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Badlands, Sturgis, Deadwood, Devil's Tower and many excellent roads).
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+1!!

Roads there were very fun.

I have the GPX files for my trip if you want them. Its in google maps form on my trip planning thread.
 
Wadadli said:
I've got a couple of weeks vacation and I'm heading west. Here is the rough route. Love to here of suggested sites to be sure not to miss along this route?

I will be taking camping gear and I'm meeting my brother in Billings. Also plan on spending a couple of nights in Vegas. Other than those things I'm pretty much free to venture off the route.


http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Ajax,+Ontario&daddr=Marquette,+MI,+United+States+to:Fargo,+ND,+United+States+to:Billings,+MT,+United+States+to:Yellowstone+National+Park,+Gardiner,+MT,+United+States+to:Salt+Lake+City,+UT,+United+States+to:Las+Vegas,+NV,+United+States+to:Las+Vegas,+NV,+United+States+to:Grand+Junction,+CO,+United+States+to:denver,+Colorado,+United+States+to:Rapid+City,+SD,+United+States+to:Sioux+Falls,+SD,+United+States+to:Chicago,+IL,+United+States+to:Ajax,+Ontario&geocode=FRAZnQIdJU1K-ynRFa1BtOfUiTHOvoDTAeF3-w%3BFbgyxgIdp3PK-inVUYlcoyBOTTGwE9eZ8daX6Q%3BFQJKywId1Ro7-ilFcWeEjcvIUjHKqpEnpTCqgQ%3BFfaYugIdLmmI-SmXnfqIiG9IUzFQtXnx1FY1Nw%3BFcghrwIdmsNm-SnR9S1Uw7dPUzEflYJzaxLZrQ%3BFcv1bQIdma1U-SntMdGIlD1ShzHKMU1IoLdTWw%3BFdYQJwIdMJoi-SnRffWkgre-gDGjebPV5tXMOg%3BFdYQJwIdMJoi-SnRffWkgre-gDGjebPV5tXMOg%3BFT4RVAIdB6aH-SlXcOci49ZGhzFWfL_OUfRjzA%3BFRJfXgIdgQ---SnPFx8jqoBrhzHWNoon-PSOEQ%3BFZ-doAId2dHY-Sn7pbuepUJ9hzHHt5M-WmFxxA%3BFReFmAIdWXg8-inXrL3gmLSOhzHP_LKoOv-V3g%3BFWICfwIdGuDG-inty_TQPCwOiDEAwMAJrabgrw%3BFRAZnQIdJU1K-ynRFa1BtOfUiTHOvoDTAeF3-w&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=41.61873,-97.09435&sspn=16.744691,43.022461&ie=UTF8&z=5
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Look at this site for route suggestions.

http://www.motorcycleroads.us/

Just taking the Hwy is boring.


For example, how can you miss a road that looks like this!!
http://goo.gl/maps/zzuP
 
Nice pics
 
RonnieRev said:
Looks like you had a great trip Doug, the only thing missing in your pictures is a ZRX
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Hey Ron - That's mean. I tell you I thought about my beloved REX in the switchbacks and the climbs but the K-bike did alright and I was happy to have the ABS going hot into a couple of turns. Plus hard luggage rocks!

My brother-in-law has a 2004 greenie with less than 10K on it which he barely rides. I'll be Back!
 
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