United States is a beautiful country with many natural sights and cities. It is usually difficult to decide which places to visit and which places to omit. Distances in USA are also very long, so good planning can save a lot of miles to your car and many hours of your time.
This itinerary starts in the east in New York and ends in the west in Los Angeles, stopping at many famous national parks and a few cities along the way.
Before you leave, make sure that you made reservations of as many campgrounds as possible. Staying in campgrounds in national parks [http://www.nps.gov] or state parks [http://www.recreation.gov/] is preferable, because it is a very cheap way of travelling (One night in campground costs about $10-$20 per spot).
Buy an Annual Pass at the entrance of the first national park you visit. It costs $80 and it saves you a lot of money (if you don't have it, you will have to pay the entrance fee anytime you enter any national park. This entrance fee may be between $15-$25 per car).
The trip begins at noon in Schenectady, NY. You can start your trip from any location which is reachable from Schenectady in 4-5 hours and you can still follow the itinerary described in this article. For example, you can start in Boston or New York City in the morning.
This article is for people who are going to travel by car. The USA doesn't have a system of public transportation which can take you around the entire country in just 30 days.
When traveling from outside of the USA, you may fly to Boston or New York City and rent a car there. After the trip you can return the car in Los Angeles and fly to NY or drive all the way back.
Renting a car can be quite expensive. If you are over 25, you will pay $1500 to $2000 per month. If you are under 25, an underage fee will be surcharged (in New York $115 per day, but in Massachusetts only $25 per day).
Start the trip early morning from Schenectady, New York. Drive to Cleveland, Ohio, a 474 mile journey that will take about seven and a half hours.
Cleveland offers a range of accommodation options; the following has been used before by travelers that have followed this itinerary:
Depart for Chicago in the morning, the 329 mile journey will take around five and a half hours to complete.
Drive another 110 miles (''2 hours'') to Janesville to spend the night.
Depart from the motel in the morning. Drive 608 miles (10 hours), it will take you the whole day. There is nothing of incredible interest to see on the way.
Depart from the campground in the morning. Drive 213 miles (4 hours). Arrive in Badlands National Park about noon. Spend 1 hour in park.
Depart from Badlands National Park at 1pm. Drive 70.4 mi (1.5 hour) to arrival in Mt. Rushmore at 2:30pm. Visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial, spending 2 hours there.
Depart from Mt. Rushmore at 4:30pm. Drive 15.5 mi (1/2 hour). Arrive to Custer State Park at 5pm. You can observe bison and other wildlife in the park.
Depart from Custer State Park in the morning. Drive 145 mi (3 hours). Arrive in Devils Tower National Monument at 11am. Visit Devils Tower. One hour is enough to see it.
Depart from Devils Tower at noon. Drive 34.8 mi (1 hour). Arrive in Keyhole State Park. You can eat your lunch here. You can also swim there.
Depart from Keyhole State Park at 3pm. Drive 411 mi (8 hours). Arrive in Yellowstone National Park at 11pm.
Stay in the same campground.
Stay in the same campground.
Stay in the same campground.
Departure from Yellowstone in the morning. Drive 68.6 mi (2 hours). Arrive in Grand Teton National Park at noon.
<sleep name="Gross Ventre Campground" address="Grand Teton National Park" phone="800-628-9988"></sleep>, http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm#CP_JUMP_31287 No reservation necessary, it is a first come first serve campground.
Depart from Grand Teton National Park in the morning. Drive 597 mi (10 hours). Arrive in Rye Patch at 7pm.
Rye Patch is a state park hidden in the Nevada desert. It has good conditions for swimming.
Stay overnight in Rye Patch.
Depart from Rye Patch in the morning. Drive 208 mi (4.5 hours). Arrive to Bodie State Historic Park at noon. Visit the park. It is a ghost town where gold was mined. Nowadays it is an empty town.
Depart from park at 3pm and drive 36.4 mi (1.5 hours) to Mono Lake.
Depart from Mono Lake at 7pm and drive 30.9 mi (1 hour). You'll arrive in the campground at 8pm.
Depart from Sherwin Creek Campground '''no later than 5am!''' It is important to leave early, because you need to book Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley Village. This is a first come first serve campground and you need to be there about 8am. Otherwise you have almost no chance to get a spot.
Drive 99.2 mi (3 hours), arrive to Camp 4 at 8am, and get a spot in campground.
Camp 4 is one of the first come first serve campgrounds. There are also many campgrounds which can be reserved. Reservation must be made a few weeks (or months) in advance. The second first come first serve campground is called Tamarack Flat.
Stay in the same campground.
Depart from Yosemite National Park at noon. Drive 203 mi (5 hours). Arrive to China Camp State Park at 6pm.
Depart from China State Park in the morning. Drive 21.5 mi (1 hour). Visit Alcatraz prison - reservation is necessary http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/. Take the tour at 10am. Return from Alcatraz at 4pm.
Take a walk through city center, visit Golden Gate Bridge.
Visit Silicon Valley (HP garage, Google headquarters, Intel museum).
Drive on Pacific Coast Highway # 1.
There are many campgrounds at Big Sur. Take any of them.
Continue driving on Pacific Coast Hwy #1.
Drive 152 mi (4 hours) to Sequoia National Park.
Campgrounds in Sequoia are first come first serve.
Drive 361 mi (7 hours).
Arrive at Death Valley in the evening. Take enough water with you. There is water in campground, but it is warm.
Get up as early as possible. It is too hot during the day.
Sleep in a campground in Lake Mead Recreational Area.
Drive 33.3 mi (1 hour). Arrive in Las Vegas at noon.
Depart from Las Vegas in the morning. Drive 164 mi (3 hours). Arrive in Zion Canyon National Park at noon.
Travelers that have followed this itinerary slept in this campground:
Depart from Zion early in the morning. Drive 80.5 mi (2 hours).
Arrive in Bryce Canyon National Park at 9am.
Depart from Bryce Canyon at 1pm Drive 121 mi (3 hours). Arrive to Capitol Reef National Park 4pm.
Depart from Capitol Reef at 6pm. Drive 131 mi (2.5 hours). Arrive to Arches National Park at 8:30pm.
There are many first come-first serve campgrounds, take any of them.
We stayed in Goose Island Campground Hwy 128, 1.4 miles from Hwy 191, outside the Arches NP, because all of them were already filled. (9pm)
Depart from Arches at 3pm.
Drive 127 mi (3 hours). Arrive to Mesa Verde at 6pm.
Travelers that have followed this itinerary slept in this campground:
Depart from Mesa Verde at 2pm. Drive 63.7 mi (1.5 hours). Arrive in Four Corners National Monument at 3:30pm. 1/2 hour is enough to visit monument.
Depart from Four Corners at 4pm. Drive 93.2 mi (2 hours). Arrive in Monument Valley at 6pm.
Depart from Monument Valley at 8pm. Drive 175 mi (4 hours) Arrive to Grand Canyon National Park at 12am.
Travelers that have followed this itinerary slept in this campground:
It will take you 4-6 hours to descend.
Travelers that have followed this itinerary slept in this campground:
Depart from Grand Canyon in the morning. Drive 366 mi (6 hours) to Joshua Tree National Park.
Arrive to Joshua Tree National Park in the evening.
Depart from Joshua Tree National Park in the morning.
Drive 128 mi (3 hours) to Los Angeles.