Tap any place name to open it in Google Maps. Under each area there is also a 📍 Open this whole area link — that opens Google Maps with a driving loop from that area's base through every stop listed under it.
Sites We Might Want to Visit
A menu, not a plan. Nothing here is booked, and the order will change as we go — that's deliberate. This is the "things we might stop at" list, grouped by the place we'd base ourselves, so we can pick a day's worth at a time.
Rebuilt: October 5, 2026 · updated as we travel.
How to read this
- Base — the town or campground we'd sleep near. Everything is measured from that base, by car.
- Free with the pass — covered by our America the Beautiful Senior pass. It gets us into National Park Service, BLM, US Fish & Wildlife and most US Forest Service sites, and usually halves federal campground fees. It does not work at state parks, tribal parks, or for parking/tour fees.
- $0 — genuinely nothing to pay.
- Dispersed camping — camping on public land outside a developed campground: no fee, no hookups, no water, usually no toilet. We carry our own.
- Distances are driving miles and times, rounded. Treat them as close, not exact.
Every area below lists a free option next to the paid ones. That's the rule we plan by — there's almost always a way to do the same country for nothing.
Colorado National Monument / Fruita, Colorado — where we are now
Base: Saddlehorn Campground, on the canyon rim at 5,700 ft ($22/night, $11 with the Senior pass).
📍 Open this whole area in Google Maps — a driving loop from the base through these stops.
- Rim Rock Drive — 23 miles along the rim, free with the pass. The reason we're here.
- Otto's Trail / Monument Canyon / Devil's Kitchen / Coke Ovens — the monument's ~50 miles of trails, from 0.5-mile strolls to half-day walks.
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP — 94 mi / 2h30 southeast. Free with the pass; Painted Wall and the South Rim drive. A big day, not a quick stop.
- Grand Junction — 16 mi. Supermarkets, restaurants, hospital, cheapest fuel on this side.
- Fruita town — 13 mi. Dinosaur Journey museum, Fruita Community Center (indoor and outdoor pool, day passes), Suds & Spin laundry (open 4 a.m.–midnight).
- Free option: North Fruita Desert (18 Road) — free BLM dispersed camping, 19 mi north. Also free backcountry permits inside the monument.
Salt Lake City / Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
Base: Salt Lake City — the reset stop. Showers, laundry, resupply, and the cheapest fuel for the next stretch.
📍 Open this whole area in Google Maps — a driving loop from the base through these stops.
- Bonneville Salt Flats — 120 mi west on I-80. $0, and you can drive out onto the flats when they're dry. Wendover for fuel and food.
- Antelope Island State Park — 46 mi north. $15/vehicle (no pass). Bison, Great Salt Lake beaches, famous sunsets.
- Spiral Jetty — remote gravel road to the Great Salt Lake's famous earthwork, free.
- Free option: Stansbury Island and Skull Valley (BLM, 40–60 min west) — free dispersed camping; also the Silver Island Mountains Scenic Byway west of Wendover.
Great Basin National Park / Baker, Nevada
Base: Baker, NV — tiny, services only, the gateway.
📍 Open this whole area in Google Maps — a driving loop from the base through these stops.
- Great Basin NP — 9 mi. $0 entry. Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive climbs to 10,000 ft through aspen; the bristlecone pines here are over 4,000 years old — the oldest living things on earth.
- Lehman Caves — ranger-guided tour, small fee, worth booking.
Reno / Lake Tahoe
Base: Reno — fuel, food, and the decision point for the Sierra passes.
📍 Open this whole area in Google Maps — a driving loop from the base through these stops.
- Lake Tahoe — Emerald Bay and Sand Harbor are the postcard stops; Nevada state park day-use fee, and free public beaches exist all along the shore.
- Virginia City — 25 mi. An intact 1860s silver-mining town; walking it is free.
- Donner Memorial State Park — the emigrant story, on the way over I-80.
- Pyramid Lake — extraordinary desert lake; some access needs a tribal permit, so check first.
- Free option: Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest dispersed camping in the Sierra foothills, and free BLM land east of Reno.
Yosemite National Park, California
Base: Yosemite Valley, or Wawona / Hodgdon Meadow — from late October those two switch to first-come, first-served, meaning we can just drive up and pay at the site. No booking.
📍 Open this whole area in Google Maps — a driving loop from the base through these stops.
- Tunnel View — the classic valley reveal. Free with the pass; park entry is $35/vehicle, free with our pass.
- Yosemite Valley — El Capitan meadow, Bridalveil Fall, the Half Dome view, the Valley Loop. Mostly flat and easy walking.
- Glacier Point — the valley from above; the road closes for the season at some point, so check before counting on it.
- Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias — at Wawona, big trees, gentle trail.
- Tioga Road / Tuolumne Meadows — the high country, and it's also the shortcut east. Closes mid-to-late November most years; if it's shut it's a very long way around.
- Note: you may not sleep in the car here outside a registered campsite — that's why Wawona/Hodgdon Meadow matter.
Death Valley National Park, California
Base: Any of the park campgrounds — all are first-come, first-served except Furnace Creek.
📍 Open this whole area in Google Maps — a driving loop from the base through these stops.
- Badwater Basin — lowest point in North America; the salt flats are a short flat walk.
- Zabriskie Point — the sunrise spot.
- Artists Drive / Artists Palette — a one-way loop through painted rock.
- Dante's View — the whole valley and the Sierra beyond, from a mile up.
- Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes — walk out and lose the footprints.
- Twenty Mule Team Canyon — short dirt loop, fine in a normal car.
- Ubehebe Crater — half a mile deep and barely 2,000 years old.
- Free option: free roadside/backcountry camping along dirt roads (at least a mile past the pavement, previously used spots only). The park's own warning: ordinary cars can't reach most of them, so we'd stay on short graded spurs. Park entry $30/vehicle — covered by our pass. November averages 77°F days, 48°F nights.
- Careful with: the Racetrack and the 4×4 dirt-road sites — high clearance only, not our car.
Las Vegas / Valley of Fire, Nevada
Base: Las Vegas — the cheapest fuel of the whole trip, and the least restrained grocery store.
📍 Open this whole area in Google Maps — a driving loop from the base through these stops.
- Valley of Fire State Park — 57 mi northeast. $15/vehicle (no pass), $25 to camp. Red rock, petroglyphs, easy drives.
- Hoover Dam — parking and the powerplant tour are paid; walking the dam itself is free.
- Red Rock Canyon — the scenic drive has timed entry; the free option is the walking trails at Calico Basin.
- Lake Mead — a very large, very quiet reservoir; developed campgrounds need the park entrance fee.
- Free option: free BLM land all around the valley — it's why Las Vegas is a cheap base.
Zion / Springdale, Utah
Base: Springdale, at Zion's south entrance — food, showers, paid camping.
📍 Open this whole area in Google Maps — a driving loop from the base through these stops.
- Zion Canyon Scenic Drive — ⚠ the shuttle is mandatory Nov 1–28 (no private cars on the canyon road at all). From Nov 29 the shuttle stops and we drive it ourselves. If driving the canyon matters, that's the date that decides it.
- The Narrows / Riverside Walk — the flat, paved start of the most famous canyon walk.
- Emerald Pools, Watchman Trail — short, doable half-days.
- Canyon Overlook — east side, no shuttle needed, huge view for a 1-mile walk.
- Kolob Canyons — the quiet side of Zion, free with the pass, almost nobody there.
- Bryce Canyon NP — 105 mi / 2h. Sunrise and Sunset Points by car; Queens Garden + Navajo Loop is 3 miles. It's at 8,000 ft — freezing nights. Free with the pass.
- Free option: BLM land near Springdale outside the park gate.
Grand Canyon, South Rim, Arizona — the must-do
Base: Mather Campground at the South Rim, or free forest land just outside the gate.
📍 Open this whole area in Google Maps — a driving loop from the base through these stops.
- Mather Point — sunrise. Hopi Point — sunset. Both reachable by the paved Rim Trail.
- Rim Trail — 13 miles along the edge, mostly flat and paved; walk as much as you like.
- Hermit Road — shuttle-only December through February.
- Desert View Drive + Watchtower — open year-round, and it's naturally the route east toward Texas. This is where we'd leave the park.
- Yavapai Geology Museum and the Trail of Time — the story of the canyon, along the rim.
- Costs: entry $35/vehicle, free with our pass; Mather camping ~$15/night with the Senior discount. November nights are near freezing at 7,000 ft.
- Free option: Kaibab National Forest dispersed camping right outside the South Rim gate.
Texas → New Orleans → Mississippi → Key West (the eastern leg — to be detailed as we go)
Texas
- Big Bend National Park — remote, huge, and free with the pass. Also the Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns if we come across the top.
- San Antonio — the River Walk (free), the Alamo, the old missions.
- Houston — Space Center, museums.
- Friends in Texas — one of the anchors of this leg.
Louisiana
- New Orleans — French Quarter, Frenchmen Street for music, Garden District, the streetcar. Swamp and plantation tours nearby.
- ⚠ Mardi Gras 2027 is February 9 — late January and early February are the crowded, expensive weeks.
Mississippi
- Natchez Trace Parkway — free, and a beautiful slow road with free campgrounds along it.
- Gulf Coast beaches and Vicksburg battlefield.
- Friends in Mississippi — the other anchor.
Florida & the Keys
- Everglades — free with the pass (camping is cheap, and it's the rare place with a free national park campground).
- Key West — Duval Street, Mallory Square sunset, the Hemingway House.
- Dry Tortugas NP — a fort 70 miles out to sea, reached by ferry; the ferry books out far in advance.
- Bahia Honda / Long Key State Parks — the Keys campsites worth having. ⚠ The Keys have almost no free camping — the county restricts overnighting — so this is one place we will pay, and probably book ahead. January and February are the best weather and the peak prices.
The one-line summary
The Rockies, the canyon country and the desert are nearly all free with our pass. The places we'll pay are: state parks (Antelope Island, Valley of Fire, Bahia Honda), tribal land (Monument Valley), parking and tours (Hoover Dam, Lehman Caves), and the Keys. Camping runs $10–$36 a night where we pay at all, and free dispersed camping is available near almost every stop on this list.