"Graham Harrison" wrote in message
...

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
news:2012042718295491481-stephedanospam@maccom...
At some point I intend to make a grand western loop road trip. A length
scenic drive. I have the scenic driving books for California, Montana,
Wyoming and Colorado, but ask if there is some particularly spectacular
place I should definitely see along my route?

I'm driving generally westward along I-10 to Los Angeles, north along the
Pacific Coast Highway to the Olympic Penninsula of Washing State, east
across the North Cascades National Park and on into Montana and Glacier
National Park, then south through Wyoming and Yellowstone / Grand Teton,
then south through Colorado (which I've visited quite a bit already).

I like beauty drives, fun drives, mountains and lakes.

Have you encountered some place along this general path, that was
pecularly regrettable? Such as someplace usually dangerous or otherwise
a place to avoid?

Thanks, please post!
--
Dan Stephenson
http://web.mac.com/stepheda
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)


Late last Summer we headed north out of Yellowstone via Livingston and
Harlowton to Havre then west on US2 to St Mary (Glacier). Then over the
Going to the Sun Road through Glacier to Kalispell. From there we
followed US2 through Libby to Bonners Ferry and then down to Coeur
d'Alene, Spokane, Omak and route 20 to Burlington. On a previous
occasion we'd avoided Coeur d'Alene and turned off for Spokane at
Sandpoint.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the trip across Montana. Harlowton
used to be a division point on the Milwaukee Road (Railway) and they've
got one of the old electric locos plinthed in the town centre and another
(much smaller) at the preserved depot - there are 2 more in Red Deer I
believe. It really is Big Sky Country out there and it goes on for miles.
The Missouri River is wide and fast flowing even this far from the sea.
US2 from Havre west follows the railroad so you keep having enormous
freights coming towards you. And every ten miles or so there is a tiny,
half dead, town which was built by the railroad.

The Going to the Sun Road is everything people say. Get an early start.
We arrived at the visitor centre at the pass at about 1030 and only just
got a parking space. It is worth a stop and the walk to Hidden Lake.
By the time we got back they were turning everyone away from the lot.

My memory of the road from Sandpoint to Spokane is hazy but I think I'd go
that way again rather than via Coeur d'Alene if I get back there.

There's not much between Spokane and Omak but route 20 across the North
Cascades is beautiful. Take food - there are no cafes at about lunch
time!

One other comment is that about 10 years ago we exited Yellowstone over
the Beartooth (the North East exit) which is stupendous. The car we had
that year had a very weird gearbox with no real low gear capability and I
didn't really enjoy relying on the brakes for the descent but it's worth
stopping in the various pullouts along the way so we just did that to make
sure the brakes didn't overheat (I once watched someone on Pikes Peak
arrive at the half way checkpoint with brakes that I could see were red
hot!).

The Olympic Peninsular is worth circumnavigating. Be warned about Forks.
I had it in mind as a logging town (and it is) but it's also where the
Twilight books are set (no I hadn't heard about them either) and the
stores now carry everything Twilight! Go into the Hoh Rainforest and
also onto the ridge above Port Angeles (name escapes me). Consider
cutting across to the Townsend Edmonds ferry instead of driving all the
way back to Tacoma or even taking the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria
(BC) spending a few days on Vancouver Island before returning to Port
Angeles. If you do go to Vancouver Island you need to allow a couple of
nights minimum on the West Coast.

More thoughts - this time on the I-10 corridor.

It depends how far you are prepared to deviate but in Texas go down to Big
Bend. The trouble with that idea is that in the same area but north of
I-10 you've got Carlsbad Caverns (stay for the bat flight), Roswell (for a
laugh), the Guadelupes and White Sands. If I had to choose I'd go to Big
Bend but the choice would not be an easy one. Once you cross into New
Mexico you can deviate north to Silver City and the Gila Mountains where
there's a cliff dwelling similar to Mesa Verde but much less visited and
just outside Silver City there's a state park of rocks (can't remember the
name) and an enormous copper pit. Then you get to Arizona where south of
the interstate you can deviate to the Chiricahuas (sp?) for hiking and
Tombstone for a bit of fun. Then you get to Tucson which has a very good
aircraft museum and the USAF bone yard.