Events/Trails Road trip suggestions?

[electro992]

Found myself with some unexpected free time and looking at taking a 2 week road trip out west from Chicago. Targeting national parks and spending most of my time outdoors. Thought I'd ask the lucky folks who live there for any suggestions...mostly looking for views, mountain bike trails and hikes. Also recommendations for trails which can be done in a stock LX (on street tires with stock 20s). Thanks in advance!

 

[M1911]

Head out to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Then south to Colorado and back to Chicago.

 

[alsation]

What he said^ Tetons and a Yellowstone ave awesome! but instead of south to CO go north to glacier national park.

 

[TonyP]

Yellowstone for sure.

 

[RET2]

Stay north and do a drive by at Mt. Rushmore on your way to Yellowstone on to Glacier? Just a personal observation although Yellowstone is a NP it can be a zoo

 

[tominboise]

The west is the place to be but understand that a lot of it is on fire and you will run into smoke

 

[M1911]

Stay north and do a drive by at Mt. Rushmore on your way to Yellowstone on to Glacier? Just a personal observation although Yellowstone is a NP it can be a zoo

Also, Badlands National Park is nearby, as well as the Mammoth Site.

 

[linuxgod]

Found myself with some unexpected free time and looking at taking a 2 week road trip out west from Chicago. Targeting national parks and spending most of my time outdoors. Thought I'd ask the lucky folks who live there for any suggestions...mostly looking for views, mountain bike trails and hikes. Also recommendations for trails which can be done in a stock LX (on street tires with stock 20s). Thanks in advance!

Where are you at in Chicago? We live in Evanston and have done 3 road trips for ~2 weeks over the last 3 summers, plus some shorter trips.

• Badlands, Black Hills/Mt Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone, Grand Teton. (We missed Wind Cave)
• Breckenridge CO, Grand Mesa CO, Moab, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce (and drove through Capitol Reef on the way home)
• Telluride/Ouray CO, Mesa Verde, Hovenweep, Taos NM, Santa Fe NM, Guadalupe NP, Big Bend NP, Mark Twain national forest

Lots of good hiking and mountain biking, but what you see/hike varies by location. Some of the places have great SUV trails too while others don't have anything. I've got photos from our trips at https://home.rootflags.net/gallery/index.php?/category/694 if you want to get some ideas of the parks, and of course I'd recommend snagging the National Geographic national parks book to get you started.

From Chicago, we also did Michigan's UP (near Marquette) this summer and spent a day on Grand Island. All easy hiking and the forest trails were easy in the LC... worst of the trails was the mosquitoes. Years ago we hiked in Cuyahoga NP in Ohio, also surprisingly nice and again about a day's drive from flatlandia.

Voyagers NP and Isle Royale are on our list possibly for next year, as they're a (long) day's drive from Chicago. We're trying to hit all the national parks a few at a time.

 

[KLF]

I would figure out a way to get to Salt Lake City for a stop at the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum.

Home

 

[M1911]

Where are you at in Chicago? We live in Evanston.

I grew up in Evanston and I'll be in Chicago tomorrow and Tuesday for work.

 

[Snapper194]

I agree about Yellowstone sometimes being a zoo. It clears out a lot though after kids go back to school. I've been there at the end of September before and it was beautiful.

 

[RET2]

I like to wander just as it starts to get light... no crowds and a lot of animal movement. If possible try the North entrance, West entrance is the busiest and hit the Cody Museum in CodyWyoming if you have time it's incredible.

 

[linuxgod]

I grew up in Evanston and I'll be in Chicago tomorrow and Tuesday for work.

Small world. What part of town? We're just a block from the Main St Metra and L stops

Summer is the best time to visit Chicago, even if it's for work. Winter on the other hand...

 

[Haggis]

I'd second the nod for a trip to Jackson Hole, Grand Teton. Fall is the best, good weather and all the crowds are gone. Just outside Jackson is a fantastic private campground on the Snake River Gros Ventre campground in Kelly, Wyoming. Great views of the Tetons. We camped several nights there, met some interesting people from all over the world. The only time we go to Yellowstone is in the Winter on snowmobile. The 200 is the perfect rig to cover lots of territory in great comfort!

 

[M1911]

Small world. What part of town? We're just a block from the Main St Metra and L stops

Summer is the best time to visit Chicago, even if it's for work. Winter on the other hand...

I grew up in northern part of Evanston - Sheridan Place. In high school, I worked at the Dominick’s grocery store on Green Bay Rd.

Winters in Chicago are just brutal.

 

[electro992]

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions! Cranking these all in and trying to come up with a plan...wish I had months rather than weeks.

Where are you at in Chicago? We live in Evanston and have done 3 road trips for ~2 weeks over the last 3 summers, plus some shorter trips.

• Badlands, Black Hills/Mt Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone, Grand Teton. (We missed Wind Cave)
• Breckenridge CO, Grand Mesa CO, Moab, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce (and drove through Capitol Reef on the way home)
• Telluride/Ouray CO, Mesa Verde, Hovenweep, Taos NM, Santa Fe NM, Guadalupe NP, Big Bend NP, Mark Twain national forest

Will be starting out from my parents place in Wilmette near the Kenilworth Metra stop. I went to school at Northwestern, amazing how much that campus has changed in just the past few years.

 

[Volunteer]

A ton of great recommendations already. So much to see in the West

If I were looking to spend a significant amount of time off the pavement exploring these two.

• 2 Weeks - Grand Canyon then head South to Sedona (lots of great easy offroad trails, hiking and biking opportunities) we then made our way up to Interstate 40 and hit all the Route 66 stops to OK City until we had to split off and head South for home.

• 1 Week - agree with the others that recommended it. Head over to Messa Verde then head up to Ouray/Telluride/Silverton CO area I only spent a week but really needed two its an awesome area to spend some time.

Mostly on pavement beautiful National Park Experience

• 2 Weeks - Take the East Cody entrance into Yellowstone (Fishing Bridge is our favorite camping spot), then head South through Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole then down to Rocky MTN NP (we stay in Estes Park). From there head off for Colorado Springs to hit Pikes Peak, Garden Of The Gods.

My short list of next big trips would be the Grand Circle Tour of the Utah National Parks with a stop at the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum. Lots of great choices, safe travels

 

[Volunteer]

Also a side note on the Yellowstone/Glacier National Park area check for fire reports my parents were in Glacier this past weekend and they said the smoke from a local fire has visibility down to minimum they are headed for Yellowstone but diverting around fires.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/

 

[JohnJB]

Depending how you want to meander through the West, an often overlooked stop is Killpecker Sand Dunes (and its other geologic features) in WY, located about 25 miles north of Rock Springs, WY. If you're coming south from Yellowstone to CO, or traveling I80 in SW WY, it's not much out of the way. Pretty unique and you can string along about 40 to 60 miles on dirt/sand along, or not far off, your way.

 

[linuxgod]

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions! Cranking these all in and trying to come up with a plan...wish I had months rather than weeks.

Will be starting out from my parents place in Wilmette near the Kenilworth Metra stop. I went to school at Northwestern, amazing how much that campus has changed in just the past few years.

I agree. Given it takes 1.5-2 days to get out to the Rockies, it's easy to want months rather than weeks.

My favorite destination so far is Canyonlands NP. A great mix of hiking and offroad trails. Grand Teton was probably second for hiking (Yellowstone is awesome but Grand Teton is sooooo much less crowded). Best camping spot was in the national forest right on the east rim of the Grand Canyon in the northern section of the park.

Let me know when you're back - I'd love to meet face to face and hear about your trip. There are a few 200-series guys in the Chicago area including @Reckless and @GoISU.