The Ultimate Cross Country Roadtrip

Ready for adventure my friends Ben, Max, and I set out for exactly three weeks. In 21 days we covered over 8000 miles, went through 19 different states, and were able to visit 10 national parks. This is how we did it. Just some precursors a lot of popular National Parks require reservations to enter due to the influx of visitors now. Since we did not know when we would arrive we reserved our entries TWO DAYS PRIOR TO OUR ARRIVAL DATE. The parks save about 30% of their timed entry reservations to be released TWO DAYS PRIOR. That is how we were able to get into most of these parks and how we recommend you get in as well. We also were driving a Toyota Tacoma which came in handy with the 4 wheel drive. You definitely don't need 4 wheel drive but it did help us in some places we traveled to. Throughout the trip we only payed for a hotel ONE NIGHT. That is because we camped every night using the app iOverlander which tells you where there are dispersed campsites. Dispersed campsites are essentially free campsites, first come first serve. There are many options when you get out West and definitely recommend camping rather than paying for hotels. Anyways here is the itinerary we followed.

Our route across the country and back

Day  1: New Jersey ▶️ Chicago

Coming from New Jersey we decided to drive straight to Chicago. We were on the road by 8 am switching drivers every few hours since there were 3 of us. On the way we stopped at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Which I never knew existed. It sits right outside of Akron,

Ohio and is a great stop for a short hike. After about 12 hours of driving plus an hour in stops for gas and a break, we made it to Chicago. By recommendation we had some Giordanos classic deep dish pizza. Which after having, definitely recommend trying if you're ever in Chicago. After the pizza we stayed at a friends place in downtown and hit the hay.

Some Giordano's Deep Dish Pizza, Ben looking ready to demolish it

Day 2: Chicago ▶️ Lake McConaughy, Nebraska

Switched plans and decided to drive to Nebraska rather than all the way to Colorado considering that would've been a brutal drive. We found a campsite near the border of Nebraska and Colorado called Lake McConaughy. We booked our campsite online for only $20 and drove straight there. Lake McConaughy is this huge reservoir out in the middle of nowhere Nebraska but very beautiful. We arrived around sunset pitched our tent, made dinner, and called it a night. Total driving time about 12 hours.

Day 3: Lake McConaughy, Nebraska ▶️ Estes Park, Colorado

Woke up to a beautiful freight train blasting its horn for 30 minutes straight, packed up camp and hit the road. We decided to cut through Cheyenne, Wyoming the capital of Wyoming then head south to Denver from there. So we went further West entering Cheyenne a beautiful well kept city. We had lunch here right by the capitol building and forged on. We entered Denver and walked around. Then stopped for coffee in Boulder, nice community feel here. We started driving up into the foothills of the Rockies from here finding a campsite on iOverlander. An amazing app which tells you places you can camp for FREE. Since we were entering Rocky Mountain National Park the next day we found a campsite near Estes Park which is right outside the park. This campsite definitely required 4WD to get to and we're glad we had it.

Our campsite right outside Estes Park, Colorado

Day 4: Estes Park Colorado ▶️ Rocky Mountain National Park

Woke up early and left our tent at are campsite. Drove over to Rocky Mountain National Park entered and took a shuttle to the trailhead of Sky Pond Hike. Beautiful hike highly recommend it if you're ever in the park. It was about 8 miles out and back and a fair amount of elevation gain but well worth the view and great alpine lake to jump in after.

Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park, perfect day

Day 5: Rocky Mountain National Park ▶️ Buena Vista, Colorado

This was our big 14er day. We'd decided the day before to hike Longs Peak which is one of the most difficult 14ers in Colorado. It requires high endurance and patience especially if you are doing it in a day which we were. We started our hike at 3 am right on time. By the time we started hiking the parking lot was nearly full at it was only 3:15 am. By 10 am we were on the summit tired happy and excited to go down. Finally, on a brutal descent ravaged by altitude sickness and fatigue we made it back to the parking lot by 3 pm. Just under 12 hours of hiking and according to my watch 4300 calories burned we were ready to sleep indefinitely. But we still had a long drive ahead of us. We still had to drive to Buena Vista, Colorado about a 4 hour drive since we were going to be rafting there the next day. Feeling tired and quite dirty we bought a shower pass at the Estes Park Community Center which was very nice. After the shower we drove to Buena Vista going straight to bed after we set up our tent.

Day 6: Buena Vista Colorado ▶️ Arches National Park

We drove over to our White Water raft guide. We went with Wilderness Aware Rafting and had an incredible experience. We decided to raft the Numbers section on the Arkansas River. Which varies in Class 3-4 rapids even reaching up to Class 5 at points. This was an awesome experience and highly recommend you check out the cool Whitewater rafting out there. After the rafting we got in the car for another long drive all the way to Utah as were camping right outside Arches National Park. On the way before we officially left Colorado we stopped at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. A last second find on the map it sits not too fat from the border of Colorado and Utah. It is an exceptional park with these vast canyons. Not much to do but drive through the scenic road which was incredible. Quick and well worthy stop, if you could stop. We got in late and went to bed right away.

The famous canyons at Black Canyon at Gunnison National Park

Day 7: Arches National Park ▶️ Bonneville Salt Flats 

We awoke to another beautiful morning with a great view of the South Six Shooter peak pictured here. After breakfast we drove over to Moab to get some coffee. We went to Arches National Park as well as Canyonlands. Then we drove all the way to Salt Lake City as were losing our first member of the roadtrip, Max. He was flying home after driving out with us. So we dropped him off at the airport and drove onto the Bonneville Salt Flats just Ben and I. We set up our tent near the Salt Flat and went to bed.

4WD road right outside of Arches National Park

Day 8: Bonneville Salt Flats ▶️ Yosemite National Park

Another great day we didn't have much planned except driving over the Salt Flats and making our way to Yosemite. So we drove super fast across the Salt Flats which is just an incredible place to see firsthand. We made sure to wash our car after, its important to get all that salt out under your car. Then we drove through for hours through Nevada and made it Yosemite to catch a beautiful sunset near half dome. We camped right outside the park in a dispersed campsite which was quite nice.

Day 9: Yosemite National Park

Awoke and drove over to the park entrance which was already backed up at 8:30 am. After we entered we drove through the Valley which opened up to El Cap just towering over everything in the park. Was hard to fathom how somebody could've climbed up it let alone with no ropes (Alex Honnold). After parking we walked over to Yosemite Falls and passed some smaller walls which had some climbers on them. So we decided to get our climbing gear out and climb in Yosemite! We did exactly that climbing some single pitch trad routes which were just incredible. With a view of half dome to our right we climbed for a few hours then drove over our new campsite which we managed to book within the park called Tamarack Flats campground. It was very covered by plenty of trees and had great amenities, thanks to the gracious Park Rangers.

Day 10: Yosemite National Park ▶️ San Francisco

Before we left the amazing park of Yosemite we decided to go climb some more which we did. After some climbing we drove over to San Francisco where we were staying with a friend for two nights to recuperate and pick up the next member of our roadtrip my friend Alex. We made it to San Francisco pretty early and enjoyed our first night in a bed after 10 days.

Day 11: San Francisco

As we awoke to the sounds of people rather than the typical birds chirping in the woods we drove into the actual city. We had dinner then made our way to the airport where the next member of our trip would be joining us for a short 4 days. We picked up Alex and did the touristy things downtown including Lombard street, Fishermans Wharf, the Painted Ladys Houses.

Day 12: San Francisco ▶️ Redwoods National Park

We said goodbye to San Francisco and our nice sleep in beds and starting moving north towards Oregon. Initially we'd planned to simply go straight to Crater Lake National Park but we realized Redwoods National Park would be slightly out of the way but still possible. So we drove over to Redwoods which was an incredible experience and hiked down into the grove where the ancient redwoods reside. To enter the grove you need to drive down a 7 mile dirt road which requires a permit to enter since there is a gate with a code you need to input. Graciously an older couple let us through as they were leaving and we managed to get in. Felt powerful to be around such long living specimens and definitely recommend getting that permit so you could really see those beautiful trees for yourself. After we left we found a campsite right on the beach of Oregon and went to bed to a lull of waves crashing against the shore. We'd made it all the way cross country officially.

Massive Redwoods grove on a perfect day

Day 13: Redwoods National Park ▶️ Cannon Beach, Oregon

The following day we hit Crater Lake National Park and planned on going to Portland then camping around Cannon Beach. We did just that getting to Cannon beach later in the day and having an amazing dinner at the Wayfarer Restaurant and Lounger. It is on the pricier side but well worth it as the seafood was fresh and delicious. After dinner we had a bonfire on the famous beach near the famous rock structure. Then we went to bed

Day 14: Cannon Beach, Oregon ▶️ Mt. Adams, Washington 

This was the last day for Alex so we drove back to Portland and stopped at a gym to shower so Alex wouldn't smell horrific on his flight. We dropped Alex off in the Portland Airport and we went to acquire some things we'd need as we were preparing to climb Mt. Adams in the next two days. Mt. Adams is the second tallest mountain in Washington State and is covered in snow. So we needed to rent crampons and boots, while we already had our own ice axes + helmets. We went to the Mountain Shop in Portland and were so happy we did. Great staff and super cheap rentals $30 a person for crampons and mountaineering boots for three days! Great service and highly recommend them as your stop for rentals. After getting our gear we drove over to Mt. Adams relishing at its height just over 12,000 feet but over 5,000 feet of vertical gain which we would be climbing in two days. We camped out at the base of the mountain and called it a day.

Day 15: Mt. Adams, Washington

We drove to the trailhead parked and put our packs on. We hit the trail by 11 am since we were only hiking halfway today up to the Lunch Counter where we'd be camping. However, while it was prob around 80 degrees hiking up the snowpack with the sun reflecting off the snow made it feel as if it was 110 degrees. The entire way up the snow was slushy and we were just post-holing ur way through the hike. After we made it to the lunch counter we setup camp and went to bed hoping to get an early start the next day

Our campsite on Mt. Adams at the Lunch Counter

Day 16: Mt. Adams Washington ▶️ Portland, Oregon 

We got to hiking by 5:30 am which was perfect since the snow hardened up just enough for crampons to come in good use. We flew up the mountain summited and to our luck we were able to glissade down the mountain almost all the way back down. For those who don't know glissading means when you literally sit on our butt and slide down the snowpack you just arduously climbed up. It was amazing and we got down very quickly. After getting back to the car we started driving east as this was the end of our push west. From here on we would be driving back home, east to smaller mountains and plenty of sweaty humidity. We made it to ur first and only hotel which we'd booked and rested up.

Day 17: Portland, Oregon ▶️ Glacier National Park

Waking up still in Oregon but eastern Oregon we decided to go home through the North until we made it back to Chicago. Then following the same route we took out West, back home. So we decided to go for Glacier National Park. We made it right outside the park by nightfall and found a beautiful dispersed camping spot on a pleasant river.

The middlefork of the Flathead River in Glacier National Park, right on the side of the

Going to the Sun Road

Day 18: Glacier National Park ▶️ Theodore Roosevelt National Park

We drove over to the park entrance entering the park and only being able to drive through the park since we had to be home in 3 days and we still had a lot of miles between us and home. After Glacier we set an ambitious goal and made it all the way to North Dakota not far outside Theodore Roosevelt National Park a very underrated park.

Day 19: Theodore Roosevelt National Park ▶️ Madison, Wisconsin

We woke up outside the park and drove through Theodore Roosevelt National Park clocking our 10th and final park of the trip. The park was incredible with so many Buffalo roaming the prairie. Saw a few ignorant tourists who got too close to these wild Buffalo. Apart from that it was incredible. After the park we drove straight to Madison, Wisconsin and booked a campsite at Lake Kengosa State Park. Great campsite with great amenities right outside of Madison.

Day 20-21: Madison, Wisconsin ▶️ New Jersey

These two days ended up blending together because we drove on this last day from Madison, Wisconsin all the way back to New Jersey. Totaling 16 hours in the car. Not much to say from this day except we were on the brink of stopping in the middle of nowhere and going to bed but we made it home at 4:30 am right before the sun began to rise. Tired and happy that the trip ended so well.

If you read this far and need any links or more information. Don't hesitate to ask!!!

You can email at dennisvink8@gmail.com or comment below