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Do we have a generic 'things foreigners should do in the western USA' thread? If not here's one. The great nation of Canuckistan is giving me the boot, and I'm driving down to Los Angeles in May/June for few weeks/months and then heading up to Montana to live for a year or so. This is a good chance to explore the States so I figure I'll take a few weeks getting down and then a few heading back up. I have a Nissan Pathfinder (manual 4WD) that should make the trip and will be converting it into the most cramped camper van ever, and plan on doing quite a bit of stealth camping.  The google map is a vague boundary, and the plan is to meander wherever looks good. I'm really interested in weird food, mountains, hiking, camping, fishing, mountain biking (packed into the car somehow), pointing at animals (and not being eaten by them), odd vegetation, campfires and the weird poo poo you find out in the middle of nowhere. There's a bunch of travel books and resources, but what cool poo poo would goons recommend that I'd miss otherwise? I figure there's about 4-5 days of moderately hard driving each way, plus two or three weeks to stop and see/do poo poo. I'd like to find a secluded lake and just chill out for a few days at some point. I'm also on a budget and used to roughing it, so won't be staying in fancy hotels. Most national parks seem to charge a camping fee of ~$20+ even if it's just an empty space with a port-a-potty which is absurd... so what's the deal with car camping/wild camping etc? If I park off the side of the road or go down a logging road am I going to get a lot of hassle? Are there any other pointers for travel in the states that should come up? I've driven across Australia and Europe, and backpacked across Latin America for literally years, so I'm looking more at US specific issues. If this thread gets any love I'll rework the OP to be a bit more generic. Outrail fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Jan 31, 2017 |
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Jan 31, 2017 06:35
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Any reason your skipping the California coast? Also, might as well go big or go home and drive all the way to Mexico just for the gently caress of it. It's a lot cooler to get kicked out of Canada then road trip it alllll the way across the country. Why stop at LA? I say go all the way. Socal is cool, I hear. Plus it just makes a better story. Have you ever tried couchsurfing? It's a good way to get out of your shell and meet random locals, plus a free place to sleep. It's courtesy to give something back, like clean their bathroom or some random thing. If your not interested in people, and are trying to get away from people, the camping thing is definitely the way to do it. Though I suspect you'll be hungry for socialization after fishing at a random lake for 3 days. Detailed topographical maps are what you want if your looking for a secluded lake, but you might have to hike. Or do what the cool kids do, and scout around on google earth, then go there for real. If your trying to drive up to it make sure there's an accessible road. Then there's the whole 'private property' issue which could foil you. Mind if I ask why your getting kicked out of Canada? Visa is up? I LIKE COOKIE fucked around with this message at 08:46 on Jan 31, 2017 |
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Jan 31, 2017 08:41
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I guess that's a rough itinerary and you're looking for things nearby? There's Joshua Tree NP, Death Valley, Tahoe, Monument Valleu, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone, etc that are all a couple/few hours out of your route that are great and worth driving around in, but I guess they're pretty obvious. I hope you meant you just won't -stay- in the national parks, because if you go to the area and don't go in the park to not pay the entrance fee then it's a bigger waste of money to drive there in the first place. I don't think you'll come across anything in the US you haven't already experienced. Just watch out for speeding or cops'll eventually get you on a trip this long, and if you have foreign plates that might make them harder on you (to make sure you actually pay the fine). Drive down highway 1 from SF to LA. There's a cool beach with a ton of elephant seals just near Hearst Castle which is worth stopping at for half an hour. There are a bunch of hidden beaches in the cliffs around that area too, north of Hearst Castle up until Pebble Beach, but some places are private property so please respect signs. I've been to some secluded spot there but can't remember specifically where it was. The freeway through the Central Valley sucks unless you really love seeing endless, flat farmland with mountains in the far hazy difference. Saladman fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Jan 31, 2017 |
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Jan 31, 2017 11:15
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Yeah my, visa's up and no chance of renewal. I've been to San Diego and Tijuana before and have no interest in doing that again, and don't want to extend into Mexico as I'll be doing that from the south at some point. Definitly will hit the beach, the route map was just plugged into google directions, I don't expect to follow it closely (or at all). Yeah, I've been couch surfing on and off for years now, is the site pretty good in the US or do people just want to meet for coffee? I've found over the years it's turned from a hosting/meeting site into more of a casual social media platform. Is it legal/accepted to pick up hitchhikers?
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Jan 31, 2017 16:38
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Hitchhiking is illegal in several states (not sure which) though afaik only for the hitchhiker and not for picking them up. You're reasonably likely to not even see a single one on your entire trip, especially so since you're not going to campgrounds. I can't imagine how terrible of an experience it must be to hitchhike the American southwest in late spring/early summer, but even the few people who think it's romantic*~*~Kerouac aren't going to be sticking their thumb up on the side of the highway.
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Jan 31, 2017 16:53
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I imagine I'll end up at campgrounds out of laziness/convenience, but there's free barebones campgrounds and unofficial areas all over BC so I'm hoping for something like that. A friend wants to come with me but probably can't, and as much as I like my own company I'm going to get bored with myself at some point and/or need help paying for gas. Picking up a sexually curious college graduate on the road to finding herself is probably out of the realm of possibility but I've got tentative hopes on a surly middle aged drifter who won't cut my throat for the change in the ashtray when we pull over to look at a map. Has anyone here been through the Montana/Idaho/Nevada area? Cool abandoned towns or out of the way hiking trails? Edit: And Utah I guess. Outrail fucked around with this message at 18:11 on Jan 31, 2017 |
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Jan 31, 2017 18:03
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Outrail posted:Has anyone here been through the Montana/Idaho/Nevada area? Cool abandoned towns or out of the way hiking trails? Nevada, yes. A lot of ghost towns tho a lot have been reclaimed for mining in recent years or just getting run down even further. Unfortunately I just can't think of them since its probably been 10-15 years since I've been. I'd suggest just googling Nevada ghost towns and stuff.e 1) Get a national park pass, it's like $80 and will be repaid easily. It works on national parks, monuments, etc https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm 2) For WA/OR/California, definitely take 1/101 and not I5. I5 is boring as poo poo and the coast is beautiful. Lot of stuff to see that I can't even list, from Point Ryes Nt Seashore to Monterey Aquarium to Hearst Castle to other nice beaches and stuff. It will probably add an extra day or more with increased travel time and stops along the way. Also spend a few days in SF as well, lot of things to do and great fantastic food and plenty of hikes in the area. I can recommend more things for the SF Bay Area since I live here. 3) Once you finish up Vegas, plan on spending at least 3 days in Southern Utah. Zion NP is a must see, Bryce is also close-ish and good. Lot of other ones too but once youve seen cool sandstone youve kind of seen them all but if you want theres others as well. 4) Once you finish up Utah National Parks, you might awnt to consider going up to Yellowstone if you've never been, doing Teton and hikes there and then going over to Glacier afterwards. Idaho has some OK things but nothing amazing and it's mostly a lovely state. Unfortunately outside of like Yellowstone and poo poo, you are not going to see much interesting flora or fauna besides some cactii and sage brush once you get into the interior-west. And food is going to mostly suck outside of major OR/WA/CA cities, tho I've had surprisingly good pizza in middle of no where places. I'll give it some more thought and try to think of more specific things. One thing I actually liked in Utah was Topaz Mountain http://www.utahoutdooractivities.com/topaz.html where you can just find topazs and stuff all over the place (though rockpick is handy) and kind of a weird thing. There's also a Garnet Hill in NV somewhere that has a lot of garnets (or used to) Xaris fucked around with this message at 07:43 on Feb 1, 2017 |
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Feb 1, 2017 07:36
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This was a really interesting trip if a little hokey (but it sounds like it might be right up your alley and if you're looking to stop over in Vegas its right outside). The tour guides were really knowledgeable about the area and went into some local history as well as taking you through the mine, the scenery was pretty, there are cheap little tchotchkes you can pick up in the gift store. I will note that this whole area is dry, dry dry. You will not notice how painfully dry. Buy a case of bottled water and force yourself to drink. You will be dehydrated before you know it.
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Feb 1, 2017 17:34
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National Parks card look sweet. If I hit Yellowstone and camp two nights it pays for itself already. How can anyone not have one of those? I think between google and the rest of the internet there should be a few old places I can find. Planning on skipping Vegas unless I meet people to hang out with. I'm not really a gambler and hanging out in a tourist trap by yourself is usually pretty boring unless you stay at a hostel for a few days and make some short term friends. Zion looks cool though, I'm checking that out. How's security in that stretch of the woods? I'm hoping I can fit everything inside the cab, but my mountain bike probably won't fin and I want to hit cross country trail along the way. If I've got it chained up with the wheels off will people still bolt cut it off or will that be reasonably safe? Probably not if I'm car camping in big cities?
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Feb 2, 2017 05:12
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Outrail posted:National Parks card look sweet. If I hit Yellowstone and camp two nights it pays for itself already. How can anyone not have one of those? Skipping Vegas is probably a good idea if its going to be out of your way, but it is sort of gorgeous and disgusting in a wasteful american excess sort of way with cool flashy lights and extravagant casinos surrounded by garbage track housing and strip malls as far as the eye can see. I don't gamble but I enjoyed spending a day just walking around inside various casinos around the strip and stuff. If its on your way, might not hurt just to drop by and spend 1 night there but not any more than that. What stretch of the woods? Should be fine, but also make sure you have a solid beefy U-Lock that you can lock it up, both to your car rack or just using it. Do not use combo locks or chain + padlocks as your only means of locking, that's asking for trouble. If you do take 1/01 down and hit up SF Bay Area, it's not mountain biking but there are a lot of nice biking trails in Marin and biking through parts of SF like along the embarcadero up around the marina to presidio and down the coast is cool Xaris fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Feb 2, 2017 |
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Feb 2, 2017 09:58
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Outrail posted:How's security in that stretch of the woods? I'm hoping I can fit everything inside the cab, but my mountain bike probably won't fin and I want to hit cross country trail along the way. If I've got it chained up with the wheels off will people still bolt cut it off or will that be reasonably safe? Probably not if I'm car camping in big cities? People will cut your poo poo in the big cities but out in the National Parks or any non-urban area you will be fine especially if you take the wheels off and lock it up.
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Feb 3, 2017 19:18
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Yeah, that makes sense. Guess I can strip the wheels and pedals, then fit the frame in the front seat when I'm sleeping. Gonna be a tight fit.
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Feb 3, 2017 21:12
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If I recall correctly most parks, National Forests, and other BLM land have provisions for free "unimproved" camping. In actual parks I think you need a (free?) permit but most other public lands just limit you to 14 days at any one site, and you're free to pitch a tent wherever. The $20 or whatever parks will charge is basically just for the amenities of an improved site, like...roads, toilets, and a water supply.
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Feb 8, 2017 19:36
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Tahoe? It's only an hour to hour and a half drive from Sacramento. There's the Pacific Crest Trail which is like the West's version of the Appalachian Trail, and just Tahoe itself is beautiful at any time of year. Sand Harbor:  Emerald Bay:  There's parties and night clubs at South Lake at the casinos if that's your thing also. If you want a secluded lake: Fallen Leaf Lake which is about another hour drive away from Tahoe (though realistically it's only separated by a small mountain). I've been there where my then girlfriend and I had the lake to ourselves midday, but there will probably be people on canoes or something. There's other little lakes around the area too if you Google a bit, but I can't speak to those.  Nevada is excellent for free BLM camping. I was just arguing about this on Facebook so I have the link handy: https://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/recreation/camping.html Everything not color coded (ie the yellow that makes up the majority) is BLM land I believe, but double check:  The wilderness can be pretty unforgiving in the north and south of the state if you're doing BLM camping, so just try to be prepared for that. Bodie near the central eastern CA border is one of the most well known ghost towns: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509 Redfish Lake in Idaho is awesome, but it's a ways out from your drive you listed: 
Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Feb 8, 2017 |
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Feb 8, 2017 20:42
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That is solid, awesome advice. Great link. So basically I can free camp almost anywhere in Nevada? Is it usually stupidly cold or hot in Nevada or a it milder in late may/June? Average temperature isn't much good if it switched g's alot. I'm used to the cold in Canada, and used to work in the Australian Outback so handle - 10C to +45C but... Yeah. Chilling out in hammock by that lake for a few would be amazing.
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Feb 9, 2017 00:18
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Outrail posted:So basically I can free camp almost anywhere in Nevada? Camping anywhere - Yeah for the most part. Here's more info: https://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/more_programs/geographic_sciences/maps.html and a better map: https://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/nv/gis/maps.Par.62206.File.dat/nv_reference_blm_cnty_11x17_2.pdf As far as temperature as a rule it's cold at night and hot during the day. Spring is usually pretty nice and relatively mild in northern Nevada, but I'd guess it's probably much hotter in southern Nevada. I've done camping around that time in the Sierras around Tahoe and it was fine with a good sleeping bag, a warm change of clothes, and some shorts and a t-shirt. 45C in Vegas is a very real possibility, but maybe someone else will have better information than me on that. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Feb 9, 2017 |
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Feb 9, 2017 17:52
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Sweet, I'm going to be so filthy by the time I get to LA. The hoon meet threads are pretty dead, are there any active threads with people in the area? Wouldn't mind meeting up with some red state goons.
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Feb 9, 2017 21:09
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If you like mountains and lakes, and don't mind or enjoy hiking, it would be a shame to miss out on the eastern Sierra Nevada. You could drive up 395 from LA all the way up to Tahoe, then cross over to the west and back track down south on 101 -> highway 1 to see Big Sur before continuing on North. You could also go up 395 to Tahoe, then head back south a bit to cross over on 120 through Yosemite, go down to SEKI from there, then drive to like ~San Luis Obispo or thereabouts and go up highway 1 from there. I guess one problem here is that it snowed like a motherfucker this year and a lot of the high sierra will be completely covered in snow until mid July, probably. Anyway there are a shitzillion absolutely gorgeous wilderness areas in the western US, and a lot of the most scenic ones are not necessarily in national parks (though some are). I think the main limiting factors will be the months you are traveling (mountains are easiest logistically July-September generally), how much time you have, whether or not you are interested in heading into the backcountry for a long day hike or overnight+ trips, and what kind of experience you have, and most important whether you want to hike or not. I would recommend maybe just checking out all the designated wilderness areas in addition to national parks in the states you are crossing through and then see what piques your interest and go from there. For example some extremely beautiful places in CA that are outside national parks include: Ansel Adams Wilderness (part of Inyo national forest) Large parts of Inyo National Forest east of Bishop -> Mammoth Lakes Hoover Wilderness (north of Yosemite) Desolation Wilderness (near Tahoe) Trinity Alps Wilderness (north/central california, not far from Lassen Volcanic NP) Marble Mountain Wilderness (north/west Cali, not far from the big redwood parks) All of the big redwood parks up north, which are mostly in state owned land and not any national park Highway 1 from at least ~San Simeon to Monterey through Big Sur is mandatory imo, and can be easily done in 1 day The situation is similar in other states. For example the only national park in Oregon is Crater Lake NP, but areas like Eagle Cap Wilderness, and Three Sisters Wilderness (and others) have some of the most beautiful scenery you can find. In Washington, while the NPs are stunning (and Mt. Rainier NP is mandatory), there are places no less beautiful (and arguably more beautiful) in e.g. Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Glacier Peak Wilderness, and others. There are also national parks, like Kings Canyon NP in CA and North Cascades NP in WA, where most of the sights are in the backcountry so you won't get so much by just driving to/through them. The problem with a lot of these places is they (by law) have no roads through them; however there are roads *to* them and in many cases there are trailheads that you can start a really nice day hike from, within a 1 hour drive from a major highway. If you want to primarily drive through nice places and stop for just quick photo/rest breaks or short walks, it can be better overall to stick to national parks or scenic highways. But if longish day hikes or overnight tips are OK and you can spend a full day in more or less the same area, some (or most) of the nicest places in the country are in designated wilderness areas. There are LOTS of these, and average locals & tourists don't necessarily know about them (though everyone knows about the national parks), so even the "busy" places have post-nuclear-apocalypse crowd levels compared to Yosemite or Yellowstone in the summer. Like on a "busy" trail in the Ansel Adams Wilderness last summer i saw maybe 20-30 people. Yosemite Valley at the same time had literally thousands.
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Mar 20, 2017 07:36
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Absolutely take 101/1 through California if you can. I've been living in Humboldt County for four years and you'd be missing out on some absolute beauty. Redwood State/National Park is up here along with several other choice state parks, tons of big trees, hiking, and beaches. May and June are excellent times, weather along the coast is warm but not hot, usually foggy in the morning/evening and sun during the day.
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Mar 21, 2017 05:39
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I don't wander in here often, so I'm bumping your thread. If you're interested in Utah I'm a lifelong resident so I'm your Huckleberry. First a few things: Despite what you may have heard it is not impossible to get a drink/get drunk here. They're a bit weird about public intox and you can't walk down the street with a beer in hand, but at your own campsite you'd be fine. Our politics are terrible but people are generally friendly. If you want to do a particular kind of recreation, we probably have it all with the exception of surfing depending on what time of year you show up. You can ski at resorts (sometimes as late as July!) if snowpack is sufficient. This year was good and we're still getting snowfall in higher elevations, but they may be shut down by the time you get here. Don't be surprised though if you still find heavy snowpack in higher elevations. We have some drat pretty scenery. National Parks like Zion, Arches and Bryce Canyon are all good places to go if you're ok with the fees. You can be in a National Forest within 15 minutes of leaving downtown Salt Lake, and wouldn't know there's a bustling city. You can fish, hike, mountain climb and camp in the canyons close to the city, though expect that they will be busy on weekends. Weekdays are better. If you want to avoid idiots and fat suburbanites I suggest getting off the beaten path though. Instead of taking 1-15 all the way down, get your rear end to Highway 6 south from Spanish Fork Canyon. It has a bad reputation as a dangerous road, but that's because of morons. They've done a lot of improvements and lane widening so there are more passing lanes. Head towards Price, then south again towards Huntington. Out here you'll find the Cleveland-Lloyd dinosaur quarry. There's also a museum in Price if you want to see bigass dino bones. Up Huntington canyon (west of the town) is fantastic camping and fishing. A fire went through a couple years ago so it's not fully recovered, but you can camp at designated sites off the road for free. Some of them have toilets and an area called The Forks has toilets and running water. A section of the river is fly/artificial lure only so pay attention to the signs. There are also 2 reservoirs towards the top if you want to get some lake fishing on. If you keep heading south from Huntington you can get to the San Rafael Swell, which is a very desert-y area that contains petroglyphs. Butch Cassidy did some running around in this area and supposedly there's some hidden loot he never came back for. You can camp here too, but be sure to bring extra water. Both of these places get really loving cold at night, even if it's hot during the day so plan accordingly. Down here you'll also find Goblin Valley. It's a very hosed-up landscape. No matter what time of day or year you go it's like an alien planet. Once we went and there was some German technopunk band filming a video wearing these silver spacesuits and facepaint scaring the poo poo out of Japanese tourists. GIS it. You can also get to Moab which has famous slickrock mountain biking. You can hook back up with I-15 from I-70 and get down to where Zion and the other NP's are, plus Lake Powell for more fishing. Then exit your way to Vegas. Or do it in reverse if you're coming from Nevada. e: for fishing you'll need a non-resident license, which are available in 1, 3, and 7 day flavors. Fishing proclamation is here: https://wildlife.utah.gov/utah-fishing-guidebook.html which gives you the bag limits and regs. Some bodies of water have special limitations or free-for-alls if they're doing work, so check the website prior to doing any fishing. You can buy them directly from the state's website or generally any sporting goods store or place like Walmart will sell them too. SubponticatePoster fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Apr 20, 2017 |
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Apr 20, 2017 00:00
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HW 395 is also an amazingly beautiful drive down as well. You can head through Tahoe into Carson Valley and then take it all way down to LA, maybe hit up Death Valley on the way down. Either stick to the coast or Eastern Sierras, do not go down the central valley.
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Apr 20, 2017 21:21
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FCKGW posted:Either stick to the coast or Eastern Sierras, do not go down the central valley. Good advice for road trips and for life.
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Apr 21, 2017 03:28
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