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Mon Apr 05, 2010 11:11 am

I am heading out on a 4200 mile road trip in my westie, going from eastern Washington, down the coast to southern California, to PHX/Tucson, up to Montrose, CO, to Denver, and on to Minneapolis and ending in Michigan.

I am unfamiliar with most of the parts I'll be driving in, so if anyone close to that route could suggest some good safe places to park for the night? Also, if there are any recommended sights/stops/must-see's, that would be awesome. I will be trying to stay off the interstate, so if there's any particular highway I should take over another that would be great too :D

If anyone lives near this route and wants to talk Vanagon or drive together and sight see for a stretch, I would be open to that as well.

Mon Apr 05, 2010 11:17 am

route 166 from Grants Pass OR to Crescent City CA takes you through the Redwoods, unless you plan on going 101 all the way

Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:42 pm

If I am traveling and want to just pull over and sleep at night I will find a group of roadside hotels and use their parking lot. Pull in at 10pm and leave at 7 and no one will know you were there. You blend in with all the other travelers. It works well if you are traveling alone but not well if you're with a bunch of other people.

Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:50 pm

Of course, as stated in other threads, popping the top will make it more difficult to stealth camp, even in a parking lot at hotel.

Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:54 pm

I live in Colorado Springs and have taken my Westy all over SW Colorado and up through the mountains. There are too many "good" backwood places to camp and roads than I can write, but here are a few:

Durango to Ridgeway (Hwy 110)
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Cottonwood pass between Gunnison and Buena Vista
Sand Dunes (near Alamosa)
Fairplay to Breckenridge (Hwy 9) is a good drive too

With the exception of Black Canyon and the Dunes, there is always some forest service road you can travel downa nd find a good camping spot.

Hope that helps.

Mon Apr 05, 2010 3:14 pm

Small town airports, church parking lots, Walmarts, and if you are a volunteer fireman, a firehall.

Mon Apr 05, 2010 5:26 pm

This past summer we did some of the same route you're doing.
Microsoft Trips and Streets free trial for 60 days:
http://www.microsoft.com/streets/en-us/trial.aspx
Streets and Trips has almost all the forest service roads through the National forests, so it works great for this type of route planning.
I prefer Prescott/ Flagstaff to Tucson/ Phoenix, especially for free camping.

Sun May 16, 2010 5:24 pm

If you're in Phx you can send us a PM.

Sun May 16, 2010 5:52 pm

I am located in Grand rapids MI. When and where will your trip end?

Sun May 16, 2010 5:57 pm

In in SoCal (Ventura) so your welcome to stay the night at my place.

Sun May 16, 2010 6:03 pm

joeboxer428 wrote: If anyone lives near this route and wants to talk Vanagon or drive together and sight see for a stretch, I would be open to that as well.

Hey, I live along the route, but whereabouts are you in the trip? Solve that trouble you had earlier?

Sun May 16, 2010 6:35 pm

fastwagens wrote: I am located in Grand rapids MI. When and where will your trip end?

The trip is going to pause in Grand Haven actually because my Grandmother lives there... so not to far from you! Maybe we'll do coffee and van talk :) I should be there around the 15th of June.

j8, I am currently in Phoenix, heading north starting tomorrow. My Westy is running great now, and has been for the last 1200 miles. I ended up stranded for a week and had to do the heads and re-seat the valves :shock: but a nice family took me in, fed me and let me sleep on their couch :D I'm heading up to Sedona and then the four corners on my way to Montrose, CO.

I wish that I could keep up on a thread for people to follow on here, but if anyone is interested in following me, my blog is: Journeyofmatter.blogspot.com

Sun May 16, 2010 6:52 pm

If you are in WI, I've got land and elec and water hook ups.

Plus a shop with a lift to look the van over.

Jeff

Sun May 16, 2010 6:53 pm

So much works out in the world thanks to the goodness in people. Glad you're on the road.

Thanks for the blog link!

Tue May 18, 2010 3:35 pm

Well... tow #3 and I'm killing time while the mechanic figures out why there's no spark. Anyone know of any good free camping spots in northeast Arizona?

Tue May 18, 2010 3:50 pm

Kaibab is full of them. Don't know if the road is open though.
PM for GPS coords of a few I've used if you like. South on 67 just look for roads.

Tue May 18, 2010 3:52 pm

If you are in cities keep hospitals in mind, they are great places to camp and they are used to rv's and the like due to poeple getting stuck there when they are sick.

If you bypass denver a bit and head down the road about 30 mins to Boulder you can park at my condo and no one will care at all, just pm me if you need an address.

Tue May 18, 2010 4:09 pm

Lots of Forest Service runs near Montrose, I pulled off onto one in my Honda last year and slept. Probably more BLM areas in northwestern CO that you can pull into also. Same with Utah, lots of BLM land and roads to go on to find a place.

I am going partially that same way next week, starting from Boise, stopping for night in SL,UT and then spending a night somewhere near Montrose, then going to Valley View hot springs in CO for memorial day weekend.

Tue May 18, 2010 4:12 pm

And I know this thread on Stealth camping (among other things) as some recommendations on camping on the CA coast and in general

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=366057&highlight=stealth