What To Do On The Way West.....

[traveldawg]

It seems more and more folks are looking for routes west, things to do in Utah (National Parks), Wyoming (more national parks), and what to see at those places and how long to stay.

So what about the trip to and from.... Do folks just motor on out and back without stopping? Do they think there is nothing on the way from the eastern states to Utah, Wyoming, northern Arizona & such? Or maybe they just don't want to take the time between their eastern homes and the western attractions to sightsee oddities.

In this thread lets list places NOT IN UTAH, WYOMING or NORTHERN ARIZONA and NOT NATIONAL PARKS. Instead, tell us about some of the lesser know places to stop or visit. The guidelines would be those above with maybe a focus on what in states like Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and North & South Dakota.

Here are some examples...

Hutchinson, Kansas - salt mines
Regent, ND - the Enchanted Highway
Cooperstown, ND - Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site

Happy trails....... try going where there aren't crowds.....

[livinthelife]

Corn Palace - Mitchell, SD
Earthquake Lake - Cameron, MT
Geographic center of contiguous states - Lebanon, KS

[SmallBoxMaker]

One of my favorites - Carhenge in Alliance, NE. See https://carhenge.com/

[powerscol]

Custer state park SD Near Mt Rushmore. Badlands, Black Hills area. Lots of places north and south of I90.

[John612]

Death Valley & Mt Whitney in Eastern CA.
115 miles apart, lowest point in the Western Hemisphere to tallest mountain in the lower 48.

[Flip94ta]

Watch the four seasons of Deadwood on HBO and then stop in Deadwood, SD and have a drink at The Gem. Less than one hour south of I-90.

[cruisinTx]

It sort of pains me you left out Texas; you know how we are. But I'll get over it.

FWIW here are a few things around Texas that I think are well worth taking a slightly southern route to get from the east to your western destinations. I'll try to list these from north to south as I live north of Amarillo where I am more familiar with attractions than farther south.

Alibates National Flint Quarries & Monument-near Fritch (my home)

Lake Meredith; holding state records for walleye and small mouth bass-also near Fritch

Palo Duro Canyon State Park-east of Canyon. the second largest Canyon in the lower 48 & setting for
the outdoor play Texas.

Caprock Canyons State Park ~8 miles north of Quitaque (pronounced kitty-quay) home of the official state bison herd.

Copper Breaks State Park-near Quannah. Sort of a hidden gem.

Lake Fork- DFW area & well known for some of the best black bass fishing in the state.

Hill country-encompasses a huge area in the center of the state created by an ancient granite dome (The Enchanted Rock) and home to many great attractions like the strong German influences in Fredericksburg, The Alamo in San Antonio, huge fields of bluebonnets (bloom peak April through May) and of course Enchanted Rock State Park. And if you are into motorcycling or trikes, the twisty roads of the hill country are phenomenal. The best known of those would be three FM roads 335, 336 and 337 bearing the moniker, "the Twisted Sisters" with over 600 curves in approximately 150 miles. Even if I40 may be as far south as you want to go there are some very fun twisty roads in the Panhandle I'd be happy to share if biking is your cup-O-tea and you bring one in or behind your RV.

[traveldawg]

It sort of pains me you left out Texas; you know how we are. But I'll get over it.

FWIW here are a few things around Texas that I think are well worth taking a slightly southern route to get from the east to your western destinations. I'll try to list these from north to south as I live north of Amarillo where I am more familiar with attractions than farther south.

Alibates National Flint Quarries & Monument-near Fritch (my home)

Lake Meredith; holding state records for walleye and small mouth bass-also near Fritch

Palo Duro Canyon State Park-east of Canyon. the second largest Canyon in the lower 48 & setting for
the outdoor play Texas.

Caprock Canyons State Park ~8 miles north of Quitaque (pronounced kitty-quay) home of the official state bison herd.

Copper Breaks State Park-near Quannah. Sort of a hidden gem.

Lake Fork- DFW area & well known for some of the best black bass fishing in the state.

Hill country-encompasses a huge area in the center of the state created by an ancient granite dome (The Enchanted Rock) and home to many great attractions like the strong German influences in Fredericksburg, The Alamo in San Antonio, huge fields of bluebonnets (bloom peak April through May) and of course Enchanted Rock State Park. And if you are into motorcycling or trikes, the twisty roads of the hill country are phenomenal. The best known of those would be three FM roads 335, 336 and 337 bearing the moniker, "the Twisted Sisters" with over 600 curves in approximately 150 miles. Even if I40 may be as far south as you want to go there are some very fun twisty roads in the Panhandle I'd be happy to share if biking is your cup-O-tea and you bring one in or behind your RV.

I wasn't pickin' on ya.... I was just thinking further north in some more remote states. Oh wait - West TX - that's pretty remote!!!! haha....

see you in San Antonio and Big Bend in March. I'll won't be stopping at our usual steak place - Big Texan in Amarillo.

[Txfivver]

I wasn't pickin' on ya.... I was just thinking further north in some more remote states. Oh wait - West TX - that's pretty remote!!!! haha....

see you in San Antonio and Big Bend in March. I'll won't be stopping at our usual steak place - Big Texan in Amarillo.

Nice! Make sure give us a holler, would be great to meet you Larry.

[orbiker]

I know this might not be what you are looking for Larry, but there are sights like this all over the great USA.

World's Largest Ball of Twine Cawker City, Kansas



I haven't been there yet. KEN