USA 2018 - The Southwest
Tour facts
Hotel review
Date of the tour: Beginning of October 2018
Start and end point: Denver
Flight: Nuremberg - Frankfurt - Denver (Lufthansa)
Car: Booked SFAR (Standard SUV) with Alamo via ADAC - we got a Jeep Wrangler Sahara.
Duration of the tour: 16 days
*****
****
***
**
*
Very good, everything fit here
Good, we felt comfortable
Complies with the standard
Very simple but clean
Never again
Tour details
| Day | Activity of the day | Day remarks | Overnight stay | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Day 1 | Arrival and drive from Denver to Silverthorne/Colorado | 100 miles is usually the maximum we still drive on the day of arrival. | Hampton Inn & Suites Silverthorne/Colorado **** | 106mi |
Day 2 | 2018 was a hot and dry year. Because of that, Indian Summer started already in mid-September, early October and so it was almost too late to see many yellow aspens. In addition, the foothills of Hurricane Rosa raged from Mexico. | Hampton Inn, Montrose/Colorado **** | - | |
Day 3 | The weather was very mixed. The passes were nevertheless good to drive. Here, further south, there were also still plenty of yellow leaves. | Best Western Grande River Inn & Suites, Clifton /Colorado *** | 246mi | |
Day 4 | Because of impending rain, a ranger recommended that we go to the Grand Mesa. So we also happened to get to Cedaredge and the cool Applefest. | Best Western Grande River Inn & Suites , Clifton/Colorado *** | 149mi | |
Day 5 | Today there are still remnants of Hurricane Rosa. It rains almost the whole day. So there was only an Arches NP alternative program left. | Stone Lizard Lodge, Blanding/Utah **** | 246mi | |
Day 6 | In the morning it was still raining. Nevertheless, we can drive through the Valley of the Gods. A few deeper wash crossings, but with a little ground clearance it was OK. | Best Western Plus at Lake Powell, Page/Arizona *** | 259mi | |
Day 7 | Because of the rain all Antelope Canyons in Page are closed, except Canyon X. That's why everyone comes here now. I had totally underestimated Thousand Pockets. It takes longer than an afternoon. | Best Western Plus at Lake Powell, Page/Arizona *** | 115mi | |
Day 8 | Advantage of a commercial tour: You can concentrate on the surroundings and take many photos. Disadvantage: You have very little time at the Rainbow Bridge. There is hardly any time to linger and enjoy. | Best Western Plus at Lake Powell, Page/Arizona *** | 10mi | |
Day 9 | Because of the poor weather again, there was rain program in Page today. | Best Western at Lake Powell, Page/Arizona *** | 87mi | |
Day 10 | Actually we wanted to hike to Cobra Arch today, but the road had been washed away and so we turned back. | Circle D Motel, Escalante/Utah ** | 205mi | |
Day 11 | The hike to Broken Bow Arch is great. Due to all the rain it is sometimes a little difficult to walk through the creek. Otherwise it is a great hike. | Circle D Motel, Escalante/Utah ** | 96mi | |
Day 12 | The sun is shining, we take it easy and enjoy Scenic Highway 12 and Kiva Coffee House. The drive in Upper Muley Twist Canyon is not as bad as expected. The Strike Valley Overlook is breathtaking. | Austin´s Chuckwagon Motel, Torrey, Utah *** | 131mi | |
Day 13 | Again, the ride is possible, but because of the rain of the last days we have to cross what feels like 100 washes. This slows down the ride considerably. The Hartnet Road is closed the ranger strongly advises against driving it. | Comfort Inn, Green River/Utah **** | 239mi | |
Day 14 | There are a lot of mud holes because of the rain. The last two miles of the route are terrible to drive, but the hike and the Arches are great. | Hampton Inn Grand Junction Downtown, Grand Junction/Colorado**** | 153mi | |
Day 15 | 4 hours of driving and shopping, that's all there was. | Hampton Inn Denver - Northwest/Westminster, Denver/Clolorado**** | 239mi | |
Day 16 | Shopping and return journey | Our return flight leaves at 5:30 pm. Before that there is still a little shopping time. | - | 56mi |