Road trip advice sought

[Gaffer]

We are considering a road trip and would welcome any insights you could offer. In late March of 2026, we would visit some National Parks in the western US. For example, we would take a few hikes in Yosemite, do likewise in Glacier, the same in other National Parks and then drive home.

We live near Philadelphia and my work means that I can't be away for more than a month. So a solution may be to ship the Grenadier to someplace near Yosemite to save half the time driving. Any thoughts on this, and the feasibility of National Parks in the west in the Spring?

 

[Krabby]

Check in with @anand - he does this stuff all the time.

 

[Gaffer]

Thanks, Krabby. Did so. Apparently he also lives on the east coast USA so his experience will be especially relevant.

 

[MileHigh]

1. Don’t screw around with gas fillups. It’s not as bad as driving EV, you do have to be aware of it because of the small tank.
2. March, even late March is still winter, especially at the altitude.
3. I was going to warn you that places like Rocky Mountain national Park have timed entry, but at that time of the year I think you’ll be more restricted by the amount of access you have to areas. For example, Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain national Park will be closed still.

The good news is at that time of year most national parks look like glacier national Park.

 

[TheDocAUS]

We are considering a road trip and would welcome any insights you could offer. In late March of 2026, we would visit some National Parks in the western US. For example, we would take a few hikes in Yosemite, do likewise in Glacier, the same in other National Parks and then drive home.

We live near Philadelphia and my work means that I can't be away for more than a month. So a solution may be to ship the Grenadier to someplace near Yosemite to save half the time driving. Any thoughts on this, and the feasibility of National Parks in the west in the Spring?

Take a copy of the Rok Dr Guide with you.

 

[parb]

I think you'll have snow in March. Mid to late april is prime timing.
Perfectly viable to ship the car, even better if you have someone in the receiving end or you'll have to time your flights.

If you have a month, ship it to bozeman, Cody or Billings and go through yellowstone.

From there head south and explore Moab for 2-3 days.

From there a drive to salina, holden and delta to get into hwy 50 which is the old pony Express trail. Spend the night in Ely Nevada. Check out the basque food, the food of the folks out of Spain that works the ranches in this part of the west. There are decent basque restaurants in the area.

Continue on 50 to lake tahoe and spend the night there. Maybe even 2 nights, lake tahoe is lovely. Maybe head over to Virginia City, a 30-40 minute car ride to a bit of a kitch American west town. Or continue to Bodie, a true ghost town in the West that is really well preserved. Once the silver mine stopped producing everyone left overnight. The jail, the houses are all intact and as they left it.

Then it's a quick drive to Yosemite. Spend some time there.

If you have time, head over to the coast. I'm in favor of exploring Mendocino and drive down the coast. Cross over Anderson valley and explore that wine region before heading down sonoma to sf. Ship the car him from sf and fly out.

Day trip to Carmel or an overnight trip to bug sur. I also love ojai which is further south.

Or skip the north coast, head south from Yosemite on 49 work your way through paso Robles (lovely place) and to hwy 1 over Big Sur North. Id stop in paso Robles as well as big sur. There are trails to cross from I5 to hwy 1 over the ventana wilderness but I'm not sure if I would do it completely myself.

I'm in SF bay area near sfo ( menlo park) and I've done a decent amount of driving through these areas. When on your adventure ping me and we'll do a Grenadier meetup with the bay area grenadiers! There are a couple in lake Tahoe as well as around Fresno.