Going to America in mid December - travel suggestions?

J

JF_Aidan_Pryde

Regular
Will be starting from San Francisco on the 10th. I have one week.

I've visited the following from my last trip:
* New York, Washington, LA
* Niagara Falls
* South Dakota (Custer, Mt. Rushmore)
* Yosemite
* Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley

My favourite by far was Monumnent Valley -- too bad I couldn't get a private tour to go near totem's pole.

I'm a big fan of natural beauty, not too interested in cities and theme parks. I want to shoot some good landscapes so any photography destinations are a major plus.

What are the major scenic places I've yet to visit? I hear Yellowstone is good, but I can't seem to find any spectacular shots, only hot springs etc.

Also I hear, some parks are closed during the winter. But I am guessing some would have great winter scenery. Which ones are at their best during winter?

Thanks for any help!
 
The Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico are really neat. The white sands of new mexico are also pretty nice, though I don't know if they'd be worth the trip by themselves (worth it if you are going to carlsbad already though). Most northern states are going to be pretty cold and covered in snow, so you'll be limited to skiing and some winter hiking. I'm not sure how yellowstone is right now. Might be kind of cold though. Lutson Mountain in northern Minnesota is nice (the hiking is beautiful in the fall. It's an ok spot for casual skiing in the winter, but nothing compared to colorado). Also in northern Minnesota is Itaska state park, where the Mississippi River starts. It's a nice spot for backpack camping, though I've never been brave enough to try it in the winter. :) Of course if you go to minnesota, you can join the millions of the tourists that go to the Mall of America. It's er... an interesting look at consumerism. You can make it for the Christmas rush! ;) Another interesting journey might be to visit Mount St. Helens in Washington State. I don't know if they are letting people get close to the mountain again as there was some volcanic activity a month or two ago. I've never been there, but it sounds like quite an impressive sight.

For warmer climates, you may want to consider a trip down to the keys in florida. I've also never been there, but it looks like it compares reasonably favorably to other tropical islands in the carribean. Wisconsin Dells is nice for waterslide themeparks and is cheap as far as resorts go. They have several indoor themeparks which are still open during the winter, and it makes for a pretty relaxing and fun vacation (I was just there a couple of months ago).

There are plenty of other sights too, though these are ones I can think of off the top of my head. The US is a big place, so it's pretty tough to visit them all. :)

Nite_Hawk
 
Yellowstone is "closed" during the winter, though you can arrange snowmobile trips in (relatively expensive--$300+)

Make sure you drive up the Coastal Highway and see the redwoods while you're in San Francisco. If you want skiing and/or snow-shoeing, etc. you can go to Lake Tahoe (about 3 hours drive from San Fransisco). Its a beautiful alpine lake, so there's plenty of pictures to take, also.

In that "general" area is Las Vegas. Beyond the bright lights, big city, there's the Hoover Dam, plus a long drive through the desert from anywhere in California.

Are you planning on flying around? Or driving? (Or even, quelle horreur, bussing?)
 
JF_Aidan_Pryde said:
I'm a big fan of natural beauty, not too interested in cities and theme parks. I want to shoot some good landscapes so any photography destinations are a major plus.
Click to expand...
Like Russ says, you won't have a snowball's chance (pun intended) of seeing Yellowstone without spending lots of cash, and even then there won't be much to see if you aren't into steaming rivers and pools and geysers. There are no magnificent rock formations in Yellowstone, really.

Given your love of Monument Valley I recommend you try Grand Teton National Park, located just south of Yellowstone, instead. The Tetons are one of the most photogenic mountain ranges in the world, since they rise out of the valley without so much as a foothill. No scenic calendar of America is complete without a picture of this range. Best of all, you can get some of the best pics of the range (with the Snake river in the foreground) from the highway. Hopefully, the road crews will have the overlooks cleared. Jackson Hole (the valley the Teton range rises out of) gets an average of 3 meters of snow a year. If you like magnificent mountain ranges then this is a must see, especially since you'll be in the area.
 
Nite_Hawk said:
Another interesting journey might be to visit Mount St. Helens in Washington State. I don't know if they are letting people get close to the mountain again as there was some volcanic activity a month or two ago. I've never been there, but it sounds like quite an impressive sight.
Click to expand...

Actually I can recommend just about all of the Pacific Northwest. If you're feeling adventurous you could take just about any logging road and end up with an absolutely beautiful view. And oh yeah, I do believe St. Helens is still closed; but when and if they reopen it I'd definitely recommend the visit. It's real fascinating to see the destruction that happened. When I went a 6 years ago, you turned a corner around a hill and where a moment ago, you were surrounded by a thick lush forest, there was suddenly nothing. But even then it was real neat to see how well alot of the foliage and wildlife had already started to come back, so I can only imagine that things have gotten even more back to normal. Then with the new lava dome working to rebuild the blown out side it might not be too many more years and it'll be hard to tell there even was an erruption.

I can recommend Mt. Hood in Oregon for any snowboarding or skiing. And the area is absolutely full of hiking trails, though the majority of them are starting to get covered by snow.

And if you're into fishing, the winter Steelhead run should be starting to get good around that time too.
 
I like photographing the California coastline. From SF, you can rent a car and drive 2 hours south to Monterey Bay, Carmel, Big Sur, 17-mi drive/Spanish Bay, the giant Sequoia forests.

Also, from SF, you can drive north over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods and Sausalito. Further north past Eureka, you can photograph whales breeding.

Drive 3.5 hours 80-east past Sacramento to 89-north and you encounter Lake Tahoe, which is a beautiful lake carved by a glacier with Emeralrd Isle in the center, flanked by mountains on all sides. Go to North Tahoe, not South Tahoe. South Tahoe is commercal (Casinos, etc). North Tahoe is more "untouched" and plus has a better ski-resort this time of year, Squaw Vallery.

But essentially, California's best natural scenery IMHO is alone the coastline on Route 1.

The problem with Yosemite is that it is usually megacrowded, but this time a year, it should be ok.

Driving North on Route-5 you will encouter lots of interesting looking mountain ranges, including Mt Shasta and Crater Lake, which is an extremely blue, clear lake sitting in the crater on top of the mountain.
 
Unless you're a fan of winter I'd suggest anthying 100 miles north of the southern border ;).
 
Wilmington NC is always a good choice. Not a place you'd likely ever see in an international travel guide or anything. But if you're into partying or what not and you go there, you'll probably either be telling a story or hearing one about you for months to follow :)

There's also a pretty big tourist industry, but there are better places for that (though all the haunted stuff and shit about what happened there in 1898 is pretty crazy).

Then there's Boone (where I live now), which we like to call Hotel California for obvious reasons..
 
DemoCoder said:
I like photographing the California coastline. From SF, you can rent a car and drive 2 hours south to Monterey Bay, Carmel, Big Sur, 17-mi drive/Spanish Bay, the giant Sequoia forests.

Also, from SF, you can drive north over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods and Sausalito. Further north past Eureka, you can photograph whales breeding.

Drive 3.5 hours 80-east past Sacramento to 89-north and you encounter Lake Tahoe, which is a beautiful lake carved by a glacier with Emeralrd Isle in the center, flanked by mountains on all sides. Go to North Tahoe, not South Tahoe. South Tahoe is commercal (Casinos, etc). North Tahoe is more "untouched" and plus has a better ski-resort this time of year, Squaw Vallery.

But essentially, California's best natural scenery IMHO is alone the coastline on Route 1.

The problem with Yosemite is that it is usually megacrowded, but this time a year, it should be ok.

Driving North on Route-5 you will encouter lots of interesting looking mountain ranges, including Mt Shasta and Crater Lake, which is an extremely blue, clear lake sitting in the crater on top of the mountain.
Click to expand...

Demo,
Those destinations sound great but I won't be driving. Are there good tours etc. to get to those places?
 
Since you're a big fan of natural beauty... you need to see the best state of them all. Alaska. You wont regret it. :)
 
JF_Aidan_Pryde said:
Will be starting from San Francisco on the 10th. I have one week.
Click to expand...
Gosh, half of that will be spent queing in US immigration :? I wonder how much slower it is now that they are fingerprinting everyone.
I've visited the following from my last trip:
* Yosemite
Click to expand...
I've been to Yosemite twice and could easily go there again (although I will never again stay in Camp Curry unless I can find a way to make myself temporarily deaf).
I'm a big fan of natural beauty, not too interested in cities and theme parks. I want to shoot some good landscapes so any photography destinations are a major plus.
Click to expand...
If you are going to be around "that area" you could visit Death Valley. It's a bit weird (I did a panorama from one spot if you're interested). Sadly, I couldn't find any 'droid tracks though. :)
 
fallguy said:
Since you're a big fan of natural beauty... you need to see the best state of them all. Alaska. You wont regret it. :)
Click to expand...
This time of year? I'd love to go there myself sometime, but I plan to wait until summer.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. I think I've settled on Colorado Rocky Mountains. Five days of skiing, hiking and sightseeing.

Happy Holidays!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
101 Amazing earth facts! (Must read - test your IQ :))
Replies
0
Views
4K
Deepak
D
Back
Top