Holiday in South-West USA, where to go?

[+GeDiFroBo]

Hi,

 

This summer we are going to the USA for a 3 weeks holiday.

 

There are so many geocaches, what a country :-)

 

We arrive in San Francisco, and from there we go to:

 

Yosemite NP, Bodie, Mammoth lakes, Death Valley (Furnace Creek), Las Vegas, Grand Canyon Caverns, Grand Canyon Village, Page, Kayenta, Monument Valley, Moab, Salt Lake City, Grand Teton, Yellow Stone NP, Gardiner, Billings.

 

Can someone tell me what geocaches are on the route, don't take too long (no big hikes), but are point you should have been ?

 

Best regards from a sunny Netherlands (Europe),

 

Gert

[Keystone]

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the West and Southwest forum.

[+GeDiFroBo]

Just finished a series of very nice "Typical Dutch" travelbugs. So tell me what beautifull caches are worth my TB's.

[+n6uzs]

Check out this bookmark of California TB Hotels:

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.a...1e-60a012bd96f6

 

Also San Francisco Bay Area TB hotels:

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.a...57-27a9f45151bb

 

There's one close to SFO Airport called Es Effo Bug Hotel that a good place to drop stuff:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...4d-873f3d2502de

[+michigansnorkelers]

Wow! You are going to see more of America than many of us Americans have!

 

Just be aware that there are virtually no geocaches in the National Parks. And, some of these parks are huge. Yellowstone is over 2 million acres, larger than some countries. You could spend a week there!

 

There is a large TB hotel in downtown LasVegas...and it's really a sneaky hide!

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...04-21bbda67d7a1

[+Let's Look Over Thayer]

Can someone tell me what geocaches are on the route, don't take too long (no big hikes), but are point you should have been ?

Any time we take a road trip, I use the "caches along a route" feature to get this sort of information. (Gotta be a premium member but this is the sort of thing that makes paying $30/year worth it!)

 

If I am worried about "don't take too long" (which is often the case), I set the distance from the road to be 0.1mi and I exclude puzzles, multicaches from my search criteria. Sometimes, I also exclude any cache with a difficulty or terrain that is greater than 3 stars.

 

Our usual practice for a road trip is to pick a cache to stop at every ~50 miles or so. We find that this makes for a nice balance between bagging some caches and making progress down the road. (If you stop at every cache along your route, three weeks won't be enough. You'll need three months at least...)

[+karstic]

What are your travel dates and what type of vehicle will you have?

 

With that many National Parks on the list I would look into getting a National Park Pass. It will save you some money on park entrance fees.

[+Lancerkath]

There is a large TB hotel in downtown LasVegas...and it's really a sneaky hide!

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...04-21bbda67d7a1

 

That one is good, but this one is better: A Special Memory

[+Green Achers]

Between SFO and Yosemite...

 

You'll be passing the Livermore Valley (zip 94550) and then the Central Valley.

 

Mt. Diablo is a worthy drive (you can see the SF Bay, the Tri-Valley, the Central Valley and the Sierra's) and there are a bunch of caches there.

 

The World Record Light Bulb would be a good stop - if you pre-solve a few of the cache owner's puzzle caches too.

 

The gas prices go up after this cache as you get closer to Yosemite. [The best price is not likely this station but you'll figure out the deal when you get there. There's also a cache near here that is at a public water fountain that you can play in to cool off.

 

One stop you DO NOT WANT TO MISS is Hail, Columbia with is as real of a Gold Town as you'll find. You have to park out side and then walk in (because cars weren't around during the gold rush. Expect horses, saloon's, 'western gun fights', and pan for gold! This stop is more important (but quicker stop) than Yosemite in my opinion.

 

I'm missing a ton of great caches [i'll let others contribute] but will finish by pointing out that there are caches all along your route (so you better extend your holiday by about 50 more weeks). Groveland is a nice little Gold Rush town.

 

My list above is in driving order. Have a wonderful holiday (aka Vacation).

[+DonB]

Hi,

 

This summer we are going to the USA for a 3 weeks holiday.

 

There are so many geocaches, what a country :-)

 

We arrive in San Francisco, and from there we go to:

 

Yosemite NP, Bodie, Mammoth lakes, Death Valley (Furnace Creek), Las Vegas, Grand Canyon Caverns, Grand Canyon Village, Page, Kayenta, Monument Valley, Moab, Salt Lake City, Grand Teton, Yellow Stone NP, Gardiner, Billings.

 

Can someone tell me what geocaches are on the route, don't take too long (no big hikes), but are point you should have been ?

 

Best regards from a sunny Netherlands (Europe),

 

Gert

If you want to do some great virtuals there are several of them in the national parks around Moab. One you shouldn't miss is south of Moab at Hole in The Rock. This is also a great tourist attraction.