road trip

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Some friends and I were contemplating a road trip this summer to consume 5-7 weeks. Here is the first draft of the route:
part 1
cean+Ave%2FRT-36+to:Atlantic+City+Expy+E+to:I-676+W+toennsylvania+Ave+NW+to:MD-90+E+to:Eastside+Rd%2FVA-2103+to:Cape+Hatteras+National+Seashore+to:A1A%2FN+Orlando+Ave+to:Unknown+road+toinetree+Dr+to:I-110+S+to:Esplanade+Ave+to:Houston&hl=en&geocode=FRDxfgIdTKLG-g%3BFexuxQId4qL4-g%3BFeTBxgIdsaQR-w%3BFWT_mQIdXv1E-w%3BFbjplwId2guS-w%3BFaguhgId_OnD-w%3BFQC2bwIdapqv-w%3BFdozbQIdls2W-w%3BFRBZZwIdxjiX-w%3BFS6kWAIdGg-Q-w%3BFXSqYQIdFFyF-w%3BFch_UQIdtpVo-w%3BFUy4SQIdmIGG-w%3BFYquQgId2ASC-w%3BFUedGQIdXHt_-w%3BFVA3sAEdQP4x-w%3BFZkqqQEdDm80-w%3BFaLXiQEdvFo5-w%3BFWyU0AEdOCjN-g%3BFYSDyQEdJFmh-g%3B&mra=ls&sll=36.244273,-83.188477&sspn=36.897641,76.113281&ie=UTF8&z=5>part 2

Nothing will be completely set in stone, but we want to have a general idea of where we are going. With that said, some of the points on the maps are desired destinations, some are general areas, and a few are simply to add mileage to account for unexpected driving when estimating fuel costs. Are there any places that y'all would recommend we go or anything that we should see. Any suggestions or tips about any aspect of the trip would be great. None of us have done anything even close to this big, so we are trying to stake out the major things we should do, then just wing it from there.

(edit: 2nd link isn't working. Basic route is Chicago east around Lake Michigan, north to Canada, to Toronto, to Boston, to Long Island, through NYC, to Atlantic City, To Philadelphia, to DC, across Chesapeake to MD coast, to Cape Hatteras, to Central FL coast, to Miami, to New Orleans, to Houston)
 
I did a two week trip from NYC to San Diego last May. I had to shorten my route considerably as I ended up stopping to smell a lot of roses along the way. It's good to have a plan, but be prepared to make adjustments, even major ones, along the way.

Find a way to spend some time in the Black Hills of South Dakota. After Yellowstone, head east across Wyoming. If you really want to hit Montana, you'll have to double back, but you won't regret it. Or you can hit Montana first, then slide south to SD.

Looks like a hell of a trip.

Bernard
 
both of those sound good. We could make a detour to glacier, and correct our route from Montana to Chicago through South Dakota and see how long we spend driving through there. Are there any cheap places to camp in South Dakota? We're gonna have to camp a lot of the nights on this trip to be able to afford it. I have family in the northeast and Chicago area that would take us in for a night or two, and I am sure that some of the others do somewhere in the country, but I still sense a lot of camping and overcrowded hotel rooms in my future. Does anyone know if there is any camping at San Onofre State Beach? We want to spend about 4 days in the L.A. area, and a night of camping could save us some money (plus allow me to surf Trestles before it gets too crowded).
 
In Deadwood, South Dakota (close to black hills) I think there are several chain motels like Super 8; just stay away from the casinos if you are trying to save money. I would imagine there are state park type campsites in the black hills area.

On your way there, make sure you stop by and eat lunch at Wall Drug in Wall, SD.
 
There are camping options galore around the Black Hills. Don't miss Mt. Rushmore either. You've seen it a million times on video, but it's still damn impressive in person.

While you're in the neighborhood, seek out the geographic center of the United States. No, not the fake one that's located in some town that trying to invent some tourism, the real one that's off the beaten path in the middle of an empty field and marked with a simple US government marking. I was within 40 miles of this thing and didn't know it until I got home. Pissed at myself for missing it. Google it and read an NYTimes article about it from the summer of 2008.

Bernard
 
On the grand canyon, colorado route, you can check out Lake Powell in Utah. Rainbow bridge national park is there, and there's camping and ruins of all sorts in that area.

You've gotta hit Durango though. Damned fun little town.
 
I usually go to Durango once a year. North of there is an unbelievably beautiful area. The route through Colorado is rather up in the air but I know that there is more stuff I want to do there than we will be able to.
 
South Dakota was great, Mt Rushmore is cool but definitely go see the Crazy Horse monument and do the obligatory stopover in Sturgis. I'm pretty sure there is camping in the Badlands NP, which is worth a stopover if you're not too far away. Devil's Monument is worth a look, as you'll probably want to make your way across WY to hit Yellowstone, which has a lot you can see in a short amount of time (I did the major sites in a day but didn't do any hiking). If you head south from WY and add Utah to your itinerary, you will love the drive out of Yellowstone, through Jackson towards Rock Springs. From Rock Springs heading south, the Flaming Gorge again has some great scenery and you'll be close to Dinosaur NP if you want to see a dinosaur skeleton still in rock.

You should definitely make it to Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP which are both relatively close to each other. Bryce is easy to see everything by driving through and hopping out of the car from time to time. In the summer, you'll have to ride a bus if you visit Zion, but well worth making a day out of it and climbing up Angel's Landing and hiking inside the Narrows if you have time. From there, you would want to then head south into AZ towards Page, check out Lake Powell, visit the Antelope Canyon (google it, some awesome pictures and a cool place to visit) and a diversion to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which is much more beautiful and way less visited than the South Rim.

Driving around Utah itself is great, the scenery is amazing and you feel like you're on another planet, away from all civilization.

The drive from Bryce Canyon east on Hwy 12 is one of the coolest drives I have ever done (I did it twice) but this probably won't fit you routing. I still remember one section of road when you feel like you're driving on a knife ridge with no shoulder. Get out of your lane, and you drop 1,000 ft...

You should be able to find plenty of camping and cheap motels/hotels in all the places I mentioned above.
 
Looks like you may have Mesa Verde on your itinerary. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the region. I second Zion NP wholeheartedly, and you should try to include the Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Arches if you can. Yosemite is great, but can get crowded. By all means, take the advice of others and take in South Dakota rather than North Dakota. No comparison whatsoever. The Black Hills are awesome with at least several days worth of activities if you wanted--Deadwood, Sturgis, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Evans Plunge, Custer State Park, caves, etc. Also, don't miss the Badlands as you head east out of the Black Hills. Camping opportunities are abundant throughout the state. Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills is perhaps the nicest place in the state to camp, just be sure you have reservations well in advance.
 
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