My adventure around the US at 21 years old
Hey, I'm Olivia! In the summer of 2023, I decided to go on a 2-month road trip around the United States with my boyfriend. This trip was centered around hiking and backpacking. Throughout this trip we lived out of my car, a jeep, for the whole trip and found free campsites. It was definitely a challenge but it was a trip of a lifetime! In total we visited 16 different states!
Where did I go?
This 2-month road trip spanned over 16 states! Here is the itinerary that I made:
Day 1-2: Driving
These days were uneventful because they were filled with long days on the road. We drove from North Carolina all the way to our first important stop: New Mexico.
Day 3: New Mexico
We made it to New Mexico and explored around the Santa Fe area. We stayed at a really cool campsite that we found on ioverlanders. I used this app throughout the road trip and I was able to find a free campsite everynight!
Day 4: Petrified National Forest, Arizona
Today was our first adventure day. We set out early in the morning an explored the whole park. It was so cool to see the blue mesa environment. We even saw our first rattlesnake. We also saw petroglyphs and a ton of petrified wood.
Day 5-7: Coconino National Forest, Arizona
We arrived in the desert of Coconino National Forest. This place was so peaceful and I highly recommend visiting. I loved to see all of the desert vegetation, it is so unique. During our stay we hiked a trail called "the crack". This is a trail well known by locals. In the beginning you hike along the red rocks and then it opens up into this swimming hole area. There is a red rock that people use as a diving board. I love this hike and I recommend getting there early because it is very popular!
Day 8: Sedona, Arizona
We arrive to Sedona early and make our way to the Capital Butte hike. I have done many hikes in my life and I can confidently say that this hike was the hardest and most insane one that I have ever done! This trail was mostly rock scrambling mixed in with some bouldering over some really sketchy terrain. It was really easy to get lost on this hike and we had to keep checking the map every five steps. I have multiple scars from this hike from some agave haha! The views on top were breathtaking though! Even though it is a hard hike I still recommend it if you are prepared.
Day 9-11: Grand Canyon, Arizona
My favorite part of the trip was the Grand Canyon! It was my first time seeing it and it blew my mind. We went on a backpacking trip and it was my favorite backpacking experience ever. We started at 5:00 am on the South Kaibab trilahead and made it to Phantom Ranch to have lunch. After, we continued our trek to the Cottonwood Campground. (This was the furthest we were able to go because the North Kaibab trail past Cottonwood was closed due to extreme snowmelt from the winter). At the campground we saw a rattlesnake but there was literally no people. We did not see a single person after leaving Phantom Ranch. I think this is because the North Kaibab trail was closed. It was an amazing night because we got to pick whichever campsite we wanted because we were alone! It was so cool to be so isolated in the Grand Canyon during such a busy time.
The next day we got up early and hiked all the way back to Phantom Ranch. Here is when we saw people again! We then ascended up the Bright Angels Trail. This trail had much more water and vegetation than the South Kaibab trail. We even saw lots of mules! The hike was not hard until we got to the last three miles. The last part of the trail has some pretty grueling switchbacks that seem to go on forever. But we finally made it to the top and it was an experience that was honestly life changing! The total miles were 28 and over 6,000 ft of elevation change.
Day 12-13: Zion, Utah
We car camped at a really cool site with a river! The best part was that we cooked a really luxurious meal of veggie fajitas with mangos on the side with our camp stove. The next day we set off to explore Zion. We took the park shuttle to a 15 mile loop hike. We saw two bighorn sheep and the landscape of Zion is so unbelievable!
Day 14-15: Bryce Canyon, Utah
Bryce Canyon had my favorite campsite. Just three minutes outside of the Park were these disperesed (free!) campsites, we found in on the ioverlander app. The campsite was far away from other people and it had the most amazing pine forest. The ground was so cozy with the soft pine needles.
At Bryce Canyon we hiked a little bit and just explored the whole park!
Day 16: Fishlake, Utah
On our way to Moab, we stopped at Fishlake. This place was really cool to see but much colder than the desert places we were previously visiting haha! We hiked around the lake and it was beautiful!
Day 17-19: Capital Reef, Utah
Captial Reef is by far the most underrated National Parks! This place is the definition of peaceful. I loved to see all of the fruit trees and vegetation the middle of the desert. This place is a real life oasis! We chilled here for a while and went on little hikes. I highly recommend going to relax!
Day 20: Moab, Utah
We arrived at Moab and set up our tent in the La Sal Mountains. One of the most beautiful campsites ever! This place was really peaceful!
Day 21: Arches, Utah
We arrived at Arches right when the sun was rising. We wanted to see delicate arch before it got too crowed. This arch is one of the most famous in the world! It was incredible actually seeing it! After we saw it we hiked around the park and saw landscape arch (my boyfriend's favorite), tunnel arch, pine tree arch, Navajo arch, skyline arch, double o arch, and many more. This park was amazing! I cannot believe there are so many natural arches in one place!
Day 21-23: Canyonlands, Utah
Canyonlands National Park is also very underrated. It literally is Arches and the Grand Canyon mixed into one! We did a 15 mile hike! We first checked out the Upheaval dome and then did a loop around it and even got to go inside the crater! It was a different world!
Day 24-26: Grand Junction, Colorado
We stopped at the Colorado National Monumnet and explored the area! It was so cool! We hiked to three different waterfalls! We also stayed at very serene campsite.
Day 27-28: Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Here we picked up supplies and snowshoes for our next adventure in Conundrum Hot Springs.
Day 29-30: Conundrum Hot Springs, Colorado
This hike was such an adventure! We started out very early in the morning with our snow gear and snowshoes. It was crazy that it was June and there was so much snow! It was really cold because I got used to the warm dessert haha. But we trekked 9 miles up the mountain. On the way there are a lot of water crossings but most of them have log bridges. HOWEVER, there was one crossing that did not have one. So we stripped down and forged across. And omg that was the coldest I have ever been. Like the coldness of that water is indescribable. On the other side I did jumping jacks and held back my tears. But we finally made it to our campsite and the hot springs! It was so warm in the springs and I stayed in there for literally 6 hours, I do not think you are supposed to stay in that long but I did not want to get out haha! It even snowed on us! The backpacking trip definitely was crazy and full of adventure!
Day 31: Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Next, we stopped at RMNP. This place was epic! We saw so many elk and moose! The beauty was epic and it definelty was awesome to see so much wildlife.
Day 32-34: Devils Tower, Wyoming
One of our favorite places was Devils Tower! We went on the long hike around the entire park and we got to see all the different views and angles of the tower. There were prairie dogs and they were so cool to watch!
Day 35-42: Custer, South Dakota
One of chillest and most relaxing places ever! During our stay in Custer, we went to Jewel Cave! It was so cool to see a cave with so many formations! The walls were covered with calcite crystals in the form of nailhead and dogtooth spar. We also saw the cave bacon which was a type of drapery.
After Jewel cave we explore around Custer State Park for a week! There were so many things to do and see there! We hiked around and hammocked around the many lakes. The landscape in the Black Hills is so beautiful yet calming.
Day 43-44: Badlands National Park, South Dakota
We saw so much wildlife in the badlands: bison, prarie dogs, big horned sheep, and cows! The colors and formations in the Park are one of a kind! They are truly a marvel to see! We drove around and hiked around!
Day 44-45: Drive
We drove from South Dakota to Kentucky; carcamping on the way.
Day 46: Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
In Knetucky, we visited Mammoth Cave. It was epic! It is the largest cave on earth and all of t still has not been discovered! I took a self guided tour into the cave and my boyfriend went on a caving tour! The rooms of the caves were massive!
Day 47-49: Drive
After Mammoth Cave, we spent a few days driving to the OBX.
Day 50: Outerbanks, North Carolina
Our last stop was the Outerbanks! We explored, surfed, and paddle boarded around this awesome place! I love the OBX! we stayed here for a couple of months and it was the end of our road trip.
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