19 replies to this topic

[57Pan]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Historically any trip I have taken have always been on a limited time schedule requiring large mileage days to get to my destination. I’m hoping to be retired by this trip in April, allowing me to smell the roses as you would say along the way.

[craig333]

I'm not sure you could call what I do "planning". I have a destination in mind and pretty much everything in between is winging it. 

 

Electronics aids are nice but always paper first.

[rubberlegs]

I used to use paper maps, but there are some features in Google Maps that are really nice:

1. Make your own map for planning at home. They also work on your phone on the road, if you are in cell range. Otherwise you'll lose this info. 
2. Store maps on your phone using the Offline Maps feature. Then you don't need cell service.

However I like Gaia app even better when out in the boonies. This app costs an annual fee though. I use their NPS maps, USGS 7.5' maps, the "regular" Gaia map, and rarely the satellite maps. You can download maps to your phone, create waypoints, tracks to follow, etc.

 

To create a route (as a cyclist and hiker) I really like RideWithGPS.com, and use it for complicated driving routes. Dirt roads have so many complicated intersections... After creating a route, I download the GPX route and put it on Gaia.

 

For campgrounds, freecampsites.net and iOverlander app are ok. But man, there's a lot of crummy camps. I sometimes use rest stops when drive bombing to the sunny south from NW Washington. It ain't good camping, but it's a place to rest if you can get some distance from the noisy big rigs. 

 

I also use Google Maps to find campsites, by typing "campground" in the search bar. People rate them and comment, where sometimes you can learn something (but not always!). I think it's more up to date than books and paper maps, where often campgrounds are closed for the season, or closed permanently.

 

I also take some paper maps, but find I'm not using them like the olde days. There's some good guidebooks for 4WD roads, like FunTreks.com and the super detailed California Trails books.

Edited by rubberlegs, 04 February 2020 - 05:20 AM.

[searching for nowhere]

Ah, trip planning.  I think there is no better way to spend a winter evening.  In general, I surf the internet looking for things to see, trails to hike, interesting rocks, good bakeries, the best camping spots, etc.  All of this I tag on a map.  After a time when the map is full of tags, I then create a preliminary itinerary.  The itinerary changes as I travel, but I maintain the concept.

 

Some suggestions:

-  I look at the pictures posted on Google Earth.  I've found some interesting places.

-  I generally don't have camping reservations.  But with the increasing popularity of camping, I try to have a backup plan.

-  And I have a backup plan for travel.  I got caught once in SE Oregon when an early winter storm came through and I had planned to travel dirt roads that had turned to slippery mud.  

 

Enjoy

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Come, shape your plans where the fire is bright

and shimmering glasses are-

When the woods are white in the winter’s night,

under the northern star.
 

And let us buy for the days of spring,

While yet the north winds blow!

For half the joy of the trip, my boy,

Is getting your traps to go.

 

Albert Bigelow Paine - The Tent Dwellers

 

Even in the late 1800s planning was a fun part of the trip.

[Sleddog]

We don't really plan a trip, just never had good luck with detailed plans and itineraries, something always happens to throw off the best made plans. We mostly just pick a general destination, research options, and wing it from there.

We love looking at maps for potential destinations. We start with a US Road Atlas, preferably the National Geographic version, to get the big picture. Then we move on to a Benchmark Road and Recreation Atlas for whatever state we plan to concentate on. Then I research online the various destinations that interest us.

Once we have a destination in mind, we look at potential routes. Scenic routes are our preference and are marked on the US Road Atlas maps. We avoid interstate travel unless we really just want to cover ground quickly. If it's our first time in an area, we do the most scenic route first. On subsequent visits, we try to choose a road we have not yet driven, paved roads are explored first then we move on to unpaved and unimproved roads. Our route is usually determined by weather and we check the forecast daily before hitting the road.

Often times we want to cover miles quickly at first to get away from familiar areas near home, snow, population centers, etc. and end up driving 500 to 600 miles the first day. Then we slow the pace to about 200 or 300 miles a day until reaching a major destination. We don't want to be rushed in the mornings, and we want to hit camp and have time to set up and maybe explore a little before dark, generally hitting the road around 9 or 10am and driving until about 4pm. Sometimes we stay only one night then move on if there is no reason to stay longer, other times we stay 2 or 3 days to explore. When we reach a major destination where we plan on in depth exploration, sometimes we will change camps daily with only an hour or two of driving between to be nearer to trailheads or attractions for an early start the next day. Other times we will stay in one camp for multiple days and explore several nearby areas on foot before moving on.

For campsites, we prefer primitive dispersed camping, also known as boondocking and wild camping among other things. I want my privacy and prefer not to see or hear other humans or their machines while camping. Forest Service and BLM lands are usually best, sometimes State Lands are good too. We use the Road Atlas and look for public lands, then research camping locations and regulations for that area online. Don't be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to camping on public lands. OHV areas (especially mid-week), hiking and biking trailheads, Wildlife Management Areas, etc. can offer good campsites depending upon your needs at the time. Sometimes National Forest and BLM lands don't allow primitive dispersed camping, instead providing free primitive campgrounds that are often empty.

I often like using www.freecampsites.net to either find a site in a specific location or to get ideas on general locations to research further. This is a user supported site and some of the listings are outdated or inappropriate, but most listings are legit. Just be sure to read descriptions and recent reviews then use your judgment.

If we can't find a decent free primitive campsite or if we are ready for a good hot shower and fresh water refill, we gravitate towards State Park, National Forest, or BLM campgrounds. We only use National Park campgrounds for convenient access to the Parks as we've found most of them to be crowded and noisy. State Park campgrounds have become our favorite for a tolerable balance of natural setting, other people, and basic campground amenities. We avoid commercial campgrounds unless there is no other option. To find a campground, sometimes I will do a Google search for "campgrounds near Grand Canyon" for example that will bring up many options, other times I scour the road atlases since most public campgrounds are marked. Always read recent reviews to avoid disappointment.

Edited by Sleddog, 03 February 2020 - 10:24 AM.

[Smokecreek1]

Yep-spend those "down" times, planning for the next "up" times. Nothing better than being there is planning for the next one. Liked that quote Steve!  As a side, one of the great joys  of having a pop up is being able to "follow your nose" and see what adventure  awaits you on the other side of  that unexpected sign you see by the side of the road !

 

Smoke

[Advmoto18]

Other than planning on a general geographical area to visit, we don't plan.   That's not to say we don't set up a base camp site or AirBnB from which to explore, just for the most part when in the truck/camper, we don't plan as a general rule.

 

We never really know where we will end up.  Further, as a retired professional traveler (retired airline pilot) I find it best to stay very, very flexible.  You never know where you will find those golden nuggets of locations and want to stay longer.

 

And I can count on one hand all the locations world wide where we couldn't find a room or camp site in town or campground.

Edited by Advmoto18, 03 February 2020 - 05:56 PM.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Yep-spend those "down" times, planning for the next "up" times. Nothing better than being there is planning for the next one. Liked that quote Steve!  As a side, one of the great joys  of having a pop up is being able to "follow your nose" and see what adventure  awaits you on the other side of  that unexpected sign you see by the side of the road !

 

Smoke

Smoke, read the book, it’s a hoot.  Here’s a link to a free electronic version.   The Tent Dwellers

 

I found a second printing, a couple of decades back.  It’s a good add to any library.

[clikrf8]

My wife and I are 63 and 64, respectfully, and we couldn't be more different in overall approach: She says "surprise me" with destinations and routes, while I have been known to study a destination and route so thoroughly and for so long that I more or less recognize it when I get there.  Must be the old field geologist in me. I cut my teeth trip planning as a Project Geologist running a drilling crew of similar size to a platoon of WWII-era armored vehicles, so taking great care to figure out where we can go, can't go, want to go, and need to go are second nature.  All of that said, the planning and its requisite map study are very enjoyable exercises and comprise much of the fun.

 

Having been trained in the use of USGS 7.5' topos at 1:24,000 scale and a Brunton pocket transit, the infinite variety of digital products available now has led to me to..........not use any digital maps whatsoever.  Oh, I do like to zoom in to crux points with Google Map sat photos and I do so regularly and agree they're fine tools, but my intent is to dance with the one that brung me for as long as I'm able to dance.  Accordingly, DeLormes and more recently Benchmarks are my primary tools.

 

Overall, my trip planning involves several stages:

• Hankerin'
• Longin'
• Jonesin'
• Schemin'
• Daydreamin'
• Advanced Daydreamin'
• Obsessin'
• Site plottin'
• Time and distance cipherin'
• Reality checks, review, and bookings when needed.

Last night I finished Site Plotting and started on Time/Distance on a long, broad arc through southern and central Montana scheduled for August 2020.  We'll enter MT at Red Rock Pass down near Henry's Lake, ID and will run a trapline of familiar haunts we just can't do without seeing again for the nth time and mix in a few new spots. The "mostly old stuff" will end at the mouth of Rock Creek, east of Missoula after which we'll complete a several hundred mile mostly gravel traverse from around Fort Benton, through the Breaks, up through the American Prairie Reserve, Fort Peck, follow the Little Missouri River upstream from Medora (just inside ND), and cut back into MT briefly before exiting at MT's far southeastern corner at Alzada on the 5th day out of Fort Benton.

 

This trip will be in one of our pickups (need to decide which one soon) towing our lightweight pop-up hardside A-Frame camper.  It'll be the second trip to MT for the camper and the 5th North Carolina-to-Montana road trip since 2002, so we've developed some preferred stops for overnights along the way, and even some preferred fuel and food stops. So lots of the getting there and back is boiler plate. I generally won't tow at much > 67-70 mph unless it's really flat and the highway surface is very smooth.  I just don't care to put too much strain on the auto transmission, cooling system, suspension, and tires so I park my tail in the right lane, keep the CB on to warn truck drivers of a "slow mover" when it looks like they're bearing down on me, keep some music going on low volume, and enjoy the scenery. 

 

Within our East Coast states, and with having to traverse the Appalachians within 3 hours of leaving home, we look for about 600 miles/day.  In less-thickly populated parts of the Midwest, we can comfortably cover 650-675 miles/day. Between the Missouri River and the Rockies, we'll push out to 700 miles/day at times  At an average of 52-55 mph on a "beginning to end of day, including all stops" basis, these are obviously long days, but we start a little before dawn in order to stop long before dark and we do some walks at rest and fuel stops during the day and try to get in 20-40 minutes of walking in during the evening. We choose state and federal park campgrounds (not NPs, but Army COE and the like) which offer pull-throughs or level back-in sites so we can readily level without disconnecting, and 30 amp electric is a baseline requirement.  Our camper has an A/C unit which throws ice cubes and we find that cool air and clean sheets go a long way towards getting to sleep quickly and sleeping restfully with campground and highway traffic noise well muffled by closed windows and the soft hum of the A/C.Then it's up at 0430-0500, press Go on the Mr.Coffee, go grab a shower at the bathhouse, a bowl of Cheerios with blueberries quickly downed, and we're wheels-up easily by 0600.  The pop-up sets up and takes down in a couple or three minutes.

 

For the "in state" parts of this trip, we're looking at 2 to 5 nights at each of 4 places which are only around 2-3 hours' drive from one to the other.  The Looooooong Traverse down the Missouri and up the Little Mo will run between 70 and 120 miles/day mostly on BLM and county gravel roads.  That part will be just pull up to the stop, pop up, dine/shower/walkabout, and to bed.  Morning coffee will take a few minutes longer on the Coleman stove.

 

So that's pretty much how we do it.  I daresay there are no right or wrong answers. It just boils down to doing things in a manner you're comfortable with and used to, taking care to stop and smell the roses at most every opportunity.

 

Foy

 

Hey Foy, we plan on being in that part of Montana next September but arriving from the west. Maybe we will meet up. The road less traveled.