2026 Western Parks
Table of Contents
➤GA,TN,MO,KS ➤Denver
➤Estes Pk ➤Rocky Mt NP ➤Vail
➤Grand Jct ➤UT ➤NV ➤AZ
➤ NM & TX ➤OK, AR, & Memphis TN
We spent 16 days on the road from Friday 09/04/2026 to Saturday 09/19. We drove from our home in Metro Atlanta, Georgia as far west as Las Vegas, Nevada in a 4,911.5 mile loop. We experienced temperatures from 105 to 48 degrees and altitudes from 200 to 12,183 ft. And we visited 17 national parks, monuments, and historical sites. We saw mountains, tundra, plains, prairies, deserts, canyons, hoodoos, arches, mesas, lakes, rivers, gulches, washes, cascades, and forests. And through it all God’s fingerprint has been visible in His creation, His provision, His protection, and His daily blessings and gifts.
Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Google MAP
Detailed Plan (Google Spreadsheet)
09/04/26 FRI Hampton Inn Clarksville, TN
09/05/26 SAT Lambert’s Cafe
09/05/26 SAT Rush Limbaugh’s Hometown
09/05/26 SAT Ste. Geneviève NHP
09/05/26 SAT Ulysses S. Grant NHS
09/05/26 SAT Harry S. Truman NHS
09/05/26 SAT Hampton Inn Kansas City
09/06/26 SUN Hilton Garden Denver Airport
09/07/26 MON Peak to Peak scenic route
09/07/26 MON Stanley History Tour
09/07/26 MON Silver Moon Inn
09/07/26 MON Estes Park Visitor Center
09/08/26 TUE Aerial Tram
09/08/26 TUE The Taffy Shop
09/07/26 MON Trolleys
09/08/26 TUE Shops & Restaurants
09/08&09/26 TUE&WED Rocky Mt NP
(TUE: Beaver Meadows to Alpine Visitor Center and back to Estes Park. WED: From Beaver Meadows entrance and out at the Kawuneeche visitor center [east to west])09/09/26 WED Hampton Inn Silverthorne
09/10/26 THU Home2 Suites Grand Jct NW
09/10&11/26 THU&FRI Rim Rock Drive (THU: East to West, then on FRI: West to East to Visitor Center and back out)
09/11/26 FRI Western CO Botanical Gardens
09/11/26 FRI Utah Scenic Hwy 128 along the Colorado River (Jackass Canyon, Hal Canyon, Grandstaff Canyon, Castle Valley, Fisher Towers, etc.)
09/11/26 FRI Arches NP
09/11/26 FRI Homewood Suites Moab
09/12/26 SAT Cedar Breaks
09/12&13/26 SAT&SUN Hotel De Novo Springdale
09/13/26 SUN Zion National Park
09/14/26 MON Las Vegas strip and around the Sphere
09/14/26 MON Lake Mead Visitor Center
09/14&15/26 MON&TUE Grand Canyon NP
09/14/26 MON The Squire (Holiday Inn Resort) in Tusayan, AZ. We’d been relocated from the Yavapai Lodge in the Grand Canyon park because the flash flood on 8/29/26 broke the park’s water mains.
09/15/26 TUE Hampton Inn Williams
09/16/26 WED Sunset Crater Volcano
09/16/26 WED Walnut Canyon
09/16/26 WED Petrified Forest NP
09/16/26 WED Hilton Garden Albuquerque
09/17/26 THU Petroglyphs
09/17/26 THU Hampton Inn Oklahoma City/Yukon
09/18/26 FRI Fort Smith
09/18/26 FRI Hilton Garden Wolfchase Galleria
09/19/26 SAT Staks Kitchen
09/19/26 SAT Stones River Battlefield, Murfreesboro, TN
09/19/26 SAY Home by 19:25
09/21/26 7,785 inbox emails at work