BootsnAll Travel Community

Are Crater Lake & the Painted Hills worth a detour from either Vancouver, or Northern California (I will probably try to get up there to see the Redwood Forests in mid December).

I'll be heading south from Glacier NP Montana, around the 1st November, to YellowStone Wyoming, & then down to Arizona, then west into southern California (Mojave / Joshua tree NP), & up to Yosemite. Not sure if the extra distance is worth it, to enter Oregon, or how cold it will be mid Decemeber.

Thanks for any feedback.

How about substituting the Meteorite crater in Arizona, for Yellowstone?

My dad lives like 10 minutes from Crater Lake. Been there no less than 15 times. In December it will be freezing and hiking trails will be closed. It is a beutiful place but in Dec all you will be able to do is look from the car turn-out. End of last May is when the trails finally began opening last year

Thanks Seana

I think I'll skip Oregon, & add the Meteorite Crater in NE Arizona, & the Canyonlands NP in Utah, instead. Thanks for your reply.

quote:

Meteorite Crater in NE Arizona

Really? That kind of makes me giggle -- any particular reason that you are adding this to your itinerary? If I just happened to be driving by, I would stop, but I fear that you may be somewhat disappointed if you make this a special part of your plan. It really isn't that impressive because you are down in the crater and the magnitude of it is not clear from the base. When I was a kid, my sister was bit by a rattlesnake at Meteor Crater, and that was the *highlight* of the visit. I could be slightly biased by that.



There are so many other beautiful things to see in Arizona that you may like more than Meteor Crater, such as the Grand Canyon, Wupatki, Sunset Crater, the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Antelope Canyon, Coyote Buttes, Canyon de Chelly, and Monument Valley.

Many of the desert places that you mention will be pleasant to visit during the time of year that you plan to visit -- but I agree with Seana, you won't be able to see much of Crater Lake because of the cold.

Sounds like you have quite a road trip planned! Have a great time!

I wasn't too keen on the Meteor(ite) Crater in Arizona either, but I was there in the middle of summer and it was so hot and miserable. It seemed like a big hole in the ground, but maybe I missed something because it was a long time back and I was younger then with less patience. I agree with AmazingJulesVerne that the other sites are more interesting, plus there's other parks in Utah you could combine with Canyonlands (which is pretty spectacular).