2022 Cross Country Road Trip Itinerary: Week 4

My 2022 cross country road trip is coming to an end, with week four wrapping up our travels. Temporarily, of course. I’m sure I’ll be back on the road again in the near future.

This past week has been hot and dusty. Brockie and I have been driving all over southern Utah, where we hit four National Parks in four days. If you take a look at our week three itinerary, you might notice that we only planned to visit three National Parks. Driving to Bryce Canyon was a spontaneous decision, which is one of the perks of going on a road trip. You can make spontaneous detours and side trips!

In addition to four National Parks in four days, we hit Natural Bridges National Monument. Altogether, we climbed a lot of canyons, did some great hikes in Capitol Reef, saw a bunch of arches/bridges, and got pretty dirty.

My ‘Week 4’ cross country road trip itinerary

During week four, Brockie and I will be spending some time in the mountains of southwestern Colorado. Then we will be slowly working our way back east. Eventually we’ll end up back home in North Carolina.

Since it’s a long drive back, we decided to take our time. Plus, we are having too much fun to rush straight back home!

Almost nothing was planned for this week until a few days ago. I left the drive home pretty open, so that we could choose whatever we wanted to do.

Stop 13: Ouray, CO

Ouray is one of my favorite mountain towns. Nestled in the San Juan Mountains, Ouray features a couple waterfalls, a perimeter trail that circles the town, and much much more. I love walking the main strip, with cool gift shops and restaurants that offer stunning views of the mountains from the rooftop seating. Every once in a while a deer will come meandering through the streets and munch on the flowers grown in boxes along the sidewalks.

Although I’ve visited Ouray before, I’ve always come down from the north. This time I get to drive to Ouray from the south, taking the scenic Million Dollar Highway. This steep and curvy highway through the mountains has been on my road trip list for a while. So it’ll be fun to finally get to drive this famous route.

Stop 14: Colorado Springs & Manitou Springs

Colorado has so much to offer that I can’t just drive east through the state without at least making a couple more stops. There is a lot to explore in the Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs area. What exactly are we going to do? I have no idea. We might visit the Garden of the Gods. We might spend an afternoon poking around in local shops. I’m looking forward to just showing up, driving around, and spending some time exploring. After packing in as much as possible during this cross country road trip, I think we deserve to take it slow for a while.

P.S. Check out my list of awesome things to do on the drive from Montrose to Colorado Springs.

Stop 15: The Ozarks

The Ozarks was never on my original itinerary, but, once again, that’s the great thing about road trips. We can add stops to the itinerary as we go along.

Basically, Brockie and I just spent a few minutes staring at Google Maps, trying to figure out a good stop in between Colorado and North Carolina. Neither of us felt like driving straight home, especially when it’s at least a 30-hour drive.

We settled on the Ozarks as a good stopping place. I figure we’ll head to Branson first, maybe dip down into Arkansas, and go from there. I’m sure we will fit in a few Ozark Mountains hikes.

Stop 16: Nashville

With Nashville so close and mostly on the way home from the Ozarks, we decided we might as well stop by Music City! Both Brockie and I love music, so we are looking forward to spending some time in Nashville. Although I’ve driven through the city before, I’ve never stopped and explored the area. It will be fun for both of us, and I’m sure we will hunt down some live music before leaving.

Finally…home

After Nashville, we drive back home to North Carolina. After such a long road trip, we will both be ready to crash and make up for lost sleep (and lost showers). But not for too long! In July I’ll be going on another road trip — this time to Maine.