Top 10 Road Trip Destinations in the USA

[Music] welcome back to the other side we're ian and anna and we just did a four-month road trip across the u.s in our tiny van we're constantly getting asked for recommendations and what our favorite places were to visit so in this video we are so pumped to finally share with you guys our top 10 u.s road trip destinations before we get started i want to let you guys know that we're coming out with the ultimate road trip travel guide how we only spent 30 a day per person all the free campsites you could imagine and so much more so get excited for that it's coming out in may of 2021 let's start with number 10 grand teton national park with jagged peaks that reach the sky vibrant wildflowers blue glacier lakes and huge chances of spotting wildlife grand teton national park will make for one incredible trip we camped right outside of the park and of all the sights we've been to since starting van life i think this is still one of our favorites we granted it as number one simply because of the view you get of the insane teton mountains grand tetons is known for its epic adventures the two trails we embarked on were delta lake and phelps lake delta lake was an eight mile round trip and let me tell you it was so hard full of crazy switchbacks and even a boulder field whatever that is do not embark on this trail without some serious food and water with you although challenging it was one of the most rewarding hikes we've ever done within the first five minutes we saw a grizzly bear and its cub it was so cool to see that in person that reminds me always hike with a bear spray you can purchase it for around fifty dollars but we ended up renting it for eight dollars a day as we only did a few hikes the rest of the hike was full of endless breathtaking views once you reach the top you will be greeted by the unbelievably blue alpine lake delta lake enjoy and don't forget to take a quick plunge into the glacier water before you leave it's cold but fun next was phelps lake which was a much more tame hike but it led to something way more exciting than delta lake in my opinion which was this awesome 25 foot cliff jump we spent about three hours here just jumping and jumping and watching others jump it was so entertaining and the scenery reminded us of something we'd see in southeast asia so beautiful this was my favorite spot while visiting the tetons around and throughout grand teton national park you will be able to see so many bison it will blow your mind you might even get lucky and be trapped in a bison jam which will allow you to get out of your car and take some pics but be careful they are definitely dangerous if you want to get out of the park head to jackson hole we recommend walking around and eating at one of the best mediterranean places in town called figs up next is number nine zion national park this iconic park is one of the most visited in the entire us i like to call zion a little disney world because it gets a whopping 4.5 million visitors a year i want every single one of you watching this to realize that zion is packed and always will be packed but please don't let this ruin your time best way to do this start every hike as early as possible by far the best thing we did in utah was located in zion and that is the death defying angels landing hike this hike has been nicknamed the scariest hike in america and the reason is because 10 people have sadly fallen to their death here so please be careful and wear shoes that have grip angels landing will get your heart beating faster than a trip to the bathroom after eating denny's sorry denny's the thing is anna and i have been skydiving bungee jumping and shark diving but for some reason this five mile round trip hike was one of the scariest things we've ever done it's just you and that thick chain taking on the 1500 foot drop off one wrong move and you're gone anna is terrified all scary statements behind i truly think anyone could do this hike there is a part of the hike where you think you have made it to the top but that's just scout overlook so we thought that that was the hard part that was the easy part we just turned the corner and we have to go up this entire mountain with just hanging on onto the rope after all that hard work and peeing your pants a little the 360 degree view on the top of angel's landing makes every dang second worth it if you're asking yourself right now what is worse the way up or the way down we both agreed at the end the way up was harder than the way down if you're too scared to take on angel's landing there is an easier hike with similar views called canyon overlooked trail it's only one mile and has way way less people you even get to go through the famous mount carmel tunnel the other most popular thing to do in zion is called the narrows and it was voted one of the world's best slot canyon hikes at a length of 16 miles you get to decide how far you want to go anna and i only went about three miles in of course the farther you go the more beautiful and less crowded it becomes we made the mistake of going during midday and the hike was miserable and we think very very overrated but that is our opinion this is miserable oh my god it's so it's so deep i don't understand i got anna's bag don't worry about it don't let us ruin your dreams of going and maybe comment down below after you went and let others know what you thought a few reasons we thought it was a little overrated was the amount of people there of course how cold it was in that slot canyon the water is freezing cold so get ready for that this is what i'm doing right now with anna we're in like a wind tunnel right now so it's freezing in the shade you could rent boots and some special type of socks to keep you warm but still pack extra clothes now let's hit up number eight the oregon coast making it more than 2500 miles from our hometown of cleveland ohio the oregon coast holds a special place in our heart we never thought the mobile would bring us all the way to this breathtaking coastline when we got there i instantly had to run into the pacific ocean as celebration and it was freezing the coast of oregon has a vibe that we have never felt before it's one of those places that instantly calms the nerves and makes you feel a complete peace we started at the northern beach town of seaside and made our way down highway 101 for the next five days seaside was the perfect start as we spent the night cooking on the beach taking in the most extraordinary sunset the next day we set out to see the famous cannon beach where many movies have been filmed including one of my favorites the goonies you will start to notice that the beaches on the oregon coast can be summed up in one word massive this beach was no exception as it spans a whopping four miles the major draw to cannon beach is seeing the incredible haystack rock rising out of the water at 234 feet seeing it in person blew our minds it's no wonder cannon beach was named one of the most beautiful places in the world by national geographic another hour and a half down the coast was one of the most unforgettable spots on our four-month road trip this hidden gem is called cape coanda what made it so special was the diversity of landscape here it had sand dunes that you could board down another wild looking rock out in the ocean an orange sandstone that made it feel like utah here we could truly see why the oregon coast is one of a kind the other thing we did at cape wanda was have a fire on the beach which is basically a rite of passage in oregon there is no better feeling than staring into that warm fire with the waves crashing beside you our last stop was the popular thor as well nicknamed the drain pipe of the pacific ocean it's basically a 20-foot hole and when high tide comes it fills up and water violently bursts out of the top i don't think we are there during high tide so be sure to check before heading that way sadly we suddenly had to evacuate because the terrible 2020 wildfires were surrounding us we couldn't believe what we're seeing as a sky filled with smoke and ash now on to number seven lake powell lake powell is a man-made reservoir on the colorado river and it goes through both utah and arizona to be completely honest we spent most of our time on the arizona side of lake powell and a town called page but we really wanted to share this spot in this video anyways because if you're visiting southern utah paige won't be far out of your way the two popular natural attractions near lake powell are horseshoe bend and antelope canyon horseshoe bend is about a 10 minute drive from paige its name totally suits it because it looks exactly like a horseshoe boom a thousand foot drop and the colorado river goes around this rock that looks like a horseshoe the entrance fee is ten dollars per car once you arrive it's a very short stroll from the parking lot there's not a ton to do at horseshoe bend other than snap a few picks and enjoy the epic views there's definitely a big crowd but it's such a large area you are sure to find some private spots to take in this miraculous attraction alone if you look down really really closely you could see people kayaking boats come through here pretty sure people are camping right there with their tents antelope canyon is famous for its narrow passages smooth waves and brilliantly warm tones it's somewhere i had always wanted to visit because it looked otherworldly to me the upper part of antelope canyon was closed due to coven 19. so we visited the lower part from our drop off point it was a four mile round trip kayak ride on lake powell to this insanely beautiful formation we departed at 7 00 am to beat the crowds and pretty much had it all to ourselves we used lake powell adventure company but if i'm not mistaken you are allowed to rent a kayak and visit on your own we loved accessing this area through the water it made the experience much more adventurous starting to get really really beautiful and narrow right here look at them and the wavy walls the swirly pink red and orange structures totally lived up to the hype seriously it's hard for me to even find the words to describe how incredible this landscape was i think everyone needs to visit antelope canyon before they die now for number six badlands national park what anna and i have learned from traveling constantly was never to have any expectations when heading to a new destination and if i'm going to be honest we had zero expectations for badlands national park but as you can see badlands made it to number six on this list and for great reasons a lot of you watching may have no clue where badlands is located but no worries we were the same way located on the edge of america's great plains in south dakota badlands consists of more than 240 000 acres of unique rugged terrain we always dreamed of seeing utah's crazy landscapes but never thought it was possible to see something similar only 12 hours away from chicago the best part about this park is that there's no one around we went in july which is the hardest summer and felt like we were the only humans there the hikes here were easy but very rewarding you will be surrounded by huge buttes twisted canyons and rock formations that were striped white gray and orange what anna and i started to notice was that these rocks would change color with every passing hour of the day our favorite time to take in the beauty was at sunset where the colors really popped the best trails here were the castle trail door trail and popular notch trail the notch trail was a blast because you get to climb up a ladder and once you get to the top wow is it stunning some other fun things to do in the area is head to waldron really can't miss this one because there are hundreds of billboards lining up the highway then you can get up close and personal with the cute prairie dogs and even camp at one of our favorite free campsites in the country interrupting the video real quick to let you guys know that we have an american kids preset pack out on our website right now anna's been making preset packs for a while now and this one is by far the best if you don't know what presets are they're photo filters and you can use them on the free lightroom mobile app on your phones really easy to use and they make every photo instagram worthy so definitely check them out press right up here to head to our website if not let's head back to the video next up is number five arches national park just 10 minutes outside of the adventure capital of america moab utah lies arches national park which is full of over 2 000 arches it took me a minute to figure this one out but hello there's a reason it's called arches national park you literally see them everywhere through many years of erosion the sandstone in eastern utah has transformed into these unimaginable creations the most famous arch in the park has got to be delicate arch the one that's on the utah license plate we thought we beat the crowds by waking up at 5am the heights of delicate arch for sunrise but we were sadly mistaken by the time the sun rose there were over a hundred people admiring the arch with us although it was extremely crowded it was still an exceptional sight to see we still recommend going at sunrise because we've heard sunset is even more packed next we headed over to one of our favorite hikes which was the primitive trail by the double window arches the primitive trail may have been one of our favorites because we had it all to ourselves and at the end we were able to climb up to the windows and enjoy the sunset from above the last hike we embarked on was called the devil's garden loop a total of 7.8 miles but you can turn back at any time this is where you can see the famous landscape arch it's the longest one in the whole park we made it all the way to the double o arch before turning around the hike here is definitely not for everyone what i really liked about this trail is that it had a lot more to offer than just arches you saw insanely big cliffs bright orange hudus and it was full of awesome lookout points i just mentioned three hikes but if you are not a big hiker just driving through arches is an experience within itself that brings us to number four crater lake national park formed after the collapse of a volcano more than 7 000 years ago crater lake is the deepest lake in the us you know how we ran away from those wildfires on the oregon coast well we ran straight to crater lake and it was one of the best decisions we made the whole trip why you may ask well because of the wildfires there was not a soul at the park when we first arrived at the rim we were shocked at what we saw this was by far some of the bluest water on the planet and it really felt otherworldly one of our favorite things to do here was ride around the 33 mile scenic rim drive and explore all the pullouts with the panoramic views our first night there we hiked to the best spot to take in the sunset and also get a bird's eye view of the entire crater the two-mile round-trip hike to watchman's peak is well worth it i know places are usually known for their sunsets but the real magic happens here in the early morning where you will watch the sun slowly creep up over the crater something that made the sunrise even more unforgettable was making your coffee and breakfast as we took in all those breathtaking views one secret that most people don't know about is that you can actually hike down to the water and cliff jump there's only one trail you can do this at and it's called cleatwood cove trail i know seeing the water from above is crazy but once you get up close you understand why this lake has been voted one of the clearest bodies of natural water in the entire world anna and i both agreed that this was one of our favorite cliff jumps that we have ever been to but also one of the coldest crater lake is 58 degrees fahrenheit and when you jump in your body will be shocked at how frigid it is just make sure to be careful and jump safely now on to number three las vegas i know what you're thinking really they're saying las vegas is one of their favorite places to road trip to yep you heard that right even during a pandemic las vegas blew us away i can't imagine how much fun it will be once everything is opened again just an excuse to go back let's kick this off with some adventurous activities that are located outside of the city about an hour away lies valley of fire state park there are so many trails and things to see in this area however we were so anxious to get to vegas that we only did one trail which was called fire wave on a quick 1.5 mile hike you witnessed many rock formations of different shapes sizes and colors there's this wave that's covered in reddish orange and white stripes it's a common instagram spot and it was totally as cool as you'd think the other fun activity is only about 20 minutes from the city and it's the seven magic mountains this art display was created by a famous swiss artist whose name i'm not even gonna try to pronounce were these painted rocks cool yes is it a must do maybe up to you all right now let's get into the heart of vegas we highly recommend treating yourself while in town get a place to stay and be ready to spend some money i'm sure you can do vegas on a budget but it's definitely more fun to save up a little bit for this snack of the trip walking down the strip during the day and night is truthfully one of the most entertaining things that you can do explore some iconic hotels like paris hotel and caesar's palace maybe pretend you're in the hangover i swear this place is like an adult playground i highly recommend getting some drinks do some gambling enjoy yourself you're in vegas baby come on when we were there there weren't any shows going on and clubs were closed so sadly we don't have any recommendations under this category but we've heard vegas performances are unbeatable lastly vegas is one of the culinary capitals of the us the food was so good our two favorite places to eat were yellowtail and hell's kitchen yellowtail had the best sushi i've ever had in my entire life and i am a sushi lover each dish was so creative did you know there was such thing as tuna pizza me neither but it was one of my favorite meals yellowtail is located at the bellagio and is by far the best place to take in the water show all while eating your incredible meal next was hal's kitchen if you've ever wondered if gordon ramsay's food lived up to the hype let me tell you it's better than you would ever think there were some flavors that i just didn't even know were a thing before visiting and of course i always say this you gotta do a gordon ramsay impression if you're going to hell's kitchen who cooked the welling it's so raw just touch it it's so raw it's moving coming up number two bryce canyon national park let me tell y'all there is something so peaceful about bryce canyon the insane views and rock clusters you've seen online are even more mind-blowing in person these irregular columns of rocks are called hoodoos they're found all over the world but you will find the biggest collection of them in bryce canyon national park to be completely honest you can see some of the best views from the top of the canyon especially at sunset however the rim of the canyon can get a bit crowded so we recommend getting up close and personal with the hoodoos by hiking our favorite hike was the navajo loop where you can see thor's hammer and wall street canyon the sites at wall street are so breathtaking and if you go at sunrise there is no one there we ended up hiking the trail twice just so we could experience it without any crowds another great one was mossy cave where you can actually see a waterfall the cool thing about mossy cave is that you don't have to access it from the park there's an entrance point right by our favorite barbecue place in the area called i don't know barbecue if you're going to bryce you have to stop there for a delicious meal made by a family run restaurant and finally for number one big sur and the california coast when we were planning our route for the road trip the one place that we always dreamed of visiting was the california coast and more specifically the remarkable drive along big sur this may be a long section but strap in and get ready to be mind blown let's first start at our favorite spot on the california coast which was malibu famous stars like miley cyrus lady gaga pierce brosnan and many more call this slice of paradise home also if you have ever watched zoey 101 big fan right here that was filmed in malibu at pepperdine university what a spot to go to college the mail booth slogan is 27 miles of scenic beauty and they aren't lying some of our favorite beaches we have ever been to are on this stretch of coastline the most notable spots are malibu pure for breakfast and to watch some surfers el matador beach which has been voted one of the best beaches in california and of course our all-time favorite point doom and westwood beach point doom is a vista point that gives you a 360 degree view of malibu where you will be able to see seals dolphins and even some whales from december through may after taking in those views from the top make sure to hike down and head to either westward beach or pirates cove pirate's cove was just epic because you were surrounded by tall cliffs and the sunset couldn't get any better from this spot another hour up the coast is santa barbara and this one really surprised me perfectly set between mountains and the pacific ocean it was the california i had always dreamed about those palm trees lining up the beaches and the spanish architecture made this one of the prettiest cities we have ever visited make sure to bring your rollerblades because the boardwalk here is awesome some other fun things to do is head to the city's most picturesque landmark old mission santa barbara and eat some delicious pastrami sandwiches at norton's deli which was featured on diners drive-ins and dives my mouth is watering right now thinking about that pastrami the last must visit place before heading through big sur is the tiny town of morro bay we had no intentions in stopping here and never knew it existed but i think it's by far the most underrated coastal towns in california and maybe the u.s morro bay can easily be identified by two different landmarks three smokestacks and the unbelievable moral rock i mean just look at that behemoth one thing you have to do here is eat the clam chowder at tognazini's dockside restaurant they serve it in a massive bread bowl and the amount of fresh clams they have in it make it both of our favorite clam chowders we have ever tasted another must do here is check out all those cute otters lounging in the marina the cool part is that they're here year round so you won't miss them lastly taking in the sunset at morro bay beach is the ultimate ending to your day you really don't want to miss this spot on your way up or down the california coast now on to the moment most of you have probably been waiting for the famous big sur big sur is a 90 mile stretch of scenic coastline that goes from san simeon in the south to carmel by the sea in the north this section of highway 1 has been voted one of the most beautiful scenic drives in the world which is why we always dreamed of road tripping here some tips to keep in mind before this big drive one fill up your gas tank because if you don't the prices are stupid expensive two download your maps on your phone because there is zero connection for all 90 miles and three please drive safely because the roads here are no joke but if we could do it with our woot mobile then you can too we love that the speed limit was only 25 miles per hour and if someone is on your butt there are tons of pullouts to let them pass we started our big sur journey in san simeon and the only main activity you can do here is head to hearst castle this national historic landmark was once the home to newspaper mogul william hurst in the 1920s and 30s sadly we couldn't go in because it was closed due to coven next stop was the most popular attraction called mickway falls this is where you can see the 80-foot waterfall dumping into the pacific ocean it's really a quick stop but here you will be able to see the bluest water along the entire coast after mickway falls we headed to julius piper beach which has also been called one of california's best beaches to get here you have to drive two miles down a sketchy road and pay a 12 admission fee per vehicle one word to describe this beach is special the sand here legit turns purple after it rains and the whole beach is surrounded by unimaginable rock formations we even got to witness a school of dolphins playing right off the beach we only got to spend an hour here but i suggest spending a little more time because it's truly a great place to relax without the crowds the final stop on our big sur road trip was bixby bridge for sunset this bridge was built in 1931 and it soars 260 feet above a steep canyon overlooking the pacific ocean there is a reason this is one of the most photographed spots in california and is the most popular filming location for car commercials taking in the sunset here was truly the best ending we could ask for after big sur we ended our california coast road trip in san francisco we didn't spend too much time here but of course had to stop at the world renowned golden gate bridge here's the secret guys the best spot to enjoy the bridge from is at a beach called kirby cove here we took in our final moments of our four-month usa road trip all right that's a wrap for today that's all we have i hope that you enjoyed that video and that it helps you plan your next trip definitely be on the lookout for that travel guide of ours and if you don't subscribe we don't like you anymore you're not a real wooter we will see you in the next one [Music] you

Channel: The Other Side

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Keywords: USA, top places in the usa, where to visit in the usa, usa travel guide, united states travel, usa road trip, us road trip, us road trip routes, top 10 usa, top 10 usa road trips, best road trip destinations usa, best road trip destinations, road trip destinations, best places to visit in the usa, best places to travel in the usa, best road trip, america, america travel, america destinations, america road trip, road trip america, things to do in america, road trip travel

Id: LkgCZsSS8j0

Length: 23min 55sec (1435 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 28 2021