Idaho-Montana Tour

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A Porsche Runs Throught It Home

This three-day tour covers lightly traveled highways in sparsely settle areas of Idaho and Montana, Lewis and Clark territory for the most part. Starting in Boise, Idaho, the tour begins with a run up the Payette River Canyon, skirting the Sawtooth Wilderness Area, and following the Salmon River to Lost Trail Pass, where the Lewis and Clark expedition nearly collapsed in starvation while crossing the Bitterroot Range. The second day of the tour in Montana passes through the Missoula National Forest, Helena National Forest, the Lewis and Clark National Forest, and the Gallatin National Forest, ending in Bozeman, Montana. The final day of the tour begins following the Gallatin River Valley, which is where the award winning movie, A River Runs Through It, was filmed. The tour ends the third day with a drive along the Idaho-Montana border, skirting the edge of Yellowstone National Park and concluding with a drive on Utah’s Bear Lake and Logan Canyon Scenic Byways.

Pony Express

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In its very short history, the Pony Express captured the American imagination and became one of the enduring icons of our culture. The Pony Express trail enters northern Utah near Evanston, goes through Henefer and up East Canyon, then along Mountain Dell Reservoir and down Emigration Canyon to Salt Lake City. It continues from Salt Lake City to Lehi, skirts the north shore of Utah Lake, and then continues across the desert south of Dugway — originally a Pony Express stop — to Nevada. The IRPCA tour picked up the trail coming out of Echo Canyon and followed it through Henefer west to Tooele Valley, returning to Salt Lake City along the western shore of Utah Lake.

Golden Spike National Historic Site

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Starting with a visit to the Golden Spike National Historic Site to see the steam locomotives, this tour also includes a visit to the Morton-Thiokol rockets exhibit and a drive through northwestern Utah. This is isolated, desolate country, but the roads are open in winter and mostly empty. It is not by chance the tour article is titled "In Search of a Curve." There are some elevation changes, but the main attraction is an opportunity to run wide open at times of year when the Utah's spectacular scenic byways are closed or driving is impractical because of snow and ice.

Continental Divide and Conquer

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Ten times across the Continental Divide in two days. This tour begins in Pagosa Springs, CO. Right up the spine of the Rockies over secondary roads hugging the sides of the highest peaks in the continental U.S. Straddle the Continental Divide ten times, take a picture, and blast off to conquer the next pass. This tour also included a lengthy drive through Rocky Mountain National Park. This drive was a great success, so successful that we returned in 2003 to take on all 15 Continental Divide crossings.

Continental Divide Conquered

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The definitive Continental Divide event: 15 paved roads over the Continental Divide, 15 crossings in two and a half days, plus two crossing under the Continental Divide. Beginning in Steamboat Springs, CO, the first half day ends in Grand Lake, CO. The second day of the tour includes the highest paved roads in North America, including Rocky Mountain National Park and Independence Pass. The third day ends in Pagosa Springs, CO, which provides many return route options south and west. The route back to Salt Lake City includes the San Juan Skyway, a National Scenic Byway and All American Road. One could easily add a day in Rocky Mountain National Park to extend this to a three and a half day drive, plus there are many options in Colorado to add scenic roads on to the beginning of this itinerary.

Loop to Loop: Mt. Nebo and Alpine Loops

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This drive features two spectacular alpine loops. The Mt. Nebo Loop is a National Scenic Byway and the Alpine Loop is an IRPCA favorite, skirting the Mt. Timpanogos Wilderness Area. The roads are incredibly twisty, the elevation changes extraordinary, the road surfaces excellent, and the views awesome. The final leg of the tour provides the option of going up or down Provo Canyon, another National Scenic Byway.

Moab Destination Tour

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This weekend getaway starts with a drive from Salt Lake City through Spanish Fork Canyon to Price, UT. Continuing down US 6 to I-70, the route heads east in order to enter Moab via the Upper Colorado Scenic Byway. The second day of the tour is dedicated to driving to the most prominent overlooks in Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, and Arches National Park. The planned itinerary included a drive on the Lower Colorado Scenic Byway, a drive we actually made the morning of the third day. The route back to Salt Lake City includes the scenic stretch of I-70 that passes through the San Rafael Swell, an area under consideration for designation as a National Monument.

Red Rock Run

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Utah 12 is the newest All American Road of the National Scenic Byways. This tour passes four national parks and monuments, Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Capitol Reef. It can easily be extended to a two or multiple day drive if one is interested in spending time in each of these beautiful parks. The Red Rock Run II did just this, extending the time for visiting the parks and significantly expanding the route to include the most scenic areas and best roads in southern Utah and northern Arizona.

Red Rock Run II

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100% of this tour route is run on scenic highways. The tour includes visits to Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and the Grand Canyon National Parks, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Natural Bridges, and Cedar Breaks National Monuments, and Red Canyon, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Monument Valley, Lake Powell, and the Vermillion Cliffs scenic areas. The types of rock formations in these parks and monuments are highly varied, and the vistas and geology are stunning. This is surely one of the most spectacular driving routes you will find in the world. The landscapes are unique, the roads are superb, and the services are excellent all along the route (nothern Arizona is pretty devoid of human settlement, so you do need to watch your gas tank on this portion of the tour).

Red Rock Canyons

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A "best of the best" tour featuring spectacular canyon drives in the red rock regions of southwest Colorado and southeast Utah. The drive kicks off in Glenwood Springs Colorado, on the West Elk Scenic Byway to get to the road that runs on the North Rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The route continues over the San Juan Skyway -- an All American Scenic Highway -- to Durango, Colorado. The second day of the trip follows the western leg of the San Juan Skyway to Telluride, then follows the San Miguel River to the Delores River Canyon. This scenic byway follows the Delores River for approximately 80 miles with as many twists and turns as the river makes winding its way through the towering red rock cliffs and among ancients mesas and bluffs. The second day of the drive finishes up with a drive down the Upper Colorado Scenic Byway into Moab, UT. The third day of driving starts with an early morning drive down the Lower Colorado Scenic Byway, then a trip south to the Indian Creek Scenic Byway and the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. After lunch, the route follows the Trail of the Ancients to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and then North Wash and on to the Fremont River Canyon, the route to Capitol Reef National Park.