"Bucket list" trips?

Scott

Scott

Adventurist
I am sure I can't be the only one with a "bucket list" of trips or events I want to make it to before I die... So I want to hear what you guys have on your bucket list... Here are some of mine...
Los Coyotes Indian reservation (done)
Death valley
Drive the entire Mojave road
Drive all of route 66
Grand canyon (going in may)
Overland expo (going in may)
Get to every AAV community outing I can...

So let's hear it.. Whatcha got?

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I suppose I am too much of a realist to think that big.. I'm trying to think real... Although your list is a nice one too!
 
Here are a couple of mine
Route 66
Visit all the missions in CA starting from North to south
Mojave rd
Yosemite


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Ok, here we go.

Incomplete Bucket List Items:

The TransAmerica Trail

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The TransAmerica trail starts in North Carolina and runs all the way to the coast of Oregon. ~5000 miles of almost completely off pavement adventure. The trail was designed to be run by dual sport motorcycles but in recent years much of it has been completed in 4x4 vehicles. There are some areas of single track that would need to be bypassed, but that makes it even more of an adventure!

There are numerous ride reports on Advrider.com with tons of pictures and info on running the TAT on a bike. If you search TAT on expeditionportal you'll find a few trip reports of people doing parts of the trail in a vehicle. There are several new threads that have popped up of people currently outfitting vehicles to do a complete run this spring and summer.

Shadow of the Rockies Trail

Shown on the map above by the black dotted line the Shadow of the Rockies trail runs from the Mexico border in Texas up into Wyoming. Sam, the creator of the TAT, hopes to be able to extend this trail from Mexico all the way to the Canadian border.

Trans-Labrador Highway

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Labrador is a remote region of northeastern Canada, and the Trans-Labrador Highway is the primary road. The road starts at Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial border with Quebec, winds through the small town of Labrador City. The road spans 315 miles from Labrador City to Goose Bay and is all gravel. The wide, smooth gravel splits rolling hills covered with tall pines. And despite the large trucks that bring supplies and equipment for the hydroelectric industry, the road surface remains smooth and well-maintained. The Canadian town of Goose Bay, Labrador, is closer to Ireland than it is to Colorado, and there is just one road connecting the rest of North America to the small town of 800 people: Route 500, the Trans-Labrador Highway.

The Dalton Highway

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The James W. Dalton Highway, usually referred to as the Dalton Highway (and signed as Alaska Route 11), is a 414-mile Alaska highway. It begins north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse near the Arctic Ocean.

The Road to Nowhere

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In the 1930s and 1940s, Swain County gave up the majority of its private land to the Federal Government for the creation of Fontana Lake and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hundreds of people were forced to leave the small Smoky Mountain communities that had been their homes for generations. With the creation of the Park, their homes were gone, and so was Old Highway 288 the road to those communities. The old road was buried beneath the deep waters of Fontana Lake.

The Federal government promised to replace Highway 288 with a new road. Lakeview Drive was to have stretched along the north shore of Fontana Lake, from Bryson City to Fontana, 30 miles to the west. And, of special importance to those displaced residents, it was to have provided access to the old family cemeteries where generations of ancestors remained behind.

But Lakeview Drive fell victim to an environmental issue and construction was stopped, with the road ending at a tunnel, about six miles into the park. The environmental issue was eventually resolved, but the roadwork was never resumed. And Swain County's citizens gave the unfinished Lakeview Drive its popular, albeit unofficial name "The Road To Nowhere."

The Mojave Road

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Perhaps the best treasure in eastern California's Mojave National Preserve is a pair of tracks that cross the middle of it. This famous trail is the Mojave Road, one of the early routes that brought American pioneers to California. This trail is unique in that for most of its 138 mile stretch it is in much the same condition as the pioneers would have found it, and a lot of the trail passes through country that is virtually unchanged since prehistoric times. The road bisects the Preserve, wandering from waterhole to waterhole, and is mostly a 4-wheel-drive trail.

Denali National Park

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Denali is six million acres of wild land, bisected by one ribbon of road. Travelers along it see the relatively low-elevation taiga forest give way to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains, culminating in North America's tallest peak, 20,310' Denali. Wild animals large and small roam un-fenced lands, living as they have for ages. Solitude, tranquility and wilderness await.

The Blue Ridge Parkway (Complete roughly 1/2 on a motorcycle)

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A 469 mile scenic highway running from outside Cherokee North Carolina up into Virginia. It is the longest linear road inside a park in the US.

Bahia Honda State Park, Florida

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400+ acre state park in the Florida Keys. Most of the park is underwater. :)

Land Between the Lakes

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Land Between The Lakes (LBL) is a 170,000-acre national recreation area in Western Kentucky and Tennessee located near I-24, about 90 miles north of Nashville, TN, and just south of Paducah, KY.

The Alpine Loop (Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass)

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Engineer Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 12,800 feet (3.901 m) above the sea level, located in the San Juan Mountains near Ouray, Colorado, in USA. It’s one of Colorado's most scenic offroad drives. It's one of the highest mountain passes of Colorado.

The gravel road to the pass is called Engineer Pass Road or Ouray County Road 18. The road is difficult and it’s a nightmare in the wet or dark (or both). This trail, combined with Cinnamon Pass, constitutes the famous Alpine Loop. Some of the highlights of this trail are the many mines, ghost towns, waterfalls, fishing and incredible views. It is an exhilarating trip for drivers of all experience levels. There are many mines and points of historical interest along the route.


Completed bucket list items:

Going to the Sun Road

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I had the chance to drive the entirety of Going to the Sun while working in Montana and it is truly spectacular. To really enjoy all the sights I'd recommend being a passenger and not the driver though. It's a tight narrow winding road with sheer drop offs that requires quite a bit of attention. Pictures are in my trip report here.

Smokey Mountain National Park (Cades Cove specifically)

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The Smokey Mountain National Park is a regular stomping ground for me. It's only a couple hours from my front door so we regularly camp and fish in this area. Cades Cove, however, is on the opposite side of the park from where we normally go and is an incredible area to explore. I've camped and hiked here before, but it's been years ago and I need to get back there.
 
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Arizona Strip
Vegas to Reno
Utah - Moab, Canyonlands, White Rim

I'd love to spend some time up in Idaho/Wyoming/Montana. Beautiful country up there.

Sure wish Baja California wasn't so sketchy...
 
Aside from everywhere, here are a few off my overlanding bucket list:
  • Alaska/Canada
  • Pacific Northwest
  • Montana
  • Death Valley
  • Johnson Valley
  • Rubicon Trail
  • Backcountry Discovery Routes
  • Trans-America Trail
  • Continental Divide Route
  • Australia
I'd throw on Utah (Moab), Arizona (Grand Canyon), and Colorado (multiple passes)... but I'm doing all of those next month while I'm out that way for Overland Expo West. So that's a few items to check off the list.

I have a lot of east coast places I'd like to visit like Land Between the Lakes, Road to Nowhere, as well as revisiting Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
 
Driven to AK several times, its a blast to camp along the way. Want to go again and drive the Dalton, the Top of the World Hwy, and the road to Innuvik.

Been wanting to do a Southwest Indian Ruins trip. Mesa Verde and many of the well known and less well known ruins again.

Back in the 1900's, I spent a summer bumming around the northern Rockies, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Hitting interesting historical sites, good mountains, and looking around. Would like to do that again also.

The Iceland trip sounds cool.

The El Camino del Diablo sounds interesting. Would like to explore more of the deserts of Az again. Some stuff in Utah also sounds good.
 
Reviving old thread.
My list includes things ive already done and things I want to do.

1. Grand Canyon (done)
2. Rubicon
3. Yosemite National Park (Done, but want to go again)
4. Yellow Stone National Park
5. Zion National park
6. Alaska, not sure what part Dalton sounds cool found a Youtube series
7. The Mojave road (debating on which vehicle to use Jeep YJ or Z71 Tahoe)
8. Death Valley
9. Japan

There's surely more trips I could do, but they allude me at the moment.
I would be up for a group Mojave Road trip sometime in the fall when its not as hot.
 
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