Experiencing the American road trip with our dogs

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What’s not to love about the open road? Fresh air, fewer people and road trip playlists — now that’s my cup of tea.

If you’ve seen my articles about traveling with our dogs, then you know we’ve been to some pretty awesome places. I figured — a little late, but it’s okay — that I should put together a short post with the overall route we decided to take. At the bottom of the page you’ll also find links for all of the articles about this trip.

This was a dream of ours for so long and I can tell you it was the most amazing experience ever. We are yearning for another epic trip to see our beautiful country, so if you have a favorite place to travel or route to take with your pets, let us know!

Quick note: Traveling with dogs can be challenging. They aren’t allowed everywhere people are, you can’t leave them behind and you have to take into account their safety and needs.

I wouldn’t expect to go on a road trip with my dogs and be stopping at restaurants, museums, shopping malls or anything of the like. We knew from the beginning our dogs would be with us 24/7, absolutely no leaving them in the car or unattended, so that is exactly how we planned our trip and catered to our pets being with us.

With that said though, you can still see some of the best places in America even if they are not “dog-friendly.” We were able to visit several National Parks, which are heavy on restrictions, and still have the experience of a lifetime. Just remember to be patient and research ahead of time where you can go.

Your road trip may be a little more spontaneous and adventurous when you take your furry friends along with you!

| OUR ROUTE

We handpicked our route based on certain places we wanted to see. We had both traveled along I-40 before and wanted to make sure to hit Utah, so we were looking to drive through Colorado or Yellowstone. We decided that the South Dakota/Yellowstone route would be an epic drive that may be a little out of the way for future, shorter trips. Thus, we have our plateau of a map 🙂

We started our journey in Columbus, Ohio. Traveling though Indianapolis and lots of tolls in Chicago, we made it for the night in Madison, Wisconsin. From Madison, we continued on I-90 until we detoured through Badlands National Park in South Dakota and continued on to Rapid City.

After visiting Rapid City we drove to Cody, Wyoming, our base for visiting Yellowstone National Park. Passing through Grand Teton National Park, we drove though Idaho shortly then passed Salt Lake City. We stayed in Cedar City, Utah, where we were able to visit Zion, Bryce Canyon and the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.

This then led us through Las Vegas to Los Angeles, California, as our final stop.

| OUR STOPS

You can click the pictures below to read about each of our destinations, and some tips on saving money while traveling, as well as, things to keep in mind when taking your pet along with you. Check back soon for my post on our experience living in California too!

SOUTH DAKOTA