Sunrise at Arches National Park, UT.
The Summary
Since returning home I’ve been getting a bunch of questions about my road trip; where did I go, how long was I gone, how many miles did I drive, did I spend a ton of money on gas, how many photos did I take, etc. So this week I thought I’d mix things up and answer some of those questions and also share some random metrics that I tracked throughout my trip.
Here we go.
States visited: Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Arizona.
Time on the road: 5 weeks and 2 days.
Total miles driven: 4,669.
Average miles per gallon (mpg) achieved: 33 (with a loaded car and a roof rack—I was impressed!).
Cheapest gas paid: $2.89 per gallon
Most expensive gas paid: $4.25 per gallon
Average price per gallon of gas paid throughout trip: $3.40
National parks visited:
- Capitol Reef
- Canyonlands
- Arches
- Rocky Mountain
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison
- Mesa Verde
- Grand Canyon
- Bryce Canyon
- Zion
State parks visited:
- Goblin Valley
- Dead Horse
- Goosenecks
- Rifle Falls
National monuments visited:
- Colorado National Monument
- Vermilion Cliffs
- Navajo Nation
- Escalante
Photography Metrics:
- Photos taken: 4,658 (not including iPhone photos).
- The National Park in which I took the most photos:
- Canyonlands: 461 photos taken (the runner-up was Arches with 454)
- The State Park in which I took the most photographs:
- Goblin Valley State Park: 147 photos taken.
- The National Monument in which I took the most photographs:
- Colorado National Monument: 244 photos taken.
Money Spent:
- Park entrance fees:
- National parks and monuments:
- "America the Beautiful" Annual National Park Pass: $80 (best $80 I’ve ever spent)
- State and regional parks: $167
- Total spent on entrance fees: $247
- Camping fees
- Campsites: $97
- App showing where to camp for free: $16
- Total spent on camp sites: $113
- Driving Expenses
- Money spent on gas: $516
- Oil change: $87
- Total spent on driving: $603
- Miscellaneous Expenses (mostly meals with friends):
- $226
TOTAL EXPENSES: $1,189
Note: I did not include groceries in this total, as I would have purchased those whether I was traveling or not.
Personally, it blows my mind that I just had the trip of a lifetime, visiting some of the most beautiful sights in the United States, spending 5 weeks on the road, and it cost me a little over $1,000. I really hope this motivates some of you to just go out and do it. Get an annual national park pass, pick a handful of parks that you’re excited about and go. While it could be expensive if you wanted it to be, but I’ve shown that it can also be quite cheap. Either way, I promise it'll be worth it. Go!
Did anything stand out to you or surprise you from this list?
