Our 5-Week USA Road Trip: Oklahoma, New Orleans, Yosemite & the Southwest

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We spent around five weeks travelling across the US, beginning in Oklahoma, heading through Memphis and New Orleans, flying out to San Francisco and Yosemite, then taking a two-week road trip through Nevada, Utah and Arizona’s national parks before finishing in Las Vegas.

It was a trip of dramatic landscapes, strange roadside stops, incredible history, a bear encounter we will never forget—and a few famous places that did not quite live up to the hype.

This is not a “perfect USA itinerary.” It is our honest account of what we did, what surprised us and the places we would make time for again.

Our USA Road Trip Route at a Glance

Our route looked roughly like this:

• Oklahoma

• Memphis, Tennessee

• New Orleans, Louisiana

• San Francisco, California

• Yosemite National Park

• Las Vegas, Nevada

• Zion National Park, Utah

• Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

• Horseshoe Bend, Arizona

• Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah

• Williams and the Grand Canyon, Arizona

• Las Vegas

If you are planning a similar trip, we would allow at least two weeks for the Southwest national-parks section alone. The distances are bigger than they look on a map! Plus, some of our best moments happened when we had space to stop rather than rushing between destinations.

Oklahoma: Where It All Began

We started in Tulsa, staying with family friends on a lake. It was the perfect way to ease into the trip rather than diving immediately into hostels, hotels and constant movement.

The accent alone took some getting used to - “y’all have a great day now” was something we never got tired of hearing.

Oklahoma also gave us our first real taste of American wildlife. Some of it was wonderful: bison, armadillos and hummingbirds. Some of it was genuinely alarming: a brown recluse spider next to our bed and two copperhead snakes.

We did day trips to Kansas and Pawhuska, a filming location for Killers of the Flower Moon, and visited Woolaroc to see bison up close for the first time.

One honest observation: many of the small Midwest towns we passed through felt like ghost towns. It was a visible reminder of rural decline and added a different layer to the trip beyond the usual major attractions.

Memphis: More History Than Music

We arrived in Memphis the night before Hurricane Helene hit, which meant a quiet first evening on Beale Street followed by a full day of museums once the rain set in.

Sun Studio was genuinely worth visiting. But the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, was one of the most powerful experiences of the entire trip. We spent more than three hours there and could easily have stayed longer.

Beale Street itself did not feel as authentic as we expected. We also skipped Graceland. From what we had read, it felt overpriced and a little gimmicky, and we do not feel we missed much.

New Orleans: The Trip’s Most Atmospheric Stop

New Orleans, timed around the beginning of Halloween season, was one of the standout stops of our whole US trip.

We took a swamp tour out of Slidell, saw alligators among cypress trees and Spanish moss, wandered the Garden District on foot and visited Whitney Plantation. The plantation visit was difficult but essential; it gave real historical weight to a city that can otherwise feel like it is all Bourbon Street and beignets.

The ghost tour was a highlight for a completely different reason: campy, theatrical and led by a guide who fully committed to the bit. We also had a Blood Bag cocktail at a vampire-themed bar and confirmed that Café du Monde’s beignets really do live up to the hype.

If you visit, we would prioritise a history-focused experience alongside the fun stuff. It gave the city far more depth.

San Francisco and Yosemite: Bridges and Bears

San Francisco gave us the Golden Gate Bridge, best seen on foot during a long walk from Knob Hill, an accidental front-row seat to a US Navy Fleet Show with F18 jets flying overhead and a night tour of Alcatraz.

Then came Yosemite.

Yosemite was where the trip unexpectedly peaked. At sunset, a mother bear and cub crossed the trail around 40 feet in front of us. We backed away slowly, picked up logs just in case and watched them disappear into the trees.

It was frightening, unforgettable and exactly the sort of unplanned moment that makes long-term travel so special.

If Yosemite is on your itinerary, do not treat it as a quick photo stop. Give yourself time to hike, watch the light change and be properly present. It is one of those places that needs more time than you think.

Zion, Bryce Canyon and Horseshoe Bend: The National Parks Run

The two-week stretch through Nevada, Utah and Arizona was consistently the most scenic part of the entire US leg.

Zion gave us three full days of hiking, deer and stags right beside the trail, stargazing under genuinely dark skies and a memorable nap beneath an oak tree. It was one of those small, unplanned moments that stayed with us long after the trip.

Bryce Canyon was smaller but no less impressive. Walking among the hoodoos on the Queen’s Garden Loop and Navajo Trail felt completely different to Zion’s huge valley views.

Horseshoe Bend was a quick stop, but a worthwhile one: a short walk from the car leads to a sudden, dramatic drop into the Colorado River canyon. There are no railings in many places, and plenty of people (including us!) got closer to the edge than was probably sensible.

If you are building a similar route, do not underestimate driving times, heat and how much energy hiking days take. The route is doable, but it is better when you avoid trying to see every park in a single day.

Monument Valley: The Emotional High Point

Staying on Navajo Nation land at Monument Valley was one of the most moving parts of our five weeks in America.

For three consecutive mornings, we watched the sun rise over the mesas from our balcony. It is hard to explain how different it feels to watch a landscape like that slowly come to life rather than seeing it as a quick stop on a drive.

A sunset 4x4 tour took us into the back-country area, where we saw petroglyphs and traditional Hogans and heard directly from a local Navajo guide about a culture still actively working to preserve its language and traditions.

A random roadside stop near dinosaur footprints, run by a small Native American-owned stall, became another of the trip’s most memorable surprises: real T-Rex footprints, left uncovered out of respect for the land.

If there is one place on this route where we would encourage you to slow down, stay overnight and choose a locally led experience, it is Monument Valley.

Grand Canyon and Las Vegas: A Deliberate Contrast

Before the Grand Canyon, we stayed in Williams, a historic Route 66 town that made a fun base for the area.

The Grand Canyon delivered exactly what you expect: views that stretch for miles, helicopters flying below the rim for scale and rocks more than a billion years old. It is famous for a reason.

Las Vegas, on the other hand, was our least favourite stop. After the national parks, the smoking indoors, lack of daylight and sense that time did not exist felt like sensory overload. The Bellagio fountains were underwhelming after everything we had just seen in nature. We lost $40 at blackjack, did not take a single photo and were happy to leave after 24 hours.

Still, it was a memorable contrast from the sacred landscape of Monument Valley to the manufactured excess of the Strip in less than 48 hours.

What We Found Genuinely Useful on a Five-Week USA Road Trip

A long USA road trip involves more driving, changing weather and more “where did we put that?” moments than we expected. These are the things we would prioritise for a similar trip:

• A reliable phone mount for navigation on long driving days

• A car charger or power bank for maps, tickets and photos

• A reusable water bottle, especially for hiking days in Utah and Arizona

• A comfortable daypack for national-park trails

• A simple car organiser or cooler for snacks, water and keeping the car manageable

What We Would Do Differently Next Time

If we repeated this route, we would:

• Spend even longer in the national parks, especially Yosemite and Zion

• Book key stays and locally led tours earlier for Monument Valley

• Build in more driving buffer days

• Give fewer cities a short visit and allow more time in the places that surprised us

• Treat Las Vegas as a brief arrival/departure stop rather than a destination

Final Thoughts

The US surprised us most in the gaps between the famous stops: a roadside dinosaur-footprint stall, a bear on a Yosemite trail and an unplanned nap under a tree in Zion.

The big-ticket destinations delivered, but the small, unexpected moments were what made the five weeks memorable.