Welcome to the USA! With spectacular coastline, iconic sights, and a humming cultural mix across its unique neighbourhoods, San Francisco is the perfect chilled-out place to start this American adventure. Your trip begins with a welcome meeting at 6pm today – double check with reception to confirm the time and place. We'll be collecting your insurance details and next of kin information at this meeting, so please ensure you have these on hand. There are no activities planned today so you can arrive at anytime before then. If you can't arrange a flight that arrives on time, you may wish to arrive a day early. We’ll happily book you additional accommodation (subject to availability). If you're going to be late, please inform the hotel reception. As there’s so much to do in San Fran, and little time spent here on this trip, we recommend arriving a few days early. You can catch a tram to visit the waterfront, feast like a king in Chinatown, peruse zany artwork in SoMa, or do a one-day sightseeing tour of San Francisco with Urban Adventures, such as ‘Temples, Tea and Beatniks’. Tonight maybe kick off the trip by gathering your group for a bowl of famous clam chowder at Fisherman’s Wharf. Special Information

Leave the city behind and head east into the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Today you’ll be trading skyscrapers for giant sequoias at the incredible Yosemite National Park (approximately 4.5 hours). Pass scenery that will have you itching to get on your hiking boots and go exploring. With so many options, you're bound to find a walk or hike that suits your steepness and difficulty preference. Choose to take a short walk through the valley for views of towering granite cliffs, or take a more vigorous hike to higher elevations – such as a trek under the cooling breezes of Nevada Falls (4-5 hours) or to the serenity of Mirror Lake (45 minutes). Camping here is an incredible way to get closer to nature and appreciate the park’s beauty.

Explore the vast wilderness of Yosemite National Park at your own pace today. With such amazing scenery surrounding you it certainly pays to keep your camera on hand at all times! Visit the park's museum, photo gallery, shops and restaurants, pick another a hike and be amazed at the cascading waterfalls, or perhaps cycle through the valley. Views of Glacier Point, Tunnel View and Tuolumne Meadows will leave your jaw on the floor. In summer you can take it easy and soak up the stunning vistas as you float down the Merced River, with a finishing drink at the park’s café doing just the trick.

Hit the road to Lake Tahoe, exiting the park along the Tioga Pass (if it’s open). This is a stunning stretch of road that twists and turns through the Sierra Nevadas, opening up to panoramic mountain, lake and canyon views. Heading up to an elevation of 9,945 feet, it’s California’s highest pass for cars. Continue north along a road known for its great views, with the drive to Lake Tahoe taking around six to seven hours. You’ll arrive at your lakeside campground in the afternoon, and enjoy the rest of the day free to hike, swim, rent bikes or simply relax. Lake Tahoe straddles the state border between Nevada and California and is surrounded by towering peaks. The stunningly blue colour of the lake water is unforgettable and, as Mark Twain said, the air is “very pure and fine…it is the same the angels breathe”. As the sun sets, you can choose to cruise across the lake for incredible twilight views. In the evening, return to camp for dinner with the group.

Head out onto the highway and take the kind of long, open roads that you see in the movies. You’ll cross most of the state of Nevada, headed for the town of Elko. The tarmac continues straight to the horizon, surrounded by wide-open spaces of high desert plains and scatterings of low rocky hills. Today is mostly a driving day, with the journey taking approximately 5-6 hours. Sitting at an elevation of more than 5,000 feet, Elko is known as “Nevada with Altitude.” The thriving northeastern Nevada city is bordered by the towering, snow-capped Ruby Mountains (often called the Alps of Nevada) and the lush, glacier-carved Lamoille Canyon. Elko is where Nevada’s real cowboys work and play, and the Wild West spirit gives the town an unquantifiable old world charm.

Today is another road trip day, crossing the remainder of the state of Nevada and entering Utah. Head towards Salt Lake City, then travel southeast towards Moab (approximately 8 hours). At the border you’ll round a small range of hills then summit a little peak, where below a vast expanse of whiteness comes into view. This is the Bonneville Salt Flats, the partial remains of an ancient lake of the same name, and the largest of many salt flats located west of the Great Salt Lake. This has been the atmospheric setting of many eerie scenes in Hollywood movies and also land speed record attempts. Pass Salt Lake City then travel down the interstate through a narrow valley to reach Moab. Close to the incredible Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, Moab is a small city in Utah that attracts hikers, mountain bikers and nature enthusiasts.

Explore the scarlet desert scenery of Moab, a rocky playground of giant sandstone formations, canyon mazes, and thousands of natural arches. Head out to Arches National Park and see a landscape punctuated with spectacularly eroded sandstone formations. This geological marvel contains the world's largest concentration of natural stone arches, over 2,000 of them. Take a hike and marvel at the changing colours of famous sights like Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch. Climb up to Dead Horse Point for incredible views of the canyon country of southeastern Utah and the pinnacles and buttes of Canyonlands National Park. Up at 610 metres (2,000 feet) above the ground, cowboys used the point to round up wild mustangs in the 19th century. Later, you might like to finish the day with a memorable float down the Colorado River, or even hire a mountain bike to explore the area.

Colorado is home to 25 different scenic byways, 11 of which are recognised by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six “intrinsic qualities”: archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. What does that mean? That the roads from Moab to Rocky Mountains National Park are by no means ordinary and that the journey, while long (approximately 7 hours), will definitely be memorable. From Utah cross into Colorado, passing the Dinosaur Diamond route, home to the fossils and footprints of prehistoric creatures, and Grand Mesa, which crosses the world’s largest flattop mountain. Continue along the top of the Rockies, then fork off northeast towards Trail Ridge Road and the sky-scraping expanses of Rocky Mountains National Park. With majestic peaks in every direction and some of the most incredible outdoor adventures on the planet, it’s no wonder more than three million people flock to the park each year.

Travel the mighty Trail Ridge Road along the Continental Divide through some truly spectacular scenery. As the road meanders upwards to the tundra's highest point at 3,700 meters, the Trail Ridge Road offers you thrilling views, wildlife sightings and spectacular alpine wildflower exhibitions, all from the comfort of your vehicle. There will be plenty of opportunities to stretch your legs and appreciate the outstanding landscapes. With around 355 miles of hiking trails, you'll also enjoy the opportunity to hike along picturesque streams, watch elk grazing in the grassland and climb steep mountain terrain. The snowy peaks and mountain lakes of this superb national park will leave you falling head over heels for this incredible area of the USA.

Farewell the Rocky Mountains and drive the short distance to Denver, the capital of Colorado (approximately 2 hours). Follow the road up and down and enter the progressive town of Denver, which will feel like a real metropolis after the wilderness and frontier-like towns of the past week. This trip finishes on arrival and there in no accommodation included tonight. Perhaps choose to stay on and explore the city’s innovative art, nightlife, food and shopping scenes – we’ll be happy to help you book additional accommodation (subject to availability).