Brainstorming ideas for long backpacking trips without a rental car

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Fungi

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I'm brainstorming ideas for long backpacking trips (up to 2 weeks) where a rental car isn't needed. This could be anywhere in the western US. I'm looking for places where I can fly in, spend a night or two, and then walk or get a short ride to a trailhead. I did a similar trip once, when I took a train to West Glacier and then backpacked in Glacier NP for 12 days.

My best idea so far is Jackson, WY. It would be pretty easy to get into the Tetons from the airport there.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
 
Fungi, Yes lots of trips available out of Jackson. Jackson has several grocery stores where you could supply yourself. Not only in the Tetons, but other areas closeby also. You could walk out the backside of Jackson, up Cache Creek right into the Gros Ventre Wilderness and spend several weeks up in there easily. Or could get a taxi ride to the Turpin Meadows or Pacific Creek Trailheads and go back into the Teton Wilderness, The Absarokas, and the Thorofare. From Jackson the Grand Teton Lodge runs a bus up to it's main Grand Teton Lodge, and further up to Colter Bay in the summer. There you could also access all that Teton and Absaroka Wilderness.

Now Bozeman could be another place and go into the Gallatins nearby. Or get over towards Livingston and the Absaroka-Beartooths. You been to Glacier NP, but getting into Kalispell, the Bob Marshall Country is close by also. Many possibilities all over the west.
 
If you fly to Moab; from the airport, you could hike straight into Arches, and do part of the Hayduke Trail ... or you could take the jetboat from Moab, along the Colorado River, and visit The Maze or Needles districts of Canyonlands

From SLC/Moab, there is a daily bus that goes to Blanding, from where you could hitch a ride out to the Cedar Mesa area

From Phoenix or Flagstaff, there is a regular shuttle that will get you to Grand Canyon

From Las Vegas or St George, there are shuttles and public buses that go all the way to Zion

Also, from Las Vegas, the regular tourist excursion buses will likely drop you at Bryce Canyon
 
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Yosemite has public tranportation from Fresno and Merced. Fresno has an airport and Merced has rail connections via Amtrak.

Lake Tahoe has public transit or shuttles to trailheads accessible via buses from Reno.

SEKI has public transport in the summer from both Fresno and Visalia --connections via Amtrak and airports.
 
A person can fly to Denver and take the Bustang to many different towns that are right on the CDT and/or Colorado trail. Then grab the bus to take you back to Denver for the flight home. No need to figure out a loop and there are plenty of established resupply options along the famous trails. Just gotta be aware of altitude acclimatization.
 
Thanks everyone! This is a great group of suggestions. I suspect that I will be looking at this list for several years to come. I'm not sure yet what I will do this summer. A friend of mine may be joining me, but he would be driving cross country and could pick me up and drop me off at an airport. That would be ideal for a lot of reasons, but he is uncertain, so I need a good back up plan.

Several people mentioned the Sierra Nevada, which is a great idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that to begin with. I actually used a combination of private shuttle, bus, Amtrak, and BART to get from Whitney Portal at the end of the JMT back to San Francisco. That was years ago, and I forgot about the regional bus service on the east side of the Sierra Nevada.
 
Kmatjhwy said:
Fungi, Yes lots of trips available out of Jackson. Jackson has several grocery stores where you could supply yourself. Not only in the Tetons, but other areas closeby also. You could walk out the backside of Jackson, up Cache Creek right into the Gros Ventre Wilderness and spend several weeks up in there easily. Or could get a taxi ride to the Turpin Meadows or Pacific Creek Trailheads and go back into the Teton Wilderness, The Absarokas, and the Thorofare. From Jackson the Grand Teton Lodge runs a bus up to it's main Grand Teton Lodge, and further up to Colter Bay in the summer. There you could also access all that Teton and Absaroka Wilderness.

Now Bozeman could be another place and go into the Gallatins nearby. Or get over towards Livingston and the Absaroka-Beartooths. You been to Glacier NP, but getting into Kalispell, the Bob Marshall Country is close by also. Many possibilities all over the west.
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Thanks, that's a bunch of good ideas! I didn't even think about the Pacific Creek Trailhead. That should be pretty easy to reach from Jackson, and the possibilities are endless from there.
 
TrailScot said:
If you fly to Moab; from the airport, you could hike straight into Arches, and do part of the Hayduke Trail ... or you could take the jetboat from Moab, along the Colorado River, and visit The Maze or Needles districts of Canyonlands

From SLC/Moab, there is a daily bus that goes to Blanding, from where you could hitch a ride out to the Cedar Mesa area

From Phoenix or Flagstaff, there is a regular shuttle that will get you to Grand Canyon

From Las Vegas or St George, there are shuttles and public buses that go all the way to Zion

Also, from Las Vegas, the regular tourist excursion buses will likely drop you at Bryce Canyon
Click to expand...
These ideas are great! I've been to Moab twice, but we drove from SLC once and from Denver once. I like the Maze idea - that area has been on my to do list since before I had a to do list.
 
TexasFreeman said:
A person can fly to Denver and take the Bustang to many different towns that are right on the CDT and/or Colorado trail. Then grab the bus to take you back to Denver for the flight home. No need to figure out a loop and there are plenty of established resupply options along the famous trails. Just gotta be aware of altitude acclimatization.
Click to expand...
This is a great idea for a linear trip. I didn't know about that bus option - thanks!
 
Thinking Moab / S colorado area.... There is the Grand Junction, Colorado airport.
 
Yeah, like several others here, the first thing I thought of was the Eastern Sierra--and I've never even been there. Another option is to fly in to Aspen, CO and from there you can take buses/shuttles to the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness. Not recommended for trips longer than 6-7 days though. A better option may be to fly to Durango and take the train in to the Weminuche Wilderness, which is better suited for a longer trip.
 
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