I am a history nerd from the UK and I am planning to road trip the USA. I am interested in the Wild West, probably from watching westerns as a kid, and I would like to know what states are considered the epitome of the Wild West?
was going to fly into Colorado (Denver) drive down to NM, over to AZ, up to Utah and back to Denver. Would this give me the authentic experience of the Wild West?
Sorry if this is the wrong subreddit, it kind of borders or r/travel.
thanks!:)
First, please keep in mind that the American West is huge by UK standards. To get anywhere - and to travel to somewhere new the next day - you would need to consider the road trip required by going from London to Inverness. Everyday.
Second, the Wild West is something of a myth. I assume you want to see wide open spaces (that's not a myth) and that you'd like to see places that capture what is essential in the image of the West (that's harder. Denver is a reasonably good place to start. I recommend taking a trip to a mining camp - something like Cripple Creek or Central City (and Pikes Peak will give you a task for the elevation of the Rockies. There are also a lot of great red rock parks in the area with lots of spectacular rock formations, fossil beds, and vistas.
In New Mexico, Santa Fe is regarded as a must see. But honestly, I was astonished by New Mexico in general - a lot of nothing separated by a lot of nothing. But it does have some quintessential Western vistas that you may be seeking.
I'd rather have unnecessary root canal work than go to Arizona - I am boycotting the state until it cleans up its record of abuse of minorities, including the gay community. But Tombstone is one of the West's greatest hits. It's a tourist trap, but that is true of most of the places that market themselves as part of the Wild West.
While in the neighborhood, visit one of the pueblo archaeological sites in the National Park System. And various reservations of the southwest have impressive markets for Native American products including jewelry, baskets, and textiles.
Southern Utah has remarkable natural resources. This trip will get you your fill of red rocks. But then they are pretty remarkable. You might want to dodge over to see Hoover Dam, just because it is one of the wonders of the modern world. Not the Wild West, but a remarkable achievement. And it's only a hop and skip over to Las Vegas (which is one of the most peculiar spectacles in the world). You can access southern Utah easily by driving north by northeast out of Vegas. Something to consider.
Don't hesitate to ask questions. Happy to help. Good luck.
If you want to see some of the history of those old westerns you watched -- the making of the movies themselves, I mean -- swing south through Tucson, Arizona and visit Old Tucson, a mock-up western town where many of those movies were filmed. It was built in 1939 for the movie Arizona, and many dozens of films have been shot there since. It's been operating as a both a studio and a tourist site since 1960. They stage mock gunfights, offer stagecoach rides etc. They purport to have activities that help you learn about the real west. I have no basis to evaluate that claim, but I think it would be a fun place for you to immerse yourself in the myth of the west and the myth's history.