The drive home — Arches, Canyonlands, Great Sand Dunes, and 1,900 miles in three days.
The loop turns east — Lassen Volcanic (#23), Great Basin (#24), Capitol Reef (#25), and Black Canyon of the Gunnison (#26), plus Kebler Pass, a Nevada ghost-oven detour, and Colorado wildflowers.
The Sierra Nevada finale — Kings Canyon (#20), Sequoia (#21), and Yosemite (#22), two base camps, and the prettiest granite of the whole loop.
Into the desert Southwest — a mule ride along the Grand Canyon's South Rim (#18), the Hoover Dam bridge, the heat and dunes of Death Valley (#19), the black-lava gorge of Fossil Falls, and a breathtaking run along the Kern River through Sequoia.
Across the plains and up into the Rockies — wind-carved boulders at Mushroom Rock, the world's largest hand-painted Czech egg, the climb over Monarch Pass at 11,312 ft, and the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde — national park #17.
The 10-week loop begins. Roadside peanuts, a stone-built miniature world, the Rock City swing bridge, and going underground at Mammoth Cave — national park #16.