Road Trip

>>1216442
If you want to go slow with lots of stops then Death Valley is definitely too far. The 7 or 8 day limit may keep you in Texas and New Mexico. Still lots of things to see though.

Here's a list of very non-Houston things, most of which are outdoorsy, some of which are from your original list:
>Garner State Park
>Big Bend
>Davis Mountains State Park
>Guadalupe Mountains (Check out McKittrick Canyon)
>White Sands and Trinity
>Bosque del Apache
>Roswell
>Carlsbad Caverns
>Balmorhea Springs
>Enchanted Rock

As for ghost towns and other cool things, I have to do a lot of driving on Texas backroads for work and have a copy of the big Roads of Texas atlas. There's sections in it that list ghost towns, points of interest, festivals, and museums. Could come in handy for you.

>>1216442
I've done something similar to this. I spent a month on the road from Biloxi MS to Crater lake Oregon and back.
I can give some advice as I was out for Outdoors/camping stuff too.

7-8 days its a bit short for what you want to really enjoy it though.

I can tell you that the trinity site is off limits unless you have a friend with a top secret clearance to take you directly (like I did), or are lucky enough to get a ticket for the one weekend a year that they do tours. You can see white sands though.

>Guadalupe Mountains
Pretty but not the best stuff you can see along the way.
>White Sands and the Trinity site
See above.
>Albuquerque
eh...wasnt really my thing
>Taos
never been
>Grand Canyon
Heres a hack for you. DONT stay at the campsites in the park (always packed). Camp dispersed in the national forest just south of the park. Literally 5min drive to park territory. And if you know the land routes you can sneak in without paying the 20 buck park fee hehe.
>Meteor Crater
literally an hour stop. Cool to see though
>Sedona
-never been.
>some sort of ghost town
- lots everywhere out there, just google. A few in death valley area.
>Monument Valley
A must, try to camp out there. Excellent sunsets and sunrises.
>Death Valley
There are ghost towns in death valley. But I hope you have a 4x4 and lots of gas + water. If you do, hit up those and then go for a dip in Saline valley hot springs. Beware some nudists sometimes but a cool spot.

Here's and Idea though. If you do make it all the way to death valley. Do yourself a solid and try to squeeze in one or two more days and drive to Sequoia/kings canyon National Park and then Yosemite. You really arent that far away at that point and they are a must see if you are a fan of nature..

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>>1216537
I'm actually planning to save Big Bend for a future trip, I want to go all-out and camp there for several days. I also actually camped at Garner a few months ago, and I've been to Enchanted Rock many times. McKittrick Canyon and Balmorhea both look really nice, I'll consider those. I'll look for a good atlas too.

>>1216622
I didn't realize the Trinity site is so off-limits, that's too bad. I think that I may stick to a shorter route, reaching Death Valley or even just into Arizona is too much driving. It may be better to just fly there in the future instead.

I think something like the top route is looking better, just Texas and New Mexico should be plenty especially considering I have to drive a full day to get the entire damn way across Texas. It leaves a lot more time to take detours.

Chaco Canyon in New Mexico is pretty sweet desu baka senpai

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>>1216694
Biloxi guy here,

If your going the top route, I can add a suggestion or two.
1. Make sure you stop to see Carlsbad caverns
2. Instead of taking 285 to Vaughn from Roswell, do a detour through Fort Sumner (Billy the kids grave) then drive up to Santa Rosa. The blue hole is there, its a famous New mexico landmark. Natural swimming hole. Very refreshing after a long drive in the desert.

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>>1216765

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>>1216694
Also this is the trinity site. Just plan your next trip out there when there is the tour weekend.

>>1216694
>Waiting 'til later to go all-out at Big Bend
Understood. It's one of my favorite spots, and totally worth being a trip on its own.

Good luck and godspeed, OP.

My recommendation is to head to Southern Utah. Other than a mandatory stop at Carlsbad Caverns you can almost drive straight through to Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Moab, Zion and still have a day or two at the Grand Canyon.