Thank-you for your replies. Nevada is our Utah substitute as it is less crowded and has spectacular scenery not to mention rock hounding and ghost towns galore. I would enjoy this as a meet up next fall. We try to make Nevada more than a drive through on our way to Utah, Arizona, etc. We avoid national parks as a rule due to our dogs (always leashed but nowhere to take them and, yes, I agree about no dogs on trails) and that they are overrun and overcrowded. There are millions of acres of BLM/USFS land that is scenic, historical and that you can have to yourselves. I will check out the links and info, especially the slide show, FB page and the bird and hike page. Maybe we will see some of you out there. We plan on April as we make our way through eastern Oregon then spending over a week in Nevada then backtracking over to Mono Lake and back home. I will have a few more questions about routing that I will ask as the trip comes together. I have a few more mapping apps that I will trying out on this trip. Happy trails.