Yearly out of state BP trip.

I am starting to think about my yearly backpacking trip to a western state. Last year I went to the Flattops Wilderness area in Colorado for a week. This year I have not yet choosen a location. I would like to stay within two days driving range which leaves the Rockies and southwest. General ideas are northern Arizona, slick rock region of Utah, Colorado or northern New Mexico. My time frame is late August thru early October.

Anyone have a favorite area that they would recommend?

HBH

It isn't really a "long" trip, but I've hiked Mount Elbert (in CO) and it was an awesome trip. We took one day to get to the top, camped out and left the next morning, but you could easily make a multi-day trip out of it, depending on where you left from.

The Grand Canyon is always a great trip. My wife and I hiked part of it back in March, '07. Well worth the trip.
UL

A great place to take your annual backpacking vacation would be Southern California. There are still plenty of place you can enjoy outside of major cities. You would be surprised how nice the campgrounds are in California.