12 night trip: CA to UT & CO Natl. Parks
I am planning our summer roadtrip for June. Time is tight this year and I think I only have 12 nights. Might be able to squeeze in a few more nights if needed. Main goal is visiting the NP's in So...
Forum Discussion
That's an amazing itinerary. Thanks for sharing! I think the planning is half the fun.
I agree with the dropping of the CO portion as painful as that is for me to say. CO is too far out of the way in 12 days and will drastically decrease your time in and around the big five in Utah. You have about 53 hours drive time in 12 days and that doesn't include food stops, traffic, weather, a tire emergency, packing up and unpacking each camp site, and more.
I'm doing a very similar 14 day trip from SoCal in March and decided to go south after Moab (instead of into CO) down to Monument Valley,Sedona, Joshua Tree and back home in LA. Decreases my driving time and increases my time spent in locations.
I hated dropping CO for another time, but having been in many of the parks you have on your current list, 12 days including driving time from your home and in between parks is barely enough IMHO just for the Utah portion. While most of these Utah parks are close by, you will lose half a day or more packing up, driving to, and settling in to the new location each time you do it. Especially with three kids along. That means your one night planned in that park becomes a few hours after you get there and settle in. Additionally, these parks will all be very busy resulting in longer wait times for shuttles (Zion comes to mind), a harder time getting camping spots that reserve months in advance, and not to mention extra fuel expenses. Mostly though, it's the time you will lose just getting from place to place. Zion is a three day park minimum IMHO. Plus, you can add Canyonlands NP as well. It's just outside Moab a short drive away from Arches. That will ease the pain of losing CO.
Long driving days means less time on vacation unless you love to drive. In that case, add Alaska as well. ;)
Here is a possible 12/13 day plan focusing mostly on just Utah:
1 night out in middle of NV
1 night Great Basin NP
3 nights Zion NP
1 night Bryce Canyon NP
2 night Capital Reef NP
3 nights Moab for Arches and Canyonlands NP's
2 nights return back to NorCal
My apologies if I sound like a Debbie Downer. Not my intentions of course.
I agree with the dropping of the CO portion as painful as that is for me to say. CO is too far out of the way in 12 days and will drastically decrease your time in and around the big five in Utah. You have about 53 hours drive time in 12 days and that doesn't include food stops, traffic, weather, a tire emergency, packing up and unpacking each camp site, and more.
I'm doing a very similar 14 day trip from SoCal in March and decided to go south after Moab (instead of into CO) down to Monument Valley,Sedona, Joshua Tree and back home in LA. Decreases my driving time and increases my time spent in locations.
I hated dropping CO for another time, but having been in many of the parks you have on your current list, 12 days including driving time from your home and in between parks is barely enough IMHO just for the Utah portion. While most of these Utah parks are close by, you will lose half a day or more packing up, driving to, and settling in to the new location each time you do it. Especially with three kids along. That means your one night planned in that park becomes a few hours after you get there and settle in. Additionally, these parks will all be very busy resulting in longer wait times for shuttles (Zion comes to mind), a harder time getting camping spots that reserve months in advance, and not to mention extra fuel expenses. Mostly though, it's the time you will lose just getting from place to place. Zion is a three day park minimum IMHO. Plus, you can add Canyonlands NP as well. It's just outside Moab a short drive away from Arches. That will ease the pain of losing CO.
Long driving days means less time on vacation unless you love to drive. In that case, add Alaska as well. ;)
Here is a possible 12/13 day plan focusing mostly on just Utah:
1 night out in middle of NV
1 night Great Basin NP
3 nights Zion NP
1 night Bryce Canyon NP
2 night Capital Reef NP
3 nights Moab for Arches and Canyonlands NP's
2 nights return back to NorCal
My apologies if I sound like a Debbie Downer. Not my intentions of course.
