Cross Country RV Trip - Mass Grand Canyon etc.. and return

its supposed to be a vacation not a marathon race. slow down and smell the roses.
either double the time or cut the trip in half at least.

rvtyme wrote:
I am in the planning stages of a cross country road trip. Starting point is Massachusetts.

Interested in seeing... Yellowstone, Bryce, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Zion, Grand Teton National and again still building the plan so I am sure there may be a few more attractions we shouldn't miss. We don't want to go all the way to California, because frankly I think this will be aggressive enough. We have about 25 days to do it in and are thinking of starting out Mid-May or beginning of June for this trip. We are planning a more southern outbound and Northern return.

Since this is our first time across the country, we would be very interested to hear from others. We will be using our own Motorhome/Trailer combination as we cross the country.

Is Mid-May departure a good time for this trip or should we push it to Mid-June? My fear was the heat would get much if we delay too much. Any folks traveling within these areas with a larger Motorhome/combo that could share any additional information?

Many thanks!
Scott

Scott,

A little more info would really help - Coach? - age? - Toad? - Interests? - Hike - Photo - Driving/day? - Mapping understanding? -

Couple of points 2600 miles point to Point to the Grand Canyon - 900 miles GC to YNP - then 2400 miles home.

So call it 6,000 MILES WITH ONLY THE THREE MAJOR STOPS!!!!!!!!

At 300 MILES/ DAY = 20 DAYS

At 400 miles/day = 15 days

In an RV you will be lucky to average 50 MPH!

Not to rain on your parade BUT.......... you need to give us more and you need to think about it a little more. Can you drive to all the spots you listed - SURE - but you will only see the spots listed not get out and Touch the places you drove so far to discover.

So think about it a little more and get back to us.

JMHO,

I'd recommend that you leave by May 1 as you will have a long drive to get out west and you'll probably want to make some siteseeing stops enroute.

Grand Canyon North Rim open May 15. Having done both Rims many times, the North Rim is now our favorite because of the cool temps and less crowds.

However, if this is your first time for the Canyon, I'd suggest you visit the South Rim which is open year-round so you could even get there earlier. There's more to do and more of the Canyon is see at the South Rim. Stay in the park at Trailer Village RV if you can. You'll be within walking distance to the Rim and also the free shuttle stops at the RV park and you can get on and off wherever you want. Definitely walk down the Bright Angel Trail if only for a short 1/8 mile or so. You'll get an altogether different perspective of the Canyon from below the Rim. There's also the easy Rim Trail to walk. Take the shuttle to your starting point and pick up the shuttle when you get tired. It's a very pleasant walk.

Then go to Zion (Watchman campground in the park has electric).

Bryce - dry camping or stay just outside the park at Ruby's or a couple miles on Hwy 12 at Red Canyon national forest campground - a beauty.

If you have the time then go via Hwy 12 to Capitol Reef Nat'l Park and then to the Moab area for Arches/Canyonlands Nat'l Parks.

Then head north for Grand Teton Nat'l Park - stay in the park at Colter Bay RV (full hookups) or next door at Colter campground (300 dry sites - no reservations) or just north of Jackson in the park is our favorite, Gros Ventre campground (again, 300 dry sites - no reservations). The two dry campgrounds rarely fill and you'll get a site. We've done so, many times, with our 40' motorhome.

Each national park has a great web site giving things to do, maps, campgrounds, road information and special park alerts. Check them out.

Have a great trip! All are favorite parks of ours!!