Grand Canyon and Utah 2019

Ahh, my favorite places to camp. Been doing it since I was a kid.

Three areas come to mind. A good base camp is Jacob's Lake about 45 minutes from the N. Rim (beautiful drive). The advantage to this is that you first are a few thousand feet above Kanab and the temps are very nice. You can hit the N. Rim, and then head to at least Bryce and Zion as day trips. But, if you do a Moab hit, you can get Canyonlands and Arches and then half way to Jacob's Lake and hit Capitol Reef and Bryce. Then stay at Jacob's lake Campground and hit the North Rim and Zion from there or even Bryce as a day trip. jacob's Lake is always about 20 to 25 degrees cooler than down below. Kanab actually has one of the largest no kill animal shelters in the world with a whole canyon. There was a TV show at one point based upon it. They took the bulk of the Katrina Animals.

In Moab, take the moonflower canyon drive as far as your vehicle will let you as it gets progressively more interesting. Lots of petroglyphs and you end up on that backside of the Canyonlands area. Another amazing campground south of Blanding is Devils Canyon. I was there as a kid and the trees were NOT nearly as big as they are now. It is a beautiful place and from the entrance of the campground, you can see to Shiprock and hundreds of miles and see the milky way. Awesome. There are some relatively unknown places to go down there including a Canyon called Montezuma Canyon with a lot of Anazazi ruins but it is not a park or anything.

If you can, go to Durango if it hasn't burned down. It is a wonderful basecamp for many areas and daytrips into New Mexico and up into the mountains and maybe do the train.

Too bad you only have two weeks. You can't do all of this in that period. Another place to hit Great Sand Dunes on the way back. It only takes a couple of hours. Spring is best as there is water going right through it. I suggest a large loop from North to South coming back from Durango.

Kind of a scattered post but Awesome areas of the country in a relatively compact area.

MoRookie wrote:

Just starting to make plans for next summer.

We are a family of 4- 2 kids ages 13 and 16

traveling from Missouri to Grand Canyon.

We have a two full weeks just

want to throw out what I have so far see if anyone thinks I need to make a few changes.

Leave Friday night at Midnight

stop at Petrified Forest for the first night.

Then on to trailer village Grand Canyon for three nights.

Leave on July 3rd head to Lake Powell for two nights to catch the fireworks on the 4th staying in Wahweap campground.

Then on to Zion for 3 nights hopefully staying in Watchman campground..

Then on to Bryce staying at Ruby's Inn RV Park for 2 nights.

Then on to Moab for 3 nights staying maybe at Moab Valley Rv looking for recommendations for Moab.

Wanting to visit Arches,

Canyonlands and

Dead Horse.

Anyone with any changes or

recommendations and

things to do would be great.

As has been said HOT, in all locations in the summer - but doable with a little planning and thought.

Get up early do the hikes and the walks early - eat and go again at dusk. We tend to relocated in the Heat - middle of the day.

I'd think about leaving Right after work on Friday and driving till after Midnight that first day - maybe 8 hours or so, then catching a little sleep before heading back out on the road and traveling in the Heat of the day, Just a thought.

Put as many Reservoirs and Water in your trip, everyone enjoys the Water in the Summer.

Bikes and water toys - Camera - Hat - Sunscreen - Sunglasses and Smiles.

Carlsbad Caverns is great as the Cave is Cool and the Bats fly at Dusk.

In Utah Look into the State Parks along your Route - Kodachrome - Escalante - Goblins are great as is Canyon de Chelly NM in AZ in lieu of Petrified Forest - Capital Reef also seemed to be Missing - RT 128 in Moab is a beautiful drive along the Colorado River as a High Noon activity. I'm also a fan of the North Rim, little cooler as it is higher in elevation.

Be sure to Have GOOD BOOTs as tennis shoes and other soft soled shoes will not serve you well on Long Hikes - Think I see Angels Landing and the Narrows in your Future.

Have you considered a little bit of the drive through Colorado either Coming or Going? Elevation is Cooler and Kids will love it.

Here are a few links that will fill in a lot of blanks for you.

http://www.cross-country-trips.com/

http://www.pbase.com/sparker1/root%26view=tree

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29448394.cfm

Old Post on Colorado

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25301227.cfm

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26349709.cfm

Good thing the trip is not till 2019 - you have a lot to read.;)

Hope this helps.

May i suggest Archview campground just a bit north of moab which is closer to Arches NP, and Cantonlands NP. Stayed there in 2016 nice and close to everything around the area, but far enough away to be peaceful.and also has a gas station on site. And maybe try to work in a visit to Monument Valley also, its unbelievably beautiful

First, while you're at Lake Powell, do not miss Antelope Canyon. There are at least two parts of the Canyon that is on Navajoland and the tribe members leads the tours. We like the first tour on the left side of the highway, DGS and I did that and it is much better than the one on the right side of the highway.

Second, we have taken our DGKs to the South Rim a couple of times and there is a lot for them to do, shopping, the trading post is great, ranger talks and hikes are really cool for the kids. The movies in the visitors center. Don't cut your time too short, go to the VC first and fid out what activities are available.

The reason the average time spent on the South Rim is so short are the tours that bring the ten second tourists. You know the ones, they jump off the bus, run to the edge, take three photos and run back to the air conditioned bus. Ten Seconds.

Don't forget that there really isn't much to do at Dead Horse Point. It is an overlook but has a nice picnic area. I don't remember if it has water.

Canyonlands has three distinct areas, Island in the Sky and the canyon below DHP. The Needles area and the Maze area. You will only be going to Island and Needles. Arches is a BIG draw and there can be traffic jams. I don't know if the road improvements have been finished and I no longer have any idea about accessibility.

You didn't mentioned Monument Valley, on the way to CYNP from Lake Powell. Lots of beautiful landscapes and movie history.

Have fun and let the kids learn as much as possible from the staffs at the parks.

Here is a wild idea -- do you and your kids like to mountain bike? There is great boondocking and riding out on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon -- the Rainbow Rim trail is amazing. Plus you are at over 7000 feet -- nice and cool!

Just an idea.

Here's the thing about Moab, it's gonna be hot when you are there, no way around that. The RV park you've chosen is kind of newer so there is not a whole lot of shade. My first recommendation for full-hookup RV parks would be Archview, but again, it is newer so the trees are not big shade trees. The RV park in Moab that has big shade trees is Slickrock Campground. But understand that Slickrock Campground is older, has gravel roads and spots and is probably not as nice as the newer RV parks. But, I've never had an issue staying there, prices are reasonable and there are lots of shaded spots.

One other recommendation while you're in Moab, consider doing the https://www.xtreme4x4tours.com/ 3 hour evening tour. It is not cheap but is by far, the best 4x4 tour you can do there. The guy goes up and over some amazing stuff on Hell's Revenge trail that no other tour does because they are unable to do it. It is completely safe and everyone, even my wife enjoyed it and she doesn't generally like that kind of stuff. This is coming from someone who goes to Moab to ATV ride advanced trails out there.

Be sure to search this Forum for the locations you plan to visit. Note that the average time spent at the Grand Canyon South Rim is less than 3 hours; probably much less unless you plan to do some hiking. Much more time could be spent at Yellowstone.

We are pulling a 28ft travel trailer and we do take turns driving

Sorry - and what type/size rig are you and your helper driving?
If we do 300 miles in a day, it's enough.
Weather can play a big part of travel plans.

We are doing most of the driving the first day this will be the only day we drive in the dark we will leave home at midnight and drive for 16 hours.