Two weeks RV road trip

1. I see that you are from Italy. I have camped at a number of boondocking and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or National Forest (NfS) sites. I have never felt unsafe. Sure there are "bad people" everyplace. I can also understand how one may feel unsafe when in a different country. I do not feel as safe in Canada or Europe as I do in the USA. I would not worry about safety.

2. Check out the campgrounds at RV Park Reviews To experience the real USA west stay at some campground that are not "in the city". Dry camp or Boondock a few days. For example near Monument Valley we stayed at Gooseneck State Park in UT. We were the only person within 20 miles. When we were there camping was free. I think now it is $5.00 a night.


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3. Check out my posting on Death Valley. We are going to camp in DV in the summer to say that we did. Maybe we will see each other.

You're going to need to run the air conditioner at night and that means full hook up sites. You won't make any friends boondocking and running a genny all night. You're going to need to make reservations, and it may already be too late for July 4th.

As an alternative to a fixed set of things you want to see, you could use RV Parky and Allstays apps to find a place near where you want to stop and then check the reviews on RVParkReviews.com to see what the place is like safety and activities wise. Then call the park directly for a space. Last minute cancellations normally aren't reflected in online reservation programs.

Plan on 5 hours and 250 miles a day when traveling.

Our tactic is to drive until we feel like stopping, an hour or so before then we call ahead to reserve a spot at a commercial CG. This rarely fails with the exception of major holidays. The 4th of July for example. You need a good CG directory to pull this off and we usually use this Good Sams one.

If you use boondocking sites it will be first come first served most of the time.

There are online directories but they just don't have half the CG that are in GS book.

Using the above method we had to call a second CG once during a 6 week long crosscountry trip. We did have reservations for inside National Parks tho.

If a CG charges more than 30-40 dollars we often will move on. Most of the non-chain CG will be in that range. This depends on your location of course, the Florida Keys will be expensive for example, Delta Utah will not be.

Agesilaus,

Thank you for your reply. So you think it is too much of a stretch as it is planned at the moment. How much it will cost per night to be in the locations you mention?

So, you think it would be better to make reservations at each site? How much would be the the average cost per night in rv parks?

No you do not have to prebook campground sites unless you want to stay inside a major National Park. Since you have a generator you can stay at many National Forest (NF) sites and other no-utility sites. These are called boondocking sites by rvers.

Two weeks is not a lot of time so I suggest concentrating on a few parks rather than spending most of your time driving from one place to another. From LA I'd think about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon which has a lot of good NF sites right outside the park, followed by Bryce Canyon which has good commercial campgrounds right outside the gate with a shutter services, and Zion NP where you can camp outside the park. Spend 3 or 4 days at each. With drive time that will use up your time and allow you lots of time to explore these interesting parks.

In my experience once you are away from major metro areas you will find that that the campground crime rate drops to near zero. In 30 years I have never experienced any sort of criminal activity while we were camping. I think you'll find most people here have had the same experience. If you stop at Walmarts or other overnight parking locations then you need to be a little more careful. If the store has armed guards then probably it's a good idea to move one. I've only seen this a couple times, once in Homestead FL.

I've never done this but others have frequently mentioned it. You may want to check into flying into Las Vegas, which is supposed to be very cheap. And renting your RV there. That would add 3 or 4 days to your actual vacation time and allow you to add another park. Maybe Arches

The best thing for you to be doing right now is this: get a good road atlas, study the maps of this area and look at the area you want to go to. There are a number of smaller parks you can visit on the way, Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP is one example. Visit the national park website and look at the parks. You really are thinking of doing a subsection of the Grand Loop which is:
South Rim Grand Canyon
North Rim GC
Zion
Bryce
Arches
Capital Reef

I suggested the North Rim since it is closer to the rest of the loop and is less crowded, but lots prefer the mob scene at the South Rim.

Death Valley in June? Going to be very hot.

In the south west earlier would definitely be better. July 4th is a national holiday here and usually the week leading up to and the week after are very crowded. Weather in the SW can get very hot that time of year also. If this time frame is locked in, you might want to check weather that time of year. Reservstions are a definite must. I know, it takes the flexability out of things, but thats the way it is out west now days. If you want a bit cooler weather, you might consider coming north and stay on the coast.

Ambitious. Have a great trip. I for one have to plan extensively and I'm not the serendipitous type.

Since you are planning in the middle of the summer there will be plenty of rigs on the road and you may not always find a spot easily, especially in Yosemite.

years ago one could show up at the CG gate at 5 AM or so and get any open spot. Its not so easy now.

I've tent camped at Sequoia in years past with no problems. Ruby's at Bryce had plenty of space, and Zion campground was nearly full but we had reservations.

Since you want to 'wing it', I'm sure you will have some small problems but you will have some great stories to tell.