Yosemite or Gand canyon and Lake Powell?

Almost like Ford or Chevy; can't go wrong, but lots of opinions!

Page, AZ @ Wahwep Marina and RV Park - inside the Glen Canyon National Park, has fabulous accommodations - level pads, full hook-ups, great ancillary facilities and excellent wi-fi. I love the location cause you can do Marble Canyon (Navajo Bridge & California Condors), Horseshoe Bend of Co. R., Antelope Canyon (most photoed slot canyon) and if you want travel up into Grand Staircase Escalate National Monument to do some of the slot canyons there.

Here's the thing. This will probably take up your entire time, as we there for 3 days and wished would have have scheduled more time there. Grand Canyon is another block of time, and unless you want to be horribly frustrated, I think you would be happier scheduling one trip to the GSENM/upper AZ area. It's beautiful country.....oh yeah, and there's a spot past Marble Canyon on 89A (into Kanab) in the Kaibab Nat'l Forrest where you can see 5 of the 6 steps of the Grand Staircase. It's hard not to get interested in geology in this part of the country. And the Kanab GSENM Ranger Station is the geological Ranger station for GSENM.

On our blog start here and go to about 3 or 4 newer blogs to see some of our photos of the area.

On our site, this is our gallery for the time we spent there. It also includes Bryce & Zion, which might be a little out of the way, but those are also fabulous sites.

Our whole intention with this particular trip was to do all the other stuff around Grand Canyon cause we knew that GC was going to be a biggie.

No campground in Yosemite has full hookups. You'd have to camp outside the park. Also you have to enter the Yosemite reservation lottery. They make reservations available 6 months ahead of time they go within minutes. So unless you plan to go in September you are too late.

I don't know if GCNP has full hookup sites in the park, but it would be unusual for national park campgrounds if they do. But again you could camp outside the park. Ah looking at RVParkreview.com I see that they do have a full hookup CG.

I'd have to say that for activities Yosemite has a lot more to do than GC does. But getting a site in the valley is a real problem. GC has two units, North and south rims. We actually prefer the north rim since it's less crowded. We stayed at a CG at Jacobs Lake when we were there last.

At both parks staying outside the park means at least a 60-90 minute drive to get to main parts of the park.

BK

As an 11 year old camping with the Boy Scouts I was more impressed during our stay in Yosemite than I was with our stay at the Grand Canyon.

We did a lot of hiking, even to the top of Half Dome and to the waterfalls and lakes.

The Grand Canyon is basically a two nights, one day sightseeing item. You look into the canyon from about half a dozen overlooks and then you've seen it all. There's a couple of things around Flagstaff that can add to your trip. Where's your home base? We can give better suggestions if we know your starting and ending point.

I've been to Yose and GC many times - and it would take a lifetime for me to get a fill of either of them.

First - Yosemite is THE national park. It's about 150 miles closer for an easier trip, and is fantastic in every way. Very young kids like yours will enjoy the rivers, deer and waterfalls more than the big views at GC. If you are a reader, check out John Muir's First Summer in the Sierra, or the shorter The Yosemite.

Second - there are full hookup campgrounds in the west side of Yosemite - but don't underestimate the long drive in to the valley. PITA.

Finally - consider working out the full hookup situation. Your rig is designed to be fully self contained even without hookups. You will miss out on a lot if you have to have hookups wherever you go.

I vote Yosemite. I was talking with my mother on the phone today - she was longing for Yosemite again.

Plenty of very easy hikes in Yosemite, and plenty for kids of all ages to do. Trails range from paved roads you can push a wheelchair on, paved roads I would not take a wheelchair on but did it anyways, to oh-my-don't-get-close-to-the-edge-or-let-go-of-the-chains-boy-are-we-high-up.

We went in 2012 with 85 year old great-grandma, the inlaws, my mother, my wife who had major surgery 3 days before going, and a 3 month old baby and had a blast. We stayed in one of the valley campgrounds in our TT. No campground in the valley has any hookups. There is a dump/fill station in the valley though. If you had a water thief and a helper, you could fill from a campground faucet.

If you go, don't miss the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. You can walk for free or take the tram. The tram is a bit spendy, but it was neat. And easier with the herd.

Campground reservations are a frustrating experience. If you aren't ready by 750 the day they open, your chances of getting a spot are VERY slim. I had to get 2 spots at the same time in the same campground. Not an easy task.

Really you can't go wrong with either location. I've camped at Yosemite for 20 years, and now I'm going with our Mother Ship next month.

We did a nice long vacation which included Grand Canyon South rim late last year and had a full 48 hours which let us see just about everything there. We used the shuttle buses extensively.

I'd suggest Yosemite for your children's ages. Also, if this is to be a summer vacation, Grand Canyon and Lake Powell will be very hot.

We have been to both, two times each. With children, I'd say go to Yosemite.