Questions about our first (and big) trip

bikendan wrote:
Hope you've made reservations.

It will be HOT. I always recommend a Southwest tour in the spring or fall.
It's not blazing hot and way less crowded.

Have you been in the past couple of years? I would disagree about being less crowded in the Spring or Fall. The major national parks were absolutely jammed with people when I visited 2 years ago in September.

Hope you've made reservations.

It will be HOT. I always recommend a Southwest tour in the spring or fall.
It's not blazing hot and way less crowded.

Three week trip - ambitious trip - close to 4,900 miles from Annapolis to those parks and back. Too ambitious for me.

Four 500 mile driving days to get to the area, four daily drives between parks, four 500 mile driving days to get home. That leaves only 9 days to explore 5 great national parks. (Plan that the drive between parks will take all day. Leaving by 8:30 am and arriving near 3 pm. Don't arrive later than that because it will take a while to find a campground.

Wi-Fi - when we visited most of those parks last October/ November - we had to go into town and setup our laptops and wi-fi hotspots at restaurants to check e-mail, pay bills, etc. Do not count on any free wi-fi on a long RV trip. Have a phone plan with enough GB of data for a month of usage. A dedicated Wi-Fi hotspot vice using your phone as a hotspot is best.

Water - Travel with a full fresh water tank, dump your back and grey tank whenever possible. Some of the parks do not have dump stations, many of the parks will have a 30 minute of longer line at the dump station when folks start pulling out in the mornings.

I doubt you can stay at any campgrounds in those nationals parks if you have not made reservations already. You may find it very difficult to get reservations at commercial RV parks with full hookups near those NP, except for Mesa Verde should be ok. Likely you will have to dry camp a couple hours or more away from the parks. Buy the DeLorme Atlas books which show public lands, and make a stop at a BLM office to check on dispersed camping areas.

Almost all camping on BLM/ NF land near Arches is allowed only in designated campgrounds. You will likely have to drive to three or four to find one with an open spot.

Fuel/ Gasoline - it is available on all those routes - just fill up whenever you get down to 1/2 tank, and always full up before starting a day travel between parks. Many of those drives are 300-400 miles between parks. Fuel stops are rare on I-70 in east Utah, and some very steep grades which eat fuel.

As mentioned above - HOT, HOT, HOT - Even though you are going to be between 7,200 and 3,900 feet elevation for those parks, higher while traveling, the temps are in the mid to high 90s today. Will only be hotter for the next month. As mentioned, it is very easy to get badly sunburned at those elevations.

If your rig is a typical near 20 year old Class C - you might not be able to run the vehicle AC while climbing through the mountains/ hills. And the vehicle AC likely won't cool all that space anyway in those temps. I have friends who carry a heavy quilt to hang right behind the seats in their motorhome to allow the dash AC to cool the rig enough to be semi-comfortable.

Once your cross the mountains of West Virginia, expect daily temps in the mid-90s to 105 range, especially after crossing the Mississippi. Temps won't cool off until you climb above 5,000 ft in the Rockies. Nighttime temps won't drop below the mid-70s until you reach Colorado.

Drink, carry a LOT of bottled water. Those elevations, temps and low humidity will dry you out in minutes. Have at least 2 liters of water for any walks you take. More if the walk is over a mile. Those trails will drain your energy.

Most National Parks have water available in the campgrounds. There are some exceptions such as Arches and Canyonlands. I always travel with my tanks full and fill whenever I have the opportunity. Chances are this will not matter. Unless you made reservations months ago, most campgrounds are going to be filled. You can battle for the unreserved sites but that can be frustrating during the peak season.

Adding a second battery should be done before you start your trip. All batteries in your battery bank should be as close to each other as possible including size and age of battery. If your existing battery is old, you might want to replace it and start over with new batteries. Travel should not be an issue except at the parks themselves. Most of the major parks are going to be very crowded. As an example the last time I visited Zion in the middle of the summer, there was no where to stay in the park, even the roadside pull offs were full. I just drove through the park without stopping. The campground at Arches is closed for the summer. You can count on delays entering the park. It often gets so bad that the rangers hold up new entries until someone else leaves.

Some national parks have WiFi access, but don't count on it. It is often totally overloaded and if available the access will only work in very specific locations. Most of the park areas will not have access and are not likely to have decent cellphone coverage either.

Gas is not a problem. In addition to stations outside the parks, most of the larger parks have multiple stations within the park.

I need to add a couple items you did not ask about. It is going to be hot anywhere in the desert southwest. Places like Arches and Canyonlands are likely to be in the upper 90s to low 100s. You will be quickly impressed with the power of the sunshine. You will need strong sunscreens, hats and appropriate clothing. Gnats can also be very annoying in the desert areas. Deet does nothing. You need to find some 20% picaridin repellent. You might want to reconsider your plans. Yellowstone, Glacier and the Canadian rockies will be more temperate. Consider skipping southern Utah during the peak of summer. I should also mention southern Utah is Extremely crowded in the Fall. Local residents and foreign tours have figured out that September and October are the best times to visit for weather. Now they are the most crowded times of the year.