Four Corners Area route advice

[jukes]

Trying to narrow down our summer 2016 travels. Thinking to hire an RV (have done this before) and explore the Four Corners Areas. We would have 4 weeks. Is there a loop that makes sense starting from and back to Las Vegas (cheaper flights and RV hire choices perhaps).
Maybe based on having the RV 3 weeks.
We are 2 adults and 3 boys who will be 4, 10, 13. We prefer a larger 30ft MH.
I know it will be hotter than I like, but without humidity or too many bugs that's okay.
We don't want endless driving, we like a few days at each place to enjoy the sites, but also enjoy the campground (if one to enjoy), with water (natural or pool) along the way to enjoy and cool down. The boys need to keep active.
routes appreciated!!!
The other option is to pick up the RV in Las Vegas and drop it off in San Francisco, LA or San Diego and have the final 4th week in a house by the ocean to relax. We actually did this on an East Coast trip and it was great, after a few weeks in the RV we enjoyed time at the end to relax a little more and have some space from each other lol. How could that fit in with this?????
Thank You!!

[Shroomer]

My thoughts are 'too much time in a MH with those boys', how about picking up the MH in Albuquerque, NM, head straight to Mesa Verde NP, not much else around that area to keep the boys interested, the train from Durango to Silverton might be a good option, then head west via North Rim, Zion, Valley of Fire, Nevada and drop the MH in Las Vegas, hop on a flight to San Jose. CA, rent another MH and head west to Santa Cruz, Beaches, Boardwalk -fun things for young people, then after a few days head down the coast to Monterey, Big Sur and points south, I'm not sure how you can avoid going through the Los Angeles area (maybe midnight) to get to southern Ca Beaches etc. to San Diego to turn the MH in and fly back home.

[DannyA]

Been to 4 Corners, is it worth the effort, probably not.
But if I were in the area I would go. Bad to be in the area only once and not say you have saw 4 Corners. You can say for the rest of your life you have been there. Otherwise for the rest of your life you say, we were close but didn't go!

[cruiserjs]

Thom is the only winner - so far. Good for him!!

On my bucket list but unfortunately no road to Nunavut!!

[Thom02099]

cruiserjs wrote:
There are two "4Corners" in North America but since you can't drive an RV (or anything else in summer) to the newest one the OP must mean the US one.
Any guess on the other?

The other one is in Canada. Where Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories all come together. Occurred with the creation of Nunavut.

[caysea7254]

I so agree on the 4 corners monument. We were totally disappointed. It is just not worth the drive. It is out in the middle of no where and nothing to do once there except take a pic. We were there in early sept. and 3 other people there. None of the little booths were even open. Kind of eerie.

[Lauren]

When working we lived in Minneapolis. We had a 22 foot open bow speedboat and the upper Mississippi River is very clean to the south of the Twin Cities for a couple hundred miles. We spend many times (logged over 8000 miles on Old Miss) tent camping with our two children down about 100 miles. "Kids" are now 49 and 46 and none of us has ever forgotten it. We also took trips and tent camped out here in the west - north area of U S and into Canada. Not forgotten that either.

4runnerguy is right again!

[4runnerguy]

Lauren wrote:
4runnerguy, as usual, has it well stated. He, in fact, about described the trip we did - once again - this summer / fall.

Thanks for the kudos. Interesting that it's about the same trip you made. My plan was specifically designed around the OP's kids (4, 10, and 13). I was so lucky that my parents took me to many of the NP's in the west when I was young, camping in a big old canvas tent along the way. I look back with fondness at those experiences and try to impart on parents looking for advice today that they should plan their vacations around their kids. They're only young once!

[Lauren]

Well, no sense in my overloading you more but just a few comments. No, the North Rim is not as beautiful as the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. And no, you do not see as much; you see about 10% as much. If you go there stay at Trailer Village at the South Rim.

We have been traveling - part time - these western states for 17 years. And love them.

I also am assuming you do not mean the actual Four Corners monument - a waste of time and fuel.

4runnerguy, as usual, has it well stated. He, in fact, about described the trip we did - once again - this summer / fall.

There is some much out this way to see but do not spread yourself so thin that you cannot enjoy places - narrow it down to a workable level and then enjoy.

Be safe.

[Busskipper]

First let me say - Good for you - and that a lot of the places and advice are dead on - GOOD.

Now I'll try to answer the questions in a general way - from years of travel in and with My Family.

jukes wrote:
Trying to narrow down our summer 2016 travels.
Thinking to hire an RV (have done this before) and explore the Four Corners Areas.

In reading through this and your other posts, this is not really Four Corners but likely the SouthWest, encompassing , Colorado - Utah - Northern Arizonia - Northern New Mexico and possibly Nevada? –
Thought is that the area is just too large, and would suggest the need to confine it to just a couple/two states, the two that you and the kids will likely enjoy the most, my choice would be Colorado and Utah - Colorado Mountains - wild areas - great hikes - streams - Colorado River – Water lakes Reservoirs and other things the kids would enjoy. Utah some unbelievable sights – and the water will be refreshing allowing you to cool off with either rafting or just getting wet.

We would have 4 weeks.

If I read your thoughts this would translate into 3 weeks of travel and a week of sitting and fun - this week could be located anywhere in the 30 days - a lot would depend on the Fly in Fly out locations? So Denver or Salt Lake would work – both are reasonable to fly into and have RV rentals that should meet our requirements.

Is there a loop that makes sense starting from and back to Las Vegas (cheaper flights and RV hire choices perhaps).

With the Kids ages LV would be my last choice – Hot and Not Kid Friendly – JMHO. In 15 years when they are in or Graduating from college it might work, but IMHO just not a great choice, for the very limited savings you might get on the airfare. Look for good deals into SLC and Denver on Southwest.

Maybe based on having the RV 3 weeks.

So this would answer the question in the last thought - so it would be in the end as that would be the time you would need to recover. Now the question would be where do we start - along with when do we Start? – time of year will make a little difference. Thinking likely it’s to be in the heavy Summer season when the kids are free from school. An added thought here is that if you flew into Denver found an affordable place to stay, you could explore a lot without paying for the extra money to have the RV – Often the Ski Towns will have greatly reduced family Apartments/houses that would allow a lot of great exploration, We personally have done this in Aspen - Vail – Steamboat – Telluride - Park City – Snowbird and Breckenridge – There is just so much to do in these areas, three to five would give you time to explore and enjoy a lot. JAT

We are 2 adults and 3 boys who will be 4, 10, 13. We prefer a larger 30ft MH.

Because of the 4 year old need to keep the hikes lite to moderate, and not stay in the heat for extended times in the days you might spend in Utah. Finding the best option for the motorhome may influence your fly in fly out points, with a good rental deal making the fly in/out location hard to change.

I know it will be hotter than I like, but without humidity or too many bugs that's okay.

It will be much hotter than you like – when it get’s over 90-95 it’s often a short day, (100-110 is not uncommon in the Deserts of Utah) with any luck in planning you will have water close by. Plan your trips into the heat as short dashes of just a few days, then head to water or the Mountains to cool off, before diving Back into the heat.

We don't want endless driving, we like a few days at each place to enjoy the sites, but also enjoy the campground (if one to enjoy), with water (natural or pool) along the way to enjoy and cool down. The boys need to keep active.


Good – you understand and are looking to keep the kids happy which will make everyone Happy.

routes appreciated!!!

Look this older post over on colorado, if it is of some help we can work on Utah.


The other option is to pick up the RV in Las Vegas and drop it off in San Francisco, LA or San Diego and have the final 4th week in a house by the ocean to relax. We actually did this on an East Coast trip and it was great, after a few weeks in the RV we enjoyed time at the end to relax a little more and have some space from each other lol. How could that fit in with this?????

First off, due to the not wanting long drives and trying to make this a Southwest trip this option is not really very viable IMHO – add to that a big part of the expense on most rentals is the mileage fee will add up pretty quickly. You might look at a lake or river to unwind at, thinking Lake Powell or maybe the Arkansas River


Thank You!!

Little too long but hope it is of some help,

BOL,

[cruiserjs]

There are two "4Corners" in North America but since you can't drive an RV (or anything else in summer) to the newest one the OP must mean the US one.
Any guess on the other?

[trailertraveler]

Four weeks may not be as long as you think if you really want to explore an area and not rush from site to site. You were already provided a link to the Utah Grand Circle trip planner. Here is a list of links to places that we visited and enjoyed in Utah:

Utah 12-24 area:
Ut-12 Scenic Byway
Fishlake Scenic Byway
Scenic Backways off UT-12
Burr Trail
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Kodachrome Basin State Park
Anasazi State Park
Calf Creek Falls
Hells Backbone
Capitol Reef National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Goblin Valley State Park

Moab area:
Kane Creek Road
Potash Lower Colorado Byway
Upper Colorado River UT-128 Scenic Byway
Sago Canyon
Dead Horse Point State Park
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Needles District
Newspaper Rock

US-89 area:
Zion National Park
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

Monument Valley, Bluff, Blanding Area:
Monument Valley
UT-261 the Moki Dugway
Goosenecks State Park
Hovenweep National Monument
Natural Bridges National Monument
Bluff Fort
South Fork of Mule Canyon and House on Fire
The Valley of The Gods
Sand Island Petroglyphs
Edge of the Cedars State Park
Dinosaur Museum

[Jim_Shoe]

Granted that the plaque at the four corners isn't worth going out of your way to see, but if you have kids, they might get a kick out of having their pictures taken standing in four states at the same time. (I've read recently that its in the wrong spot, anyway).
I went slightly out of my way to see it as well as the area, because one of my favorite authors, Tony Hillerman (1925 - 2008), wrote some great detective novels about the Navajo Tribal Police. Just brain candy, but an easy reads.

[tatest]

What you are asking about is known as a Grand Circle tour, and there are a number of variations. Utah tourism suggests circle tours here. Here is another Grand Circle tour that concentrates on National Parks.

If you are renting from Las Vegas, chances are your rental company also has tour recommendations, maybe even detailed plans for tours of different durations. Ultimately, it depends on just what interests you most, but with four weeks, you can probably take in most of what is in southern Utah, SW Colorado, NW New Mexico, and all the way across northern Arizona.

"Four Corners" rings some strange bells here. Many take it to mean just the monument where four states meet, which in itself is not much to see. I'm taking it to mean a large region that covers much of four or five states.

There is not a lot of water in much of the region, although resorts in larger cities will have pools. The water recreation places will be the reservoirs on the Colorado and Green Rivers, particularly Lake Meade and Lake Powell, almost opposite points on one of the larger circles.

My Four Corners circle began and ended in the NE corner of Oklahoma, so included much of southern Colorado on the way out, West Texas coming back, and while it fit into three weeks, most of the details won't work for a Las Vegas based circle.

[littlemo]

We were in this area just a few weeks ago. Here are some of the places we stayed.

Duck Creek RV Park in Las Vegas. If you like mustangs make reservation to visit the Shelby Museum while in Vegas.

Watchman CG in Zion

Bryce Canyon/ Ruby's Inn We didn't camp here we just drove up for the day from Zion.

Hitch-n-post RV ParkIn Kanab, Utah. Tight but it is a convenient place to stay to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (which is even more beautiful than the South Rim (just my opinion).

Page, Arizona Lake Powell Area See Vermillion Cliffs, Horseshoe Bend. Go walk out on the Dam Bridge and drive around Lake Powell. Lots of interesting stuff here in Page.

I've not been to Mesa Verde but want to go but you need to go over to Durango and stay and ride the Durango/Silverton Train to visit the old west town of Silverton. You can rent jeeps here to take the Million Dollar Highway and the many jeep trails up into the mountains. You could stay in this area for a week or two and never lack for something to do.

The State Parks in New Mexico are awesome also. We just spent a whole month there in them all over the state.

Anyway, have fun and enjoy those kiddos! Make some memories!