Two weeks RV road trip

[Esculapius1975]

Hi,

We are planning a road trip across south west parks between 20th of june and 5th of july (15 nights) starting and ending in LA. We will rent an RV in LA, since we are two adults and a kid we were thinking to rent a ford c 22 at motorhomerepublic

The trip should include

LA, Sequoia National Park, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, and back toward the coast with 1-2 stops like Joshua Tree park or Palm Springs.

It should be 1-2 night per location.
The idea of doing this trip by rv is to get flexibility on duration of stay in each location, depart and arrival time.

On other non specialist forum like on tripadvisor I have been told I necessarily have to book at each camp ground but this will not allow that flexibility we are looking for. I have seen there are several different solutions which include campground,campsites, rv parks, free rv areas, with without hooksup, dumpstations etc etc.

Would you suggest to do this road trip with a c22 RV equipped with a generator in that period of the year without reserving rv parks?

Main issues are
1) safety of the sites where to spend the night, so we are not considering random stops along the road in the middle of nowhere
2) Ease of finding a place to spend the night. I.e. avoid long research of sites moving from park to park ti find an empty place, or waiting hours to check-in the camp ground etc.

Since it is our first rv trip ever in us these may appear obvious questions for you but not for us

Thank you for your replies

Giangi

[OutdoorPhotogra]

You could fly into Fresno as another alternative although Vegas will be cheaper. I avoid driving in LA as much as I can in a car, much less an RV.

I vote reservations for parks near 4th and to cut your list in half. Maybe Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Yosemite, and Tahoe. Or, you could do Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and as many of the Utah parks as possible.

[padredw]

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.

This is extremely important--good advice. We were in Italy in June of 2009 and we found nothing to compare with the heat in the American South and Southwest. You will need electricity to run the air conditioner.

Taking Los Angeles as a given, I would suggest heading straight up to Sequoia/Kings Canyon--about 200 miles and four hours. That makes 2 nights in Los Angeles and a minimum of 2 nights in Sequoyah.

If I were that close I'd add in Yosemite. You will probably have to find a campground outside the National Park, but Yosemite is one of the outstanding parks in the United States. Add minimum 2 nights

Again, taking Bryce Canyon as a given you've got a two day trip across Nevada (I'm bypassing Las Vegas for the moment to go straight to Bryce.) There is a northern route along US 50 which is known as "the loneliest road in America," or a southern route that dips down via Hawthorne, NV. Add 2 nights for overnight for two long days (about 650 miles total).

At Bryce for 2 nights. The drive down to the North Rim is just over 100 miles so you can get a good view on the afternoon of arrival. We stayed out at Jacobs Lake, but that is a good 45 (slow) miles into the rim. Still we had a long afternoon to get view all along the rim and wound up at sundown at the lodge, before returning to our trailer waiting out at Jacobs Lake. So you can add 1 day here.

Around to the South Rim is less than 200 miles, so a relatively easy drive. May as well see both "rims" so add 2 days here.

We are already up to 13 days and that's by moving on more than many would advise, but it's entirely possible. That brings us to Las Vegas and July 3. This may be a critical decision of your trip: where will you be on July 3 and July 4? I'd bypass Las Vegas and
scoot across to Antelope Valley (or a non-urban campground nearby) and spend the night.

Now, unless I've messed up the arithmetic you would have only one day to get your RV back to Los Angeles. (I'm not good at math!)

If I can help with any more specific questions about this route, you can send me a PM (private message) through this forum.

That seems to me about the most you could include in a trip of 15 days in this part of our country. You may have very good reason to want to include Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and the Southwest National Parks, but someday I hope you'll consider a visit with Denver as your starting point (in the Summer, of course) and enjoy the cool, colorful mountains of Colorado instead of the hot Southwest.

[MarkTwain]

Esculapius1975 wrote:
Hi,

We are planning a road trip across south west parks between 20th of june and 5th of july (15 nights) starting and ending in LA. We will rent an RV in LA, since we are two adults and a kid we were thinking to rent a ford c 22 at motorhomerepublic

The trip should include

LA, Sequoia National Park
crowded!
Death Valley
Too dam hot!
Las Vegas
If you like to gamble and eat expensive food and mingle with 1000"s of people!
Bryce Canyon
A must see but for sure you need reservations!

Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley,
Never been there!
Grand Canyon,
Reservations a must!!

and back toward the coast with 1-2 stops like Joshua Tree park or Palm Springs.

In Indio right off of I-10 you can stay free in a large parking lot next to the Casino but no hooks at all.

It should be 1-2 night per location.
The idea of doing this trip by rv is to get flexibility on duration of stay in each location, depart and arrival time.



Would you suggest to do this road trip with a c22 RV equipped with a generator in that period of the year without reserving rv parks?

For your RV trip, a generator would be great !

Main issues are
1) safety of the sites where to spend the night, so we are not considering random stops along the road in the middle of nowhere

Not a real issue in most RV Parks. If you drive up and you don't feel comfortable for any reason---Turn around and leave!

2) Ease of finding a place to spend the night. I.e. avoid long research of sites moving from park to park ti find an empty place, or waiting hours to check-in the camp ground etc.

Reservations will minimize this problem!


Giangi

Sounds like a great trip! BUT, your trip is unrealistically over booked and guaranteed to be frustrating and hectic ! i.e. skip Death Valley(the heat will me miserable 105 to 120 deg., Skip Las Vegas ( too congested, loud and full of lights). Make reservations as soon as possible. All the places you want to visit are popular and crowded at the time of year. Reservations are plans to deviate from.
Use the Good Sam campground application on the internet to help to you locate and get RV parks that meet your needs. Miles driven and hours on the road varies based on individual choices. I like to drive no more than 350 to 400 miles or 4 to 5 hrs. per day. Suggest you get the Good Sam Emergency Road Side service policy to give you peace of mind if you break down on your travels.

[bikendan]

You need to rethink your plans for three reasons.

1. HOT! You're wanting to travel in desert areas, in the summer. You'll need a/c the entire time, meaning electric hookups. The only campgrounds in those national parks, that have electric hookups, are GC and Zion.

2. Since you're looking to stay in popular spots in the summertime, you'll need to make reservations the second they're available. There will be extreme competition for them. Expect to lose out on some.

3. Your plans are very ambitious since many have no idea how big the West is and how long it takes driving from place to place.

[midnightsadie]

you have already reserved an rv? if not call around and line one up that will suit your trip ,have fun be safe.

[agesilaus]

Pretty much anything south of Grand Canyon will be hotter than Hades, and Arches will too. That includes most of those AZ and southern CA parks. Higher altitude is cooler.

[ppine]

An ambitious plan. I would skip Death Valley, Joshua Tree and Palm Springs because it will be too dang hot.

I have had terrible luck trying to find space in the summer for an RV at any National Park in the height of the season. You can stay outside the parks some of the time, try Forest Service or BLM sites or boonddock (in the middle of nowhere). If that is okay your plan will work. If you wing it and expect to stay in the Parks without a reservation you are going to be disappointed.

[Lwiddis]

“we are not considering random stops along the road in the middle of nowhere“ Along the road, I agree. However, “nowhere” is exactly where I want to be. Why do you believe you and your family are “safer” with others?

I agree with Gordon, skip Death Valley. June is too hot.

[winnietrey]

What you might consider is this. You don't have to camp in the National parks. There will be lots of private campgrounds and smaller state campgrounds in fairly close proximity to the big national parks. You can stay at one of those then day trip in. That is how we do it, we very rarely make reservations.

With a 22ft, if there is any site left in just about any campground you will fit as opposed to a much larger rig.

4th could be tough regardless, that might be the one date or dates you might consider reserving. Good luck and have fun

PS if it were us I would book your first night somewhere, and your last nights over that 4th time

One last thought I have never driven in Italy, so I don't know. But I have driven all over the UK. I thought RV parks were pretty few and far between. Not so in the US they tend to be pretty much everywhere.

When we camp with the grand kid, we pretty much stay at KOA's for a number of reasons.

1) they are kid friendly with pools etc
2) quality is always at least OK
3) KOA' have an APP you can get. So what we will do, is in the morning, figure out, what we want to see that day and where we want to end up. We find a KOA in close proximity and make an online reservation. Takes the worry out of where are we going to stay that n night. And of course your least chance of finding a campsite is going to be showing up late, so making a reservation in the AM, generally there are always sites available

[Jim]

You must have reservations at RV parks for the July 4th weekend anywhere near big cities and in National Parks.

Do you really need to start and end your trip in LA? You probably know what a nightmare the traffic is there. And guess what, around holidays is even worse. Maybe start and end in Phoenix instead. Head north to Flagstaff and visit a really cool ancient cliff dwelling town, than visit Meteor Crater. Death Valley in June would be horribly hot, most wouldn't even consider it. Maybe visit Lake Tahoe, then head over to visit Virginia City where Mark Twain wrote for the newspaper. From there, there are so many choices in every direction it'll make your head swim.

[TenOC]

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.


Click For Full-Size Image.

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.

[jplante4]

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.

[agesilaus]

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.

[Esculapius1975]

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?