Trip advice - New to RV'ing and from London UK!

[gtrstill]

Hello everyone. I am travelling to the US this weekend and after a business event I am renting an RV for 1 week. We had planned to check out Arizona and the general area but I think we have underestimated the planning side of our trip. I am looking for some friendly advice on the routes we should consider and where to stop along the route. I know this is a really green and newbie set of questions but I think we just ran out of time and I stumbled across your forum.

Look forward to hearing back.

Alex

[beemerphile1]

The closest scenery and boating to Las Vegas is the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead. Most tourists are on the south rim of the canyon, the north rim is less crowded and more natural.

[gtrstill]

LOL... sorry to everyone for not being clearer. Ok...

so we have 7 days (Wednesday to Wednesday). We pick up the RV in Las Vegas and return the RV to Las Vegas. we are looking to experience some real USA. Not the plastic fantastic parts we are being "made" to experience in vegas for a couple of days. We like beautiful natural scenery, authentic restaurants and bars, maybe some horse riding. Boating. We don't know whether to go north east to Utah and then down to Arizona (Sedona area) and then loop back to LV...

sorry to be really green but this is a brand new idea 🙂

[quarterhorses]

I live in Arizona and yes it is a big place. I like Oldmattb's list of sites to see. I would decide on what part of Arizona to concentrate on for your short trip. Either tour the high country of the Northern part of Arizona or the Southern part of Arizona for your trip.

Southern Arizona
Kartchner Caverns
I like the RV park here because the hosts were very nice and the place was well taken care of.

http://azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/index.html

You need to sign up for a tour of the living caves. That is the best part of this area. From the RV park you can just walk across to the tour area.

Also, there are hiking trails off the RV park and you can see the outside (can't go in) of an old tungsten mine.

Bisbee
Great Town to visit with lots of history and good restaurants to visit. There are many shops to cruise through and a mining museum to visit.

The RV park sets up on a hill next to the strip mine and you can walk to town.
http://www.queenminervpark.com

I would also suggest to sign up for the Queen Mine Tour. It is right next to the RV park.

http://www.queenminetour.com/

Tombstone
Great town to visit with lots to see. Many restaurants to eat at. Make sure to visit a photo shop and have an old fashion photo taken of the family. Watch out for the OK Corral at high noon 😄

Picacho Peak
A fun RV park with a bunch of hiking trails.
http://azstateparks.com/Parks/PIPE/index.html

Northern Arizona
Williams
Great small town off I-40. Many restaurants to eat and many stores to visit.

Grand Canyon Railway
You can stay at the RV park of the Grand Canyon Railway and sign up to take the train to the Southern end of the Grand Canyon. You take the train and get to have lunch at the lodge. Watch out! The train might be stopped by train robbers. The next day you can take your RV up the road and visit the Grand Canyon again because there are many museums and other sites to visit along the way.

http://www.thetrain.com

Make a reservation at the RV Lodge.
http://www.thetrain.com/lodging/rv-park/


If you want to go fishing there are many camping places to visit.

Dogtown Lake Campground
An easy campground to stay at that is next to a great lake. Try your luck at fishing.

Kaibab Lake
Also a great camping ground to try your luck at fishing.

Meteor Crater
Down I-40 is meteor crater which would be interesting for you to visit. I haven't stayed at the RV park, but it would fun. My kid wants to stay here for Memorial Day Weekend.

http://www.meteorcrater.com/

The RV Park link:
http://www.meteorcrater.com/RV-Park-Overview

RV Park Review
http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Arizona/Winslow.html#CGID4890

I hope this helps.
Tod

[NYCgrrl]

As others have noted w/o knowing a start and end point or interests, it's quite difficult to say. This link may give you some general information to formulate your stay...

LONELY PLANET WESTERN ROAD TRIPS

[loulou57]

I agree with Kaydeejay. You will find a huge difference to back home. I am from North Yorkshire so I can understand how you may get frustrated.
Arizona is 25% bigger than all of the United Kingdom.

[tatest]

From Las Vegas, there are pre-planned "circle" tours that go through the National Parks and Monuments of northern Arizona and southern Utah, for one-week and two-week schedules. One of the RV rental companies will likely have itineraries with some detail, a big part of their business is visitors flying in on one or two week schedules.

For pre-planning there is the State of Utah Grand Circle site, and the larger four or five state view of the Grand Circle Association.

If you are coming in to Phoenix with only a week, you might be looking at a tour in Arizona only, possible the stretch between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon, or the southeast corner of the state, or the southwest over toward the California deserts. For help with planning in any of these areas look at the State of Arizona Tourist Guide.

Another thing I've known fellow RVers to do, look at a tour company's itineraries for the area and amount of time, and adapt the tour to RV travel (which means you have to consider the fatigue of doing you own driving, what you won't see because you are driving, and making the daily schedule fit RV camping, as opposed to late arrivals and early departures at resorts. For example, a one week tour of Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Zion.

[rfryer]

Couldn’t be said any better than kaydeejay said it. With a week you’ll barely be able to scratch the surface and you’ll be pushing hard to do that. For example, if you were at the Grand Canyon and wanted to visit the Tombstone area it would be about a 430 mile drive. With that time you’ll have to take the interstates to cover any ground, the worst way to see AZ. But it is what it is. That means I-40 across northern AZ and I-17 north and south. Unless you’re in southern CA, then it would be I-8 or I-10.
I think it would be best to select the places you really want to see, give yourself some non-driving time to see them, and then ask on the forum about the routes to take.

[kaydeejay]

gtrstill wrote:
Hello everyone. I am travelling to the US this weekend and after a business event I am renting an RV for 1 week. We had planned to check out Arizona and the general area but I think we have underestimated the planning side of our trip. I am looking for some friendly advice on the routes we should consider and where to stop along the route. I know this is a really green and newbie set of questions but I think we just ran out of time and I stumbled across your forum.

Look forward to hearing back.

Alex

As an ex-pat Brit myself I fear you, much like many of our fellow countrymen, have not yet developed an appreciation of the size of the USA.
Arizona alone is 1.5 times the area of all of Great Britain.
Could you cover that in a week???

As others have said, we need to understand your interests so we can take a stab at some meaningful suggestions.

I can't see you visiting much of Arizona, let alone any other "general area" in your timeframe.

Specifics please, starting with where you plan to rent (and return?) the RV.

[beemerphile1]

Where are you starting?
How much time do you have?
What do you want to see?
Where are you ending?

Other than Arizona, you have given no information.

[TexasShadow]

we need to know WHERE you will be arriving in the the states. if it is Phoenix, AZ, we can help you work out a route plan to see several things.

[naturist]

Suggesting a route begs the question of starting point and destination.

Do be aware that "Arizona and the area" is a big place. If you choose to drive from corner to corner, you will need a whole day, and a long day at that, to do it. With no stops except for fuel and potty.

[oldmattb]

If you have specific interests, we can sure help you. If you have specific destinations determined, we can help you fill in around them.

Matt B

[gtrstill]

Hi and thanks. I was more looking for a recommendation on a route we should take?

[oldmattb]

Big place with lots to see. This is a list of stuff in and near Tucson that I compiled for family:

TUCSON AREA ATTRACTIONS

FORT HUACHUA
http://www.huachuca.army.mil/pages/history.html
KARTCHNER CAVERNS
http://azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/index.html
AMERIND MUSEUM
http://www.amerind.org/
FT BOWIE
http://www.nps.gov/fobo/index.htm
GILA RIVER RES
http://www.gilariver.org/index.php/about-tribe/profile/tourism/18-tourist-attractions/159-tourist-attractions
SAN CARLOS RES
http://www.sancarlosapache.com/Attractions.htm
TOHNO OODHAM RES
http://www.arizonaguide.com/things-to-do/tohono-oodham-nation-sells-az
SALT RIVER
http://www.inaraft.com/salt-river-rafting-az.php
FT APACHE
http://www.wmat.nsn.us/fortapachepark.htm
SAN CARLOS
http://www.arizonaguide.com/things-to-do/san-carlos-apache-tribe-san-carlos-az
DESERT MUSEUM
http://desertmuseum.org/
WILDLIFE MUSEUM
http://www.thewildlifemuseum.org/
SAN XAVIER MISSION
http://www.sanxaviermission.org/
TOMBSTONE
http://www.tombstoneweb.com/
IRONWOOD FOREST NM
http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/ironwood_forest/national_monument.html
http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/ironwood_forest/national_monument.html
BUENOS AIRES WILDLIFE REFUGE
http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=22530
SONORAN DESERT NM
http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/sonoran_desert/national_monument.html
CHIRICAHUA NM
http://www.nps.gov/chir/index.htm.
CORONADO NATIONAL MEM
http://www.nps.gov/coro/index.htm
CASA GRANDE
http://casagranderuins.areaparks.com/
COLOSSAL CAVE
http://www.colossalcave.com/welcome.html
DESERT DIAMOND CASINO
http://www.ddcaz.com/
CATALINA SP
http://azstateparks.com/Parks/CATA/index.html
TUBAC PRESIDIO NAT HIST PK
http://azstateparks.com/Parks/TUPR/index.html
PICACHO PEAK
http://azstateparks.com/Parks/PIPE/index.html
MINIATURES MUSEUM
http://www.theminitimemachine.org/
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUM
http://www.themim.org/
APACHE TRAIL
http://phoenix.about.com/od/daytrips/ss/apachetrail.htm
SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK
http://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm
MUSEUM OF THE HORSE SOLDIER
http://museumofthehorsesoldier.com/about-us/
ARIZONA HISTORY MUSEUM
http://www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org/welcome-to-the-arizona-history-museum-tucson/

KITT PEAK OBSERVATORY
http://www.noao.edu/kpno/
TITAN MISSILE MUSEUM
http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/
PIMA AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM
http://www.pimaair.org/
OLD TUCSON
http://oldtucson.com/
FRANKLIN AUTO MUSEUM
http://franklinmuseum.org/
TRAIL DUST TOWN
http://traildusttown.com/
MT LEMMON
http://www.ehow.com/how_4690908_visit-mount-lemmon-tucson-arizona.html
CARNIVAL OF ILLUSION
http://www.carnivalofillusion.com/
TUCSON MOUNTAIN PARK
http://gosw.about.com/od/bestdaytr3/a/tmp.htm
TOHNO CHUL GARDENS
http://www.tohonochulpark.org/wordpress/
TUCSON BOTANICAL GARDENS
http://www.tucsonbotanical.org/
REID PARK ZOO
http://reidparkzoo.org/
PINNACLE PEAK PISTOLEROS
http://wildweststuntshow.com/
FT LOWELL MUSEUM
http://www.arizonabeautiful.com/tucson-southern/fort-lowell-museum-tucson-arizona.html
BARRIO HISTORICO
http://www.mytravelguide.com/attractions/profile-79252805-United_States_Arizona_Tucson_Barrio_Historico.html
SPENCER’S OBSERVATORY
http://spencersobservatory.com/
JEWISH HISTORY MUSEUM
http://www.jewishhistorymuseum.org/
NOGALES, SONORA
http://nogales.mx/en/tourism/