30 day trip out West - Dare we without reservations?

scottz wrote:
pezvela, thank you for your advice. The heat in Death Valley is well understood thanks to this thread. We will likely be leaving for this trip in early to mid may, North Rim doesn't open until May 15th, so that is kind of dictating how early we can start our trip

I haven't been to Canyonland but your strong recommendation just got it on our map. When traveling from Denver to Needles Outlook to the North Rim, what route do you recommend between Needles Outlook and the North Rim?

The magnificent views of Canyonlands are with out a doubt top notch, Needles Overlook is on BLM lands and about 40 miles south of Moab, use the link for directions. There are many trip reports on Canyonlands in our TC forum, Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands offer some excellent viewing.
Grand View area


Part of Shafer Trail and White Rim Trail

In Moab you have not only Canyonlands, Arches NP and Dead Horse State Park. There is no lack of camping areas in Moab, we have used BLM Camping, Cowboy is one of the BLM site on Ut313 going to Canyonlands that have use a couple times with a great view of the mesa.


As far as getting to the North Rim from Canyonlands, here's the suggested route: I70 W to UT24 south, along the you have Goblin Valley State Park, I believe your kids would like this place due to it strange natural setting.
, in Torrey take UT12 all the way to UT89 south to Alt89 to UT62. You'll be going by several national and state park along this route, here's a link to Scenic BY Way UT12

There's a ton more of things to see and do along this route and at this point I'm going to sat read some of the trip reports posted for this region. Have fun enjoy your trip!

pezvela, thank you for your advice. The heat in Death Valley is well understood thanks to this thread. We will likely be leaving for this trip in early to mid may, North Rim doesn't open until May 15th, so that is kind of dictating how early we can start our trip

I haven't been to Canyonland but your strong recommendation just got it on our map. When traveling from Denver to Needles Outlook to the North Rim, what route do you recommend between Needles Outlook and the North Rim?

The fact that diesel is only available at Furnace Creek WITHIN the park is not the disadvantage that it might seem. There is diesel to the east at Beatty, NV., Pahrump, NV., and at Panamint Springs, just outside the west boundary of the park. You could come in from Las Vegas via the Jubilee Pass road and come "up the gut" towards Furnace Creek; hitting Badwater, Devil's Golf Course, Artist's Drive, all in a half day. Then, fuel up in Furnace Creek and, head north to Mesquite Campground which will be slightly cooler than the Furnace Creek area. From there you have early access to Ubehebe Crater and out to the The Racetrack (must see!!). You could then stay out there at Homestead Dry Camp or retrace your route and head to the Wildrose, Thorndike and Mahogany Flat areas for a night. You would then exit via 190 to US 395, and get diesel again at Panamint Springs.

Do keep in mind that the passes over the Sierra Nevadas (except I-80) sometimes do not open up till June or July so a trip earlier forces one to use I-80 or come around the south end of the Sierras.

Once you are at Las Vegas, you can get pretty accurate weather reports for the days you might spend in DV. If it looks like it is going to be above 105, then skip it and continue south on I-15 and take CA-58 over to the west side of the Sierras, so you can access Sequoia and Kings Canyon on your way UP to Yosemite, and then to the Bay Area. Don't be scared off by the 134 statement; that was the RECORD high, recorded over a hundred years ago.

I have to say that the Grand Canyon, from either rim, is a disappointment after you have been to the viewpoints in Canyonlands National Park, especially The Needles Overlook. While the pines are scrubbier than on the GC rim, there are better pine areas than the GC really close to the Canyonlands overlooks.

But maybe you have been to Canyonlands already...............

scottz wrote:
I am in the early stages of planning a family trip West for June 2014. We will have 30 travels days. It will be my wife, two sons (7/11) and our dog.

It would be nice to camp as we travel so we can set our own schedule. Camp as we travel means not making prior reservations; dry camp, stealth camp, or find a campground is all in play. I would really appreciate everyones opinion if we could reasonably get away with camping as we travel to the below list of destinations without making reservations.

Please share any specific advise as it relates to camping in these areas:
Day1 - Leave home in Minnesota
- Denver, CO
- North Rim Grand Canyon
- Hoover Dam
- Las Vegas (Casino Campground?)
- Death Valley
- Sequoia National Forest
- Yosemite
- San Francisco
- Lake Tahoe
- Sparks, NV (stay with Family)
Day 30 - Return home, MN

Death Valley by June is already in triple digit temperatures and can reach a average temperatures of 115 plus degree with highs that can reach 134 degrees during the summer, if you go stick to the "tourists" areas. There only one place inside DV that diesel can be bought and that's Furnace Creek, gas can be bought at Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. DV is a very large park and cell phone don't work in most of the park, I would suggest skipping DV and spent your time else where.

North Rim is a great place to visit, the Forest Road north of Jacob Lake is FR22, you can boon-dock here and it places you about 5 mile from the N. Rim entrance. there is a fuel station at the N. Rim with adump you can use, as well as a little market. Cell phone service is at the village along with internet connection, last but not least mule rides.



There is some wild life here and a different views of the Grandcanyon.




click on pic for video


In California many of the State Park are also have what is know as in route sites, in other words if your rig can fit into their day use parking anf your fully self contain , for a fee you can park overnite. Ther are teo such state parks north of San Francisco that do that.

Check out the Truck Camper Trip report, many of your question could be answered there for the places you want to see.

I just did a 3 months trip out west from August to October, 2 campers. NO reservation at all. It was a bit harder on the Oregon Coast and in California if you stay at ocean side campground, you could allways call a few days ahead. There is allways the free National Forest, wallmart, truck stop like FlyingJ, except in south California. Have faith, go with the wind, this is in my opinion the best way to travel, you like it you stop, you don't, you move out, never restricted by a schedule.

I agree that Death Valley could be on the very hot side, but sure no problem for camping! Some nice Casino Camping in Vegas on Boulder Highway with free shuttle to the Strip or normal town Busses.

Thanks for the comments on Yosemite filling up. Perhaps we won't stay there long.

Curious how you guys rank Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia?
If you had 4-5days total to spend in this area, how would you do it?

I have been out twice from Alabama with no reservations. I may be going again next year also. The only place we could not stay at was Yosemite. Evidently it is the "inn" place. If you go to Sequoia do not miss Kings Canyon, which is actually a separate park but borders Sequoia. I almost did not go down in the canyon because of a june snowstorm. The canyon was absolutely awesome, like being in Machu Pichu or something like that.

The majority of USFS and BLM campgrounds have campsites are on a first come basis. In the national parks and at private parks reservations are more likely to be needed but it is much less of a problem with a truck camper.

Often we find spaces that work well for us but would be too small or impossible to back into with with a tow vehicle pulling a trailer or a motorhome longer than 28 feet. We can fit into any campsite and that makes a world of difference.

Even though Yosemite may fill up at the valley campgrounds there are more than a hundred places outside of the park where you can camp. The USFS maps are great for finding these places as is the book by Tom Steinstra.

We have only needed a reservation for the types of places we try to avoid that are crowded and noisy and for us a last resort.

Mike and Brian thank you for the comments.

The repeated comments about the heat really have my attention. Out schedule is still flexible, so changing dates is an option. I will look to move the schedule up 2 or 3 weeks. I see North Rim opens May 15th, we will look to arrive closer to that date.

You can get by without reservations although I'd look up potential places to stay while you are out just in case you change your mind. I'd bring a Woodall's book or equivalent.