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.
