San Francisco-Yosemite-Salt Lake City-Bryce Canyon-Grand Canyon-Las Vegas-Los Angeles

[Michele Bennett]

Hi Everyone!

Thank goodness for this site!!

My husband and I are planning a road trip in March of 2012 with a view of taking the following route: San Francisco-Yosemite-Salt Lake City-Bryce Canyon-Grand Canyon-Las Vegas-Los Angeles.

We are from the UK and have 14 days to do a trip. There is just so much to see and do!

My questions are:

Is the above trip a little too ambitious?

Would you recommend an RV or car & hotels?

What kind of weather could we expect?

Would March be classed as peak season for campsites etc?

We did a road trip of New Zealand 5 years ago with an RV and absolutely loved it. Whilst we didnt spend much time in the places we visited, we saw and did everything we wanted to and more.

I'm sure that we have many more questions, nothing is booked yet and we are open to suggestions.

Thank you for your help, advice, hints, tips.........etc

Kind Regards

Michele

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Well, this is going to be the quintessential 'good news', 'bad news' type of response. Certainly two weeks is plenty of time to have a relaxed and enjoyable RoadTrip covering the area and sites you've indicated. That would mean roughly four days of driving spread out over your holiday leaving you a full ten days for seeing, exploring and experiencing one of the great scenic and cultural regions of the world. And you will be well outside any high tourist season, meaning that crowds will be small and lodging costs will be at their off-season rates. But there's a reason for that. In March, many of the high country roads will still be snow-bound. For example CA-120 over Tioga Pass, the only route east out of Yosemite, will be closed so that you will not have complete access to the park and you will have to double back once you are done there and take CA-49 north along the west side of the Sierra Nevada up to the Sacramento area before using US-50 or I-80 to Salt Lake City. Similarly, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon will be closed. That is not as big a deal since the South Rim is the more accessible, has arguably the better views, and has more facilities.

As you can see, it is going to be cold for much of your trip. Remember that for much of it you will be at elevations in the 7,000' to 8,000' range. This also means that many campgrounds will still be closed for the winter. So from strictly a comfort and convenience point of view, taking an RV or caravan will be a poor choice. In addition some roads will be passable by a good front wheel drive coupe that are inaccessible to an RV. Add the extra expense (hire, petrol, and overnight parking) and you can see that an RV would be a poor choice for this trip at this time of year.

AZBuck

[DonnaR57]

Hi Everyone!

Thank goodness for this site!!

Welcome to RTA!

Would you recommend an RV or car & hotels?

RV or car/hotels is more or less a personal choice. Really, the cost comes very close and when trying to putter around national parks, a car can be almost a necessity.

What kind of weather could we expect?

In March, anything can happen in the parks you are speaking of. Snow can and does happen in March in Zion, Bryce, and GC.

Would March be classed as peak season for campsites etc?

Not peak season, but you could have some competition, particularly in the GC in GC Trailer Village. Most schools are still in session, but Spring Break happens anytime during March and April. Schools seem to take turns with it.

I will let others with more recent experience, comment on whether you will have problems with closed campgrounds in any of the parks, and with your itinerary.


Donna