British couple looking for route advice

[Richard Ashton]

Hi,
We're a couple in their 60's (as if that matters!) who are visiting their son and his family in Austin, Texas this April/May and plan to rent a RV for three to four weeks to explore south western America and are looking for route suggestions.
We're interested in most things but have a preference for smaller towns rather than big cities as we like to interact with whomever we meet and thats easier in smaller places. National Parks (for scenery and wildlife), Route 66 stuff for memory lane trips, Ghost towns, Grand Canyon should be a must we think but apart from that..... whatever you can suggest!
A round trip is easiest as we'll be leaving from either Dallas or Austin for our return home.
Thanks in advance for your help.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

With 3 to 4 weeks you have a nice amount of time to explore parts of the Southwest, but there really are thousands of possible route combinations and attractions to choose from. There is a high concentration of amazing NP's that you could visit and you could include or choose from California [Death Valley, Seqouia and Yosemite NP's] Southern Utah [Zion, Bryce canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands] and Colorado [Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Rocky mountain NP, Great Sand dunes] to the Grand canyon AZ. There are so many other State parks, Tribal parks, scenic drives and moutain towns to explore, the list would go on forever !

Much will depend on at what pace you like to travel at, whether you like to keep on the move or spend multiple days in one place for example. A loop will certainly work well.

At this early stage I would recommend you look at a good paper map and search around RTA, using the forums and planning resources in the tool bars above to get ideas. Once you have some dots on the map we can then answer any questions you have and make suggestion of nearby places or how you might 'tweak' it to get the best from your adventure. For NP info you should look here and select a state and then a park.

A couple of pointers. Although you can drive original sections of route 66, the actual road was decommissioned years ago and replaced by Interstate. One popular section is between GC and Vegas through Seligman to Kingman. In some moutain areas [Sierra Nevada CA and the Rockies CO for example] some high passes may still be snowbound as Spring comes later to the high ground. That's just a word of caution when route planning but will not have any major impact on your overall plans.

An RV can be a great way to travel if it's the Lifestyle your after, but be warned they are not the budget friendly option with just 2 of you travelling. By the time you add extra costs to the rental, like bedding and kitchen kits, mileage charges, high fuel consumption and campground fees it works out more expensive than a car and Motels. This RV trip covers the Four corners region and there is a link at the start that covers the GC, Yosemite etc,

Enjoy the planning and just ask as and when you need to.