Hi! I'm a student from New Zealand doing this loop in late June / early July. I'll be camping on BLM/National Forest land for the most part, and using cheap motels where I have to. If anyone could take a quick look over this itinerary I'd really appreciate it - I'm mainly concerned about nighttime temperatures for camping (I've heard it gets really cold at night in the desert) and whether I'm biting off more than I can chew time-wise. I'd also appreciate suggestions for cool things to see / places to eat along the route.
Day 1: Arrive LA early morning, spend the day seeing a few things and head to Big Bear Lake in the afternoon
Day 2: Drive from Big Bear to Sedona, AZ and camp nearby
Day 3: Drive from Sedona to Grand Canyon, day at GC, camp nearby
Day 4: Drive from GC to Valley of the Gods, UT via Monument Valley.
Day 5: Drive to Moab, UT and camp in Canyonlands NP (I have a backcountry permit)
Day 6: Looooong drive from Canyonlands to near Bryce canyon, via Goblin Valley & UT-12. I'm considering breaking this up into 2 days as it will be a massive drive.
Day 7: Hiking in Bryce Canyon and then driving to Dixie NF; camping off UT-14.
Day 8: Drive to Zion NP and spend the day hiking; camp or motel near Springdale
Day 9: Drive to Great Basin NP and possibly further along the I-50 in Nevada
Day 10: Drive to Lake Tahoe
Day 11: Drive to Yosemite
Day 12: Yosemite
Days 13-17: Driving across to the Calif. coast and down the PCH.
As you can see I'll have a few days to spare at the end there, so if there are parts you think are too rushed hopefully I can ease that out a little.
Thanks for looking!