Opinion on a Circuit Yellowstone + NP Arizona / Utah in 2 weeks

Hello,

We schedule a journey in the West of the USA of 2 weeks during next May.

We would like to see at once Yellowstone and various parks of Arizona / Utah.

We planned two alternative preliminary circuits. The first one contains an internal flight :

Day 1: flight for Yellowstone (Jackson Hole, Idaho Falls, Billings or Cody) depart from New York. Rent of a car.
Day 2 through Day 6: visit of Yellowstone.
Day 6: deposit of the car. Flight for Las Vegas. Rent 2nd car.
Day 7: Las Vegas-Gd Canyon. Visit of Gd Canyon.
Day 8: visit of Gd Canyon.
Day 9: visit of Gd Canyon. Departure for Monument Valley.
Day 10: monument Valley. Road for Moab.
Day 11: visit of Arcs.
Day 12: Canyonlands (flying by plane).
Day 13: road until Bryce. Visit of Bryce
Day 14: return Las Vegas and flight for New York.


The second possibility does not include internal flight, and avoids the change of car, the recordings of airports but includes many miles during two weeks.

Day 1: flight for Salt Lake City. Rent a car. Departure for Yellowstone
Day 2 through Day 6: visit of Yellowstone
Day 6: middle-road until Moab.
Day 7: end of the road and arrival at Moab.
Day 8: visit of Arcs.
Day 9: Canyonlands (flying by plane).
Day 10: road for Monument Valley and visits of Monument Valley.
Day 11: road for Gd Canyon. Visit of Gd Canyon.
Day 12: Gd canyon.
Day 13: Gd Canyon and road for Bryce.
Day 13: Bryce's visit.
Day 14: return to Salt Lake City and flight for New York.


We would like to have your advices concerning the feasibility, the interest of the circuit and the comparison / criticisms of both possibilities.

If in every case that seems to you too much, have you any ideas to reduce this circuit and make it feasible while keeping Yellowstone?

If we have to remove anything, which part should it be?

Thank you very much in advance for your helpful advices.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

As I was reading your 1st itinerary, I was already thinking that you should be looking to simplify it and fly into/out of a single city and just enjoy the drive in the meantime. Doing this out of Salt Lake City will save you on the flight from New York (smaller airports cost more to fly into in general), save you on the internal flight(s), save you the one-time taxes and other charges from renting two cars, and save you on the overall rental price as you rent a single car for a longer period. In addition, it frees you up to alter your trip anytime even after you make the flight and car reservations. Now you only have to be at your starting point and at your ending point. Otherwise you are free to go wherever you want on whatever schedule suits you. The downside(?) is that you will have to do a bit more driving through some of the most beautiful country on earth. I've done drives similar to what you would have to do, and while you won't have as much time as you might like to spend at individual parks, you will have quite enough to make those visits enjoyable, and I guarantee you'll also enjoy the countryside in between.

AZBuck

Thanks a lot AZBuck,

you are very convincing and we are indeed deciding to organize our vacation as a road trip.
Last question : Are the roads good? (Decisive criterion, will determine if we have to reduce our trip). Is the camper-car a good solution to reach the maximal flexibility?

Roads in the western US are generally very good. While there are not nearly as many freeways and other controlled access highways as in the east, this is largely because they are not needed. Even two lane roads can support high speed (60-75 depending on local laws) travel due to the sparseness of population and lack of traffic. Very occasionally, slower speeds will be in order due to the nature of the terrain, but on the whole, you need not worry about the quality of the highway system.

A camper van would be a workable and cost efficient rig, but if you are thinking about even a moderately large RV, then the cost of the rental and extra fuel required often exceeds the3 cost of a typical car/camping or even car/motel trip. In addition, the larger the rig, the slower you'll be traveling.

AZBuck

That makes a lot of sense !
Thanks again.