Hi all,
Great forum. My family and I will be in SoCal end of June. I used to live in the area but my wife, 17 year old and 3 and 1 year olds - nope.
Renting an RV and really looking for some nice scenery and some fun or quirky stops. Saw some great routes from SF but not as many round trip to LA.
Please help
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
Honestly, I really think you just need to spend a little more time looking around, as there are several thousand posts detailing trips like this. While many of them do include San Francisco, frequenly they consist of a loop that also includes LA, Vegas, and the Grand Canyon.
Are those the only 3 places you are looking to go, how much time do you plan to spend in each area, and are there other places you are thinking about visiting? What things are you interested in seeing and doing?
With just a week to make your trip in an RV you really haven't got much time other than to travel at a relaxed pace and enjoy some time at the places you have listed. From LA you could head along I 10 and drive up through Joshua NP and stop on route to the Canyon overnight. I would recommend spending 2 nights at GC [1 full day] and booking the Mather campground asap as it will book up [if it hasn't already] real quick. It's then off to Vegas on I 40 with a possible detour onto part of the original route 66 through Seligman to Kingman where I would suggest that you pay a little extra than "normal" rates and stay at the Oasis RV resort where you can enjoy the pools etc and they offer a free shuttle to the strip or it's a short cab ride if you don't fancy "going around the houses" as the bus drops of and collects others. If you want some short time in LA it's time to head back, perhaps stopping at Calico ghost town on route but if your week doesn't include time in LA you could possibly detour across the amazing landscape of Death valley, it will be hot but worth it just for the drive. If you get out the RV just for a short stroll make sure you have sun hats and cream and drink water.
Take a look around the forums as Michael suggested, there are many other options.
Great suggestions and I am wokring to sped a lot of time researching more.
Basically with only a week my wife really jusy wants to experience the RV thing. She would prefer to spend each night in a differnt place. with little ones if we drove in the AM then set up for a late afternoon and nice dinner explore we would be good.
Quick Q - if we did the LA - Grand Canyon - Vegas route - would we have time for anything in Utah like Bryce Canyon? Any big Redwoods?
It would be possible to head to Bryce and/or Zion NP which is on a more direct route back to Vegas via I 15 but you will have to keep on the move. Head to GC via I 40 and through the South entrance on 64 and exit the East entrance on 64 to 89 and head through Page.
The Redwoods are found nearer to the coast but there are the Giant Sequoia trees which could be seen in Sequoia NM North of Lake Isabella [Trail of 100 giants near Johnsondale is a nice grove] or Sequoia NP but I that would be stretching things given your time and the fact that these are on slow going mountain roads which will be made slower by the fact you are in an RV. Look at these links and use the search function at the top right of page to gain more info and then you can start to make some informed choices as to what appeals to you the most, but you won't be able to do it all.