LA round trip in April

Hi,

My friend and I from Australia are flying into Lax (after being on the east coast) and renting a campervan on the 7th April.
We have to return the campervan on the 20th April in LA. We are just trying to put together a loose itinerary/route and am looking for some feedback/cool things to check out along the way. At the moment we kind of want to go:

LA
Death Valley
Las Vegas - meeting some friends there for a night or 2
Zion national park
Bryce Canyon
Page - Antelope canyon, White pockets, Horseshoe bend
Grand Canyon
Sedona - Devils bridge
Phoenix - hot air ballooning
LA

Roughly how many days/nights would we need to stay in places?
How easy is it to find places to camp for free/cheap along the way?

Thank you in advance!

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Finding places to camp for free is not so easy, you can't just pull up anywhere for the night. You can on occasion use truck stops or Superstore car parks like Walmart with permission, but that's just to get your head down and not to camp. With your trip that would be a waste as the National parks offer cheap campground sites and you will be able to soak up the atmosphere of the location.

It's really up to you how much time you spend where but to give you a general idea you could get away with 1 over night stop for Death valley between LA and Vegas and 2 for Vegas. I would then plan on 2 nights in Zion, 1 night in Bryce, perhaps 2 in Page to see the local sights, and 2 nights at the Grand canyon, which could give you time to detour into Mounument Valley on route. Then Sedona, Phoenix and back to LA.

From LV to Zion you could drive through the Valley of Fire and between Zion and Bryce make a quick stop at Checkaboard Mesa and Red Canyon and as mentioned above, Monument valley between Page and GC. You could check out Joshua Tree NP heading back to LA.

There are lots of free camping spots, but like at home, they are typically not in the popular tourist regions. Since these are the places you will be visiting, I would concentrate on camping in the National Parks, State Parks, National Forests, etc. Truck stops are fine for an overnight stop, when you are on your way to the next place, but they are not 'camp grounds'.

As for how long to stay at any place, with 13 days you will not have a great deal of time. Take off two days in LV, I would give the extra spare day to the GC and spend two nights there. This will give you an opportunity to see either a sunset or sunrise, or both. Stay out at the east entrance of the park on the first night, and maybe Tusyan or Williams on the next.

With the number of National Parks you will be visiting, it will be worth your while to buy the annual pass. This will end up saving you a lot of money. If at the end of your trip you do not have anyone to pass it onto, donate it to a charity. Be sure to only put one signature on the back.

Lifey