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First time road trip for 2 Florida families. We are in the planning stages of a 2 week June road trip. We are planning to fly in to Las Vegas and rent RVs to travel in. We would like to see the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone before heading back to Las Vegas to fly home. We will be traveling with 7 kids total. What do you suggest we add to our itinerary? We are all pretty new to this road trip idea. So, any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !
Well there is a whole host of things you could do so it will take a little more research on your part, but I would perhaps take a 2 day drive directly to Yellowstone and hang out there for at least 3 days and include a bit of time for the Grand Tetons. (You could take an extra day to Yellowstone and visit Zion NP) Heading back south you could use 191 to Flaming Gorge Reservoir and Dinosaur NM and CO139 to I-70 and head to Moab UT for Arches and Canyonlands. Then you could head through Monument valley to the Grand canyon south rim. These are a few of many options but it may give you somewhere to start. What I would say is that you need to get your dates for Grand canyon and Yellowstone in place and try and secure campsites that can take the RV's. The RV sites are limited in number and extremely popular !
Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!
You can pull this trip off, and you can have fun, but you need to be realistic about what you can accomplish. As noted by my title, a full seven days out of your two weeks is going to be taken up with just the getting around aspects of the trip. A day to fly to Las Vegas, a day to pickup the RVs and get to the Grand Canyon, two days to drive to Yellowstone, two days to drive back to Las Vegas, and a day to fly home. Remember that RVs are considerably slower than your family sedan, you've got seven children who will need multiple 'activity' stops during days that are mostly devoted to driving, and it takes time to set up the RVs each night as lodging and ready them each morning for use as a vehicle.
So you'll really have to make the most of your remaining week. Yellowstone, in particular, calls for several, or at least two full, days as do the many national monuments and other attractions around Flagstaff AZ (the Grand Canyon). And you could easily up the two-day drives to Yellowstone and back to three days each to take advantage of the many great national parks between the Canyon and Yellowstone. Thus Task 1 is to figure out just how much time you want to spend at your main stops and how much you want to spend on the road in between. I've given you my best first rough guess above, but your two families need to discuss this in some detail to make sure that you're on the same page and that what you want to do is physically possible.
AZBuck
If you don’t already have campground reservations for Yellowstone you’d better book them now, if you can.
It will likely take hours to pick up the RV. There will be an extensive orientation as well as a walk around where you should document ANY damage to the vehicle. You don’t want to pay for someone else’s damages! Make sure EVERYTHING works both inside and outside; the AC, furnace, stove, oven, fridge, toilet, sinks, showers, etc. Make sure that the cabinet doors are all tight on their hinges and that the locks on the exterior cargo doors all work. Make sure the waste dumps don’t leak! I’ve rented several RVs and have experienced all these problems! Don’t let them rush you. By the time you’re on the road, you’ll be looking for a campsite.
Oh, June in Yellowstone is cold. Nights around freezing. Will they force you to winterize the RV? If so, you’ll have no running water.
https://m.accuweather.com/en/us/yellowstone-lake-wy/82190/june-weather/346581
Southwest Dave suggested possibly adding Zion to your trip. I wholeheartedly agree, if you hike the narrows!
June is a great time to do The Narrows Hike up the Virgin River.
After a mile walk on a flat paved path, the trail ends and the fun begins. You step down INTO the river! Now, you walk into the canyon, sometimes in the water and sometimes on sandbars. The sheer canyon walls tower 2000 feet above and narrow ahead. It is spectacular! I would go so far as to skip the Grand Canyon in favor of Walking the Narrows. Heck, I’d give up Yellowstone!
This is an very very popular adventure for all ages. The water is typically shallow in June. You do have to watch out for rain and deadly flash floods, and that’s why June is a great month for this walk.
Videos don’t do the place justice. View this on your largest screen, up close.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EwZQQ52fOOs
Thank you all for the suggestions. I have done a little more research, but I am concerned with the travel time.
I have attached a preliminary itinerary. Let me know if you think it is feasible. Thank you.
The only problem I see is with trying to drive from Yellowstone to Zion in 1 day. It's over 600 miles and you will need an intermediate stop. Everything else looks feasible.