Western Parks Road Trip

Hello once again.

I finally completed our itinerary and would like to thank all of you for helping me and show you what I came up with.

Since we are flying from Venice to Los Angeles via Istanbul and the layover is long enough, we will start our journey with a complimentary tour of Istanbul, which is a lot better than the alternative, which is waiting at the airport for 13 hours.

This is our day to day plan:

Day 1 [Thursday, 23rd June]: Venice, Italy to Istanbul, Turkey

Day 2 [Friday, 24th June]: Istanbul, Turkey to Pasadena, CA [28 miles]
Sleeping: Wonder Inn Pasadena (reserved)

Day 3 [Saturday, 25th June]: Pasadena to Fletcher View Campground [484 miles]
Stops:
Palmdale Walmart Supercenter
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
Harmony Borax Works
Badwater Basin
Artist's Palette
Zabriskie Point
Dante's View
Sleeping: Fletcher View Campground (reserved)

Day 4: [Sunday, 26th June]: Fletcher View to Boulder Beach [123 miles]
Stops:
Scenic drive in Red Rock Canyon
Las Vegas (The Strip)
Hoover Dam
Lake Mead Lakeview Overlook
Sleeping: Boulder Beach Campground

Day 5: [Monday, 27th June]: Boulder Beach to Zion NP [425 miles]
Stops:
Valley of Fire SP
Bryce Canyon NP
Sleeping: Watchman Campground (reserved)

Day 6: [Tuesday, 28th June]: Zion NP [0 miles]
Sleeping: Watchman Campground (reserved)

Day 7 [Wednesday, 29th June]: Zion NP to Jacob Lake [165 miles]
Stops:
Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP
North Rim of Grand Canyon
Sleeping: Jacob Lake Campground (reserved)

Day 8 [Thursday, 30th June]: Jacob Lake to Lake Powell [96 miles]
Stops:
Vermillion Cliff
Cliff Dwellers
Glen Canyon – Lees Ferry
Navajo Bridge
Upper Antelope Canyon
Lower Antelope Canyon
Horseshoe Bend (after Antelope because of the best time for seeing Antelope)
Glen Canyon Dam
Sleeping: Wahweap RV Park and Campground (reserved)

Day 9 [Friday, 1st July]: Lake Powell to South Rim of Grand Canyon[232 miles]
Stops:
Wupatki National Monument
Sunset Crater Volcano
Viewpoints between east gate and campground
Sleeping: Mather Campground (reserved)

Day 10 [Saturday, 2nd July]: South Rim [0 miles]
Sleeping: Mather Campground (reserved)

Day 11 [Sunday, 3rd July]: South Rim to Natural Bridges [255 miles]
Stops:
Agathla Peak
Monument Valley (from the parking lot)
Gooseneck's State Park
Moki Dugway
Natural Bridges
Sleeping: Cedars Overflow Camping Area

Day 12 [Monday, 4th July]: Natural Bridges to Arches [137 miles]
Sleeping: Devil's Garden Campground (reserved)

Day 13 [Tuesday, 5th July]: Arches to Canyonlands National Park [90 miles]
Stops:
Dead Horse Point State Park
Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands
Sleeping: Horsethief Campground

Day 14 [Wednesday, 6th July]: Canyonlands to Capitol Reef [165 miles]
Sleeping: Fruita Campground

Day 15 [Thursday, 7th July]: Capitol Reef to Garden City [354 miles]
Stops:
Pando
Salt Lake City (maybe)
Logan Canyon
Bear Lake
Sleeping: Bear Lake/Garden City KOA (reserved)

Day 16 [Friday, 8th July]: Garden City to Yellowstone [315 miles]
Stops:
T.A. Moulton Barn
Teton Park Scenic Road
Jenny Lake
Sleeping: Grant Village Campground (reserved)

Day 17 [Saturday, 9th July]: Yellowstone [? miles]
Stops:
Upper Geyser Basin – Old Faithful Geyser
Midway Geyser Basin – Grand Prismatic Spring
Lower Geyser Basin
Mud Volcano
Sulphur Caldron
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Artist Point
Upper Falls of the Yellowstone
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone
Sleeping: Canyon Campground (reserved)

Day 18 [Sunday, 10th July]: Yellowstone [? miles]
Stops:
Tower Fall
Undine Fall
Historic Fort Yellowstone
Mammoth Hot Springs
Lower Terraces
Upper Terraces
Golden Gate Canyon
Obsidian Cliff
Norris Geyser Basin
Artist's Paint Pots
Firehole River
Sleeping: Madison Campground (reserved)

Day 19 [Monday, 11th July]: Yellowstone to Jerome [345 miles]
Stops:
Upper and Lower Mesa Falls
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Sleeping: Jerome KOA (reserved)

Day 20 [Tuesday, 12th July]: Jerome to Burns [331 miles]
Stops:
Shoshone Falls
Balanced Rock County Park
Haggerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Bruneau Dunes State Park
Malheur Butte
Sleeping: Silver Spur Motel, Burns (reserved)

Day 21 [Wednesday, 13th July]: Burns to Crater Lake [267 miles]
Stops:
Lava Butte
Newberry Volcanic National Monument
Sleeping : Mazama Campground (reserved)

Day 22 [Thursday, 14th July]: Crater Lake to Kirby Cove [590 miles]
Stops:
Klamath National Forest (drive through)
Six Rivers National Forest (drive through)
Avenue of the Giants (drive through)
Point Reyes National Seashore (drive through)
Sleeping : Kirby Cove Campground

Day 23 [Friday, 15th July] : Kirby Cove to Yosemite village [120 miles]
Stops:
San Francisco
Sleeping : Lower Pines Campground

Day 24 [Saturday, 16th July]: Yosemite [0 miles]
Sleeping : Lower Pines Campground

Day 25 [Sunday, 17th July]: Yosemite [0 miles]
Sleeping : Lower Pines Campground

Day 26 [Monday, 18th July]: Yosemite to Sequoia [500 miles]
Stops:
Bixby Bridge
Pfeiffer Beach
McWay Beach Waterfall
Elephant Seal Vista Point
Sleeping: Sunset Campground (reserved)

Day 27 [Tuesday, 19th July]: Sequoia [0]
Sleeping: Sunset Campground (reserved)

Day 28 [Wednesday, 20th July]: Sequoia to Serrano [327 miles]
Stops:
o Part of Sequoia NP
Sleeping: Serrano Campground (reserved)

Day 29 [Thursday, 21th July]: Serrano to Joshua Tree NP to Serrano [265 miles]
Stops:
Joshua Tree National Park
Coachella Valley
Sleeping: Serrano Campground (reserved)

Day 30 [Friday, 22nd July]: Serrano to LAX [115 miles]

This is the map of most of the possible stops and sights along our way: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...GA&usp=sharing

A very full and interesting trip. If it all comes off the way as planned, you are in for the time of your life.

Two things jumped out at me. You may be surprised in Yellowstone, that on some of those days you will not get to all of those points, Still three days gives you time to get the best of it.

Day 22 is a shame you will be driving 590, which means the beauty of the redwoods will be observed only through the windscreen. Since the campground has not been booked, you might like to consider shortening that day and adding a little to the following short day. The redwoods around the Avenue of Giants are worth stopping at and having your lunch- if the appropriate time - and wander through some of the short paths into the forest. You get to *feel* the age of the trees, and contemplate just how much they have seen..... and how insignificant we humans are in the scheme of things.

Try to find a little more time to spend in that area, it is magnificent. The giant tree part of Yosemite is closed, so make the most of the Avenue of Giants.

Lifey

We are aware that we will probably have to make some cuts in Yellowstone. We know what we really want to see and will make sure we get to those sights.

We all agreed that we want to camp at Kirby Cove hence the long drive. Day 21 however will not be really hard on us so we should be able to start day 22 really early and hopefully have some time to wander around the redwoods.

Yep, it's gonna be a busy, yet amazing trip and as I mentioned previously, don't expect to hit every spot on your list and make the most of those you do. Crater Lake to Kirby Cove and Yosemite to Sequoia via the coast are both ambitious. Trying to cover those miles on slow going roads while setting up and breaking down camp is going to be exhausting and take anything up to 15 hours to achieve. I think it would be less miles overall if you went from Kirby cove and down the coast first before heading to Yosemite then Sequoia, stopping somewhere between coast and Yosemite valley for a night.

Have a great time and be sure to drop by and tell us all about the trip !

There are a number of days in your itinerary that just may not happen for you.

Quote:

---

Day 5: [Monday, 27th June]: Boulder Beach to Zion NP [425 miles]
Stops:
Valley of Fire SP
Bryce Canyon NP
Sleeping: Watchman Campground (reserved)

---

Boulder Beach Campground to Valley of Fire - short drive, no problem.

Valley of Fire is about a 4 hour visit to do the drive, stop at the points, etc. We did it in mid-summer last year so we did very little hiking - over 100F!

Valley of Fire to Bryce Canyon is almost 250 miles, about 4-5 hour drive. So far, then, you've got about 9 hours of your day taken up.

Bryce Canyon will take 4-5 hours to see, to do it right.

Bryce down to Watchman Campground will take at least an hour to drive. Now you have about 14-15 hours of your day taken, and we haven't even added in time to get food, tear down and set up your new camp.

If this were me, I'd save Valley of Fire for another trip, perhaps one where you need a day trip from Las Vegas.

As for your Yellowstone plans, you may need to keep them quite flexible. You may not see everything you want to see. For instance, it can be up to a 90 minute wait just to see Old Faithful, depending on when you arrive and when it last erupted. The geyser basins include a LOT Of boardwalk hikes that can show you various types of geysers and hot springs. The trip to the brink of the Lower Yellowstone Falls can take a couple of hours. Though it's not very long, it is all downhill on switchbacks to the Brink, but what goes down, must go back up. Artists Paintpots is a short hike as well, but very interesting and worth the hike out. We took about an hour or so, and that was early in the morning. What also comes into play in mid-summer is the time it takes to find a parking spot at some of the more popular places. Tower Falls comes to mind - small lot, lots of people.


Donna

With the last comment you pointed out all of the things I know will be difficult if not impossible to achieve. We'll see how things will go :)


Plan for day 5:

Valley of Fire "opens" at dawn and we plan to be at the entrance as soon as it opens and go straight to the Fire Wave which is the main reason for our visit. After that we'll see how much time we've used and decide if we'll drive straight to Bryce Canyon or take the rest of the scenic drive through Valley of Fire. In either case, we plan to arrive at Bryce at around 2 pm, which should be possible with only a short visit in Valley of Fire. We should arrive in Zion at around 8 pm.


Plan for Yellowstone:

We agreed on 5 places that are a must see and we will make sure we get to those sights.


Plan for Kirby Cove drive:

Total mileage for that day will be around 520 miles (forgot to change that) which should be doable, including a short walk through the woods if we start the day at around 5 am.


Plan for Yosemite to Sequoia drive:

We'll make up our minds the day before :) If we'll feel we're up for another full day in the car we'll drive down to Big Sur, if not we'll just go straight to Sequoia.


Thanks again for the tips.