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The first thing to do is try to get a site inside each park. The NPS.GOV site will list all campgrounds and details both inside and outside each park, both government and private. You will find them with and without hookups, and both reservation and first come first served.
I mentioned the nps site a couple of days ago and how quickly sites for RV's can book up. Yes, I also mentioned Ruby's Inn as it's close to the entrance of the park and has hook ups. Bryce does have a campground without hook ups. I also mentioned the Watchman campground in Zion NP which has some nice riverside sites with hook ups, but whether you will get an available site or not is debatable. The North rim campground takes RV's but I don't think they have hook ups. If you want hook ups and/or the GC is booked out you could try Kaibab camper village at Jacob Lake, but with a 31ft RV the sites are limited and I would sort it with some urgency or face having a lot of driving to do each day just to get into the parks. As mentioned you will need to stay at, or near, each park rather than in one spot.
You should allow some time to visit the Tetons while in Yellowstone, perhaps when heading south towards Bryce.
The North Rim campground doesn't have hookups. There's also a campground 16 miles outside the park with no hookups and a second one in Jacob Lake without hookups. All are described on NPS.GOV.
I want to thank everyone for your input and advice, it's tremendously helpful. I'm still trying to figure out the Utah/Arizona portion of the trip. What are people's thoughts on:
* How many nights to stay over in the Bryce/Zion leg of the trip? Is two nights sufficient?
* Is one overnight stay on the North Rim area enough?
* Would it make sense to go to the South Rim first and then stop by the North Rim on the return trip to Las Vegas. Meaning spending the night over on North Rim. Or do North Rim first?
* Planning 3 nights at the South Rim; enough/to much?
Our activities won't include a lot of individual long hikes due to a disability in the family.
Bryce is a wonderful park, but can be seen quicker than most when on a time crunch, this is because you look into the canyon from the rim edge for the best views and these are close to the roadside. How many nights will depend partly on what time of day you arrive, but if you arrived later in the day, I would plan on 1 night in Bryce and do some sight seeing the following morning before driving to Zion NP and then stay there for 2 nights so that you have at least a full day there.
It's quite drive just to get to the North rim from Jacob Lake on AZ67, over an hour each way, from Zion it is going to take over 3 hours. So 1 night might do it, but I wouldn't plan on getting all the way to the South rim next day.
From the South rim you would go to Vegas via 140 and past the Hoover Dam, so you should visit North rim first.
Three nights would be fine to spend at the South rim, it's a great place, but as mentioned above, you won't have quality time at the North rim and get there next day. You could plan on stopping between the two canyons, perhaps in Jacob Lake or Marble canyon and then 2 nights at the south rim.
Hey everyone, thanks for all your help and advice. I've got the dates set and all the major campground reservations made. We change our arrival and departure points for the trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix due to the cost of airfare. Significant difference but since we had already made all reservations and it wasn't possible to change some we're staying with same trip route.
We'll be leaving Phoenix and heading to Yellowstone by way of the Hoover Dam. My question was could anyone recommend a reasonable location for an overnight stop, either campground or motel/hotel? Someone had mentioned trying north of Salt Lake City but I wasn't sure if there were some recommended locations? I have the same question for the portion of the trip between Yellowstone and Bryce/Zion. Any recommendations?
Trying to go from Phoenix to Yellowstone in 2 days via Las Vegas is not going to give you any time at all for sightseeing. It's a full 2 days drive just to get there, and with a RV you should really be looking at a 3rd day. The halfway point is Beaver, UT.
On the way back toward Bryce, I'd look at Nephi.
Thanks for the advice. I've been looking into what you suggested and I"m stuck. I'm not familiar with that area of the country and am not certain on what approach to take. We're arriving in Phoenix on Thursday and are picking up the RV on Friday. Between picking it up and getting it stocked I don't think we'll be able to get on the road until after 5:00pm Friday. On this leg of the trip, I was hoping to see the Hoover Dam. I wasn't to familiar with this area of the country, that's why I didn't have anything else on the sightseeing list. I'm open to ideas. So my options are to leave as early Friday, late afternoon and I'm due into Yellowstone on Sunday. I'm open to suggestions and ideas on how to use the time?
You are starting off on the wrong foot. It's a 5 hour drive from Phoenix to the Hoover Dam, PLUS rush hour delays getting out of Phoenix. Also, the dam is only open for tours from 9am to 5pm. You will have a difficult time making it to Yellowstone by Sunday. It's at least a day and a half from Las Vegas to Yellowstone.
Collecting the RV and going through the orientation does take time, but I'm not sure why you think you won't get going until 5pm. If you can collect at Noon you should be on your way out of Phoenix by 1:30pm. When I pick up an RV, I usually put the cases so they are secure in the rear bedroom and get on the road, stopping after half an hour or so for supplies and to do one more walk around check of the RV. If you contact the local RV rental office in good time, they sometimes allow you to collect a little earlier than stated on the booking form. Our last one was a 'from' 11am collection and after speaking with them went along at 10am and because we were earlier than the 11am rush, were on the road around 11am. We got to a campground early evening and then started to unpack and put things away.
Depending on how important visiting the Dam is, you could consider heading from Phoenix up to Page for Fri night and the following day head for Evaston WY area [Bear Lake ?] before continuing to Yellowstone.