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9th vegas
10th vegas
11th duck creek visit grand canyon on way???
12th duck creek - zion
13th duck creek bryce
14th vegas visit grand canyon on way back??
15th newport beach
16th newport beach
17th newport beach
18th newport beach
19th sequoia national park
20th san fran
21st san fran
22nd san fran
23rd yosemite
24th death valley
25th fly out of vegas at 17:00
just fiddled myself to this!
With 11 months to plan, you have some time to get some good maps and start searching. Your kids are the right age to get involved in the planning with you - they will be more invested in the trip if they have had some say-so in its planning. A road atlas is available through the RTA store, and if you ordered it now you'd have it within a couple of weeks.
Bear in mind that the south rim of the Grand Canyon is at 7000' elevation, and therefore doesn't get as hot. However, if you walk down into the GC, the temperatures go up as you go down. Walking down to the bottom is a full day's hike, but coming up takes at least a couple of days, and (this is crucial) you need proper hiking shoes/boots. However, you can walk at least a little bit down into the canyon on a short hike. Bring a lot of water, though.
As for the expense of the Grand Canyon - it's $30 entrance fee for the carload, and that pass is good for a week. Or, buy an $80 Annual Pass and it will get you into GC, Zion, Bryce, and Death Valley. What's expensive at the GC are the overnights. For a less expensive overnight, stay in Tusayan. For a bargain, stay at Williams, but then you may not get to do a sunrise or sunset on the Grand Canyon, and that's not to be missed!
The heat in Death Valley is very, very real. In August, it is likely to be 110F+. Yosemite is going to be very busy, but you can still enjoy it.
Donna
I'm building my road trip with loads of help from members on here,so thank you
but I'm now stuck
so far
day 1 las vegas
day 2 las vegas
day 3 zion/bryce
day 4 zion/bryce
day 5 grandcanyon
day 6 las vegas
day 7-11 dana point
day 12
day 13
day 14
day 15
day 16
day 17 las vegas to fly home to the uk
I don't want to spend too long driving from place to place and don't really want to spend a just one night here or there. kids are 13 and 10 and I want them to have fun not be part of military maneuvers!!
what I want to do is take them to see some sequoias and death valley. I thought we could drive up and stop in san fran before heading back to vegas via yosemite and death valley.
I was hoping that there would be a good place to stop for a couple of days to use as a base!
open to suggestions.
Thanks in advance x
Moderator Note: As was noted before, please keep all questions about this trip in the same thread.
Are you planning on visiting the North rim or South rim of Grand canyon ? Why are you going back to Vegas in the middle of your trip if you are starting and ending there ? You could visit Bryce, North rim and Zion and then go to Death valley, into Yosemite and over to SF and then head down to Dana Point and then back to Vegas, having the advantage of the Ocean being on your side of the road.
Now if you are tied into your dates as they are, here a some thoughts.
I am not sure if you are still planning on staying at Duck creek for Zion and Bryce but to be honest this could feel more like "military manoeuvres" than just staying near each attraction, which would be less driving. From Duck creek village to Zion and back would be 3 hours of the day spent travelling. Springdale UT is a great little town for exploring Zion and the free shuttle buses run from town into the canyon. You have hotels near to Bryce to, Ruby's Inn being a popular choice but there are cheaper options in the town of Tropic.
The same goes for San Francisco, Yosemite and Death valley. They cover a huge area and making one base from which to explore all is just not possible. If you want to drive up the coast you will need at least one overnight stop on route to SF, I would recommend you leave Dana point on day 11 and make a little headway, even if it's Santa Barbara or Malibu and then look to stop again before SF. That still wouldn't leave you a lot of time to explore SF, Yosemite and Death valley, but enough to get an overview.
ive booked dana point and its non refundable, I have also booked the 2 nights in vegas. I think I've changed my mind and am looking at booking the koa at st george/hurricane for 3 nights and do zion and and maybe an atv trek then on the way back to vegas I was going to call at the north rim. the only reason to go back to vegas was I didn't want to drive for too long in one go.
Quote:
Thank you for this, I am now just planning with a car
Is KOA staying in a cabin or are you now back in an RV ?Quote:
am looking at booking the koa
I am not sure if you are under estimating distances or don't have a suitable map, but the North rim is nowhere near to "on the way back to Vegas" from St George or Zion. St George is still over an hour from Zion and the North rim is a further 3 hours plus.Quote:
at st george/hurricane for 3 nights and do zion and and maybe an atv trek then on the way back to vegas I was going to call at the north rim.
With your current plan you could stop around Cambria on the coast and then to SF for a night on day 13, head to Yosemite on day 14 and stay the night, explore the park on day 15 and head over Tioga Pass towards Bishop for an overnight stop. Day 16 explore Death valley on route to Vegas.
Hi yes its a cabin. still in the car!
yes no map using google maps at the mo, waiting for one to arrive! and I am sure I am under estimating
oh dear I might be making a really bad mistake
Oh I am confident you will have an amazing time, it's a beautiful part of the world and planning should be part of the fun. If you are set on staying in one place for multiple days then that's fine to, personally I would prefer to spend as much of my time as possible in places like Zion and not spend time driving back and forth over the same ground to get there, that's why I suggested Springdale UT, it's right on the doorstep of Zion. Although Hurricane wouldn't be a bad choice for budget reasons. A great place to stay for the North rim is in a cabin at Jacobs Lake.Quote:
oh dear I might be making a really bad mistake ]