Considering a LA - Carlsbad Caverns - LA round trip in April with two young girls

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As I assume travel time will be slower with an RV (which is OK), my wife is strongly suggesting to drop the Big Bend from the itinerary. I would hate to drop it, but I think she is right.

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You have to go with your gut on this one. Yes Big bend is remote and adds lots of miles to a trip but we were glad we done it. We covered about 3800 miles in 18 days which was a lot of driving and not something I would have done with 2 young ones. However if you are to cover around 3000 miles in 3 weeks (or more) on the road it does bring your average daily mileage down. Of course the deeper you probe into the other places you are visiting the more alternative places you will find while covering less miles.

The RV does seem a good deal but make sure you get all the fine detail such as insurance coverage and any other charges that will (or may) occur. When doing your costings remember that the RV will only do around 9mpg and there will be campground fees.

Hey Guys,

A more specific question: Could we take the road to Oatman with the RV? I read some mixed replies on different sites...

Thanks!

Also a general question :-):

Should I expect to end up rather in RV parks, or can I look for regular campsites? Without being negative about RV parks, I do not have the feeling most of them are 'charming' or a place where the kids can play around? Looks more like a parking lot where you spend the time inside your RV?

Or am I wrong? Any advice on where I can look for the right campsites, for example with a swimming pool or playgarden?

THanks :-)

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Originally Posted by DasDimi

Hey Guys,

A more specific question: Could we take the road to Oatman with the RV? I read some mixed replies on different sites...

Thanks!

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Yes you can. It's twisty in places but I've driven much more challenging roads.

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Should I expect to end up rather in RV parks, or can I look for regular campsites?

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There are many private run campgrounds that have pools and play areas, just search for them in the area you plan to stay overnight and compare choices. Any National parks you may visit I would recommend you book a park campground. They won't have play areas and pools and not all have hook ups and shower blocks but camping in the wilderness more than makes up for that. These are my favourite types.

The road into Oatman from the south isn't too bad. The road from Kingman over Sitgreaves Pass is the one that can be a challenge.

In doing the public camping threads for RTA, I discovered that the vast majority of public campgrounds do not come with swimming pools. Occasionally, you'll get one with a beach on a lake, or where there is a pool at another location in the park. Those are in the minority, though.

When we were camping in a tent or RV, our girls would always make their own fun if there was no pool or beach to play. They were rarely bored!


Donna

From the top of Sitgreaves pass.

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSCF8098.jpg

https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSCF8102.jpg

OK Great thanks!

I agree, I don't think they will be bored fast. But my favorite is, like Dave says, the ones in the wilderness. I will see if I can book park campings for Petrified Forest, Carlsbad, Saguaro, White Sands and Joshua Tree. That will be a fair share of wilderness camping right at it :-).

Apart from the NP campgrounds, should I strongly consider to book each overnight stop in advance? I really like the liberty of driving on when things go smooth or stop early when the girls want to do something else. Especially for the drive between LA & Santa Fe, that we are doing in 3 or 4 days, I feel it could be nice that we are not pinned on where we spend the night.
Or should I expect to have several popular campgrounds/RV parks to be fully booked in April?

Hey Guys,

I am still struggling with finding the right campground. I am trying to find something near Slide Rock State Park, but all the campsites in the area are still closed early April. Best I can find is Woody Mountain Campsite in Flagstaff, but it is rather outside the forest.

Should I expect to experience a lot of "closed" campsite in the period we choose to go? That might be a setback trying to find "wilderness" locations :(

We booked Rancho Sedona to visit Slide rock which is about 20 mins away. I can't tell you anything about it though as we were kept out of the area by a massive snowstorm in February and had to detour. This is the thing about the "to book or not to book" question as everyone has their own opinion and style of travel. As we travel on a tight schedule I like to book in advance and if things take a turn we find an alternative and sacrifice a nights fee. Although this was the first time it had happened to us and we were refunded as it was to do with the weather and not us failing to show.