Late April-May Roadtrip from Western Canada to American Southwest and Back

Hey Everyone,

I apologize if some of these questions have been answered to already, but I am new to RTA. My boyfriend and I are planning on going on a trip to see some National Parks in the Southwest, the Grand Canyon, Salvation Mountain, and the California Coast. We plan to leave on April 25th, 2012, and return somewhere around the 10th of May (we're planning for about two weeks, though we have about 4 extra days to work with, if need be). I'm just looking for suggestions in general...weather, packing, good hiking trails, recommendations of parks, thoughts on distance, suggestions for accommodations, routes, and time gone. Any overall comments are appreciated, as this will be my first serious roadtrip! Here is our tentative itinerary as of now:
Attachment 3180Attachment 3181

-April 25th (Day 1)
Leave from Calgary, AB and drive until Idaho Falls, ID or Pocatello, ID. Accommodations are still unknown.

-April 26th (Day 2)
Leave from ID and take I-15 south to highway 17 to Zion National Park. Hopefully arrive at sunset, enjoy the park, do a quick hike, stay overnight--we're looking to stay in Hurricane potentially.

-April 27th (Day 3)
The next morning, do a quick hike or two in Zion, and hit the road for Page, AZ. We will likely stay the night in Page.

-April 28th (Day 4)
Get up early, and hit the road for the Grand Canyon Village! We plan on camping--we're looking at the Mather Campground--and doing a bit of shopping at Cameron Trading Post. We will probably explore the South Rim, doing a rim hike, and then camp.

-April 29th (Day 5)
Get up early, finish hiking the rim, and hit the road for Sedona, AZ. We plan to camp two nights in Sedona.

-April 30th (Day 6)
Explore Sedona and stay the night (camp).

-May 1st (Day 7)
Finish exploring Sedona and leave early for Yuma (where we will stay the night in a hotel)

-May 2nd (Day 8)
Leave relatively early for Niland, CA. Explore Salvation Mountain for a few hours, and then head to San Diego (or Palm Springs--we may have relatives in Palm Springs willing to let us stay there, if so, we will skip San Diego and stay in Palm Springs)

-May 3rd (Day 9)
Wake up and leave for Newport Beach, CA. Explore the shopping scene, and hit the beach. Go to the Wax Museum and Hollywood Walk of Fame in LA. Stay on Northern part of LA.

-May 4th (Day 10)
Wake up and hit the road. Take the 101 to Santa Cruz (stopping along the way in Santa Barbara for 2-3hrs). Stay overnight in Santa Cruz.

-May 5th (Day 11)
Once in Santa Cruz, we plan to check out the "Mystery Spot" that morning. In the afternoon, we plan to head to San Fransisco, check out the pier, ride Cable cars, and see the bridge. We potentially plan on staying in a hostel in San Fran, because it's something I'd like to say that I've tried! One name we found was the "Adelaide Hostel"

-May 6th and 7th (Day 12/13)
Once we get up, we will begin our journey home. We will stay in a couple hotels somewhere along the way as we'll be homebound through Redding, Kennewick and Spokane.

-May 8th (Day 14)
Finish the drive home, and hopefully arrive back in Calgary.


So that's it! As mentioned, we have a couple more days that we would add to particular points of the trip; if you have any suggestions how to make better use of these days, please let me know! We still have a lot of details to sort out, so any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Welcome!

The one thing that absolutely stands out is your route from LA to SF - 101 is a reasonably scenic road, but you really should take an extra day there and go up CA-1 (PCH)!

I'd also take another day in Utah and go to Bryce Canyon, if for nothing else than driving down to the end and back and stopping at all the viewpoints.

The weather will do exactly as it pleases, and you can expect to see wide and varied conditions, so certainly pack layered clothing.

At least an extra couple of days would be beneficial as you are a little rushed in places. Whereas it is possible to get from Calgary to Zion in 2 days, at around 1170 miles it'll be 2 long days and you might not be in the mood for hiking on arrival. If you are planning on camping, I would set up in the 'Watchman campground' in the park and consider 2 nights there, giving you a full day to explore this wonderful place. If you are looking for a room, I would see if you can find an affordable option in the wonderful town of Springdale, right on the 'doorstep' of Zion NP.

Mather Campground is ideal for a stay at the GC south rim and is only a short walk to the village and rim. I would leave enough time from the Cameron Trading post to take in some of the views along Desert View drive as you enter the park. You won't need to come back this way.

As mentioned by glc, you will be missing out on a spectacular coast drive if you don't get on Highway 1. Maybe add a night around Cambria and possibly swap a stay in Santa Cruz for Monterey. [?]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by glc

Welcome!

The one thing that absolutely stands out is your route from LA to SF - 101 is a reasonably scenic road, but you really should take an extra day there and go up CA-1 (PCH)!

I'd also take another day in Utah and go to Bryce Canyon, if for nothing else than driving down to the end and back and stopping at all the viewpoints.

---

Okay--we've adjust our route accordingly to take the CA-1 up the coast. Thanks! I'm not sure that we will be able to fit both Bryce and Zion in along the way. What do you think? How worth is it to go? Could we fit both in during on day? Or is it better to just stick with Zion and thoroughly enjoy it rather than rush off to see the surface of more areas?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

The weather will do exactly as it pleases, and you can expect to see wide and varied conditions, so certainly pack layered clothing.

At least an extra couple of days would be beneficial as you are a little rushed in places. Whereas it is possible to get from Calgary to Zion in 2 days, at around 1170 miles it'll be 2 long days and you might not be in the mood for hiking on arrival. If you are planning on camping, I would set up in the 'Watchman campground' in the park and consider 2 nights there, giving you a full day to explore this wonderful place. If you are looking for a room, I would see if you can find an affordable option in the wonderful town of Springdale, right on the 'doorstep' of Zion NP.

Mather Campground is ideal for a stay at the GC south rim and is only a short walk to the village and rim. I would leave enough time from the Cameron Trading post to take in some of the views along Desert View drive as you enter the park. You won't need to come back this way.

As mentioned by glc, you will be missing out on a spectacular coast drive if you don't get on Highway 1. Maybe add a night around Cambria and possibly swap a stay in Santa Cruz for Monterey. [?]

---

As far as the weather goes, I suppose I was wondering about the snow falls and such on the way to AZ...I initially wanted to go to Yellowstone but read that it is often closed until Mid-May due to large snowfalls. I plan on doing hiking in Zion and the Canyon..these places should not have much snow by late April/Early May, right?

We recognize that it's a long drive to Zion, but we're willing to make it two long days of driving. You're right though, upon arrival, it's not very realistic to feel like hiking. We may consider placing an extra day at Zion then. I'll look up the Watchman Campground and hotels in Springdale and decide accordingly. What are the best things to do in Zion?

We will likely be booking at the Math Campground relatively soon then, as we have heard it gets pretty booked down there at times.

As for Cambria, we will reevaluate our route to potentially swap those stays. At the moment, we are just unsure whether we want to add an extra day at Zion, somewhere along the Cali coast, or both.

Another question; do you have any resources (tourist information websites, etc.) that offer area discounts? Also, looking at our NP plans, would you say that about $120 is an accurate guess for the cost of park passes throughout our trip?

Thanks for your input!

At the first national park you come to, buy the $80 annual pass. You can buy it at the entrance kiosk.

Yes, Spring arrives late to Yellowstone. In Zion you may encounter wet stormy days, but also warm and clear days and the Spring wildflowers begin to bloom from April. Bryce canyon is at much higher elevation and you could see snow and sub zero night time temps.

Zion is wonderful to stroll around in. The riverside walk being one of the most popular, an easy walk along the Virgin river with towering red cliffs all around you. Emerald Pools and Weeping Rock are another couple we enjoyed. They are all great to be honest, but on arrival you will get leaflets and the park Rangers are only to happy to guide you. If you didn't want to add an extra day to this part of your itinerary then I would still consider 2 nights and a full day here and then go direct to GC instead of stopping in Page. There are a whole bunch of other things to see around Page, but with the pace you are travelling through at, it would limit your options and feel a bit rushed imo.

It will cost you $50 to enter both GC and Zion NP [£25 each] and the same if you decided to go to Bryce. After this point you would be better off purchasing the annual pass for $80 and that is the max you would need to pay. This does not include camping fees and if you decided to visit Alcatraz Island it would not include the cost of the Ferry crosing. [entrance free]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by glc

At the first national park you come to, buy the $80 annual pass. You can buy it at the entrance kiosk.

---

That sounds great...I hadn't heard of that. I read that we should phone the kiosk ahead of time to ensure they are selling them before we make our trip there. So we would buy this at Zion then? Same booth that we would normally buy a pass, and it would admit us to Zion, GC, Bryce (if we go there), etc.?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

Yes, Spring arrives late to Yellowstone. In Zion you may encounter wet stormy days, but also warm and clear days and the Spring wildflowers begin to bloom from April. Bryce canyon is at much higher elevation and you could see snow and sub zero night time temps.

Zion is wonderful to stroll around in. The riverside walk being one of the most popular, an easy walk along the Virgin river with towering red cliffs all around you. Emerald Pools and Weeping Rock are another couple we enjoyed. They are all great to be honest, but on arrival you will get leaflets and the park Rangers are only to happy to guide you. If you didn't want to add an extra day to this part of your itinerary then I would still consider 2 nights and a full day here and then go direct to GC instead of stopping in Page. There are a whole bunch of other things to see around Page, but with the pace you are travelling through at, it would limit your options and feel a bit rushed imo.

It will cost you $50 to enter both GC and Zion NP [£25 each] and the same if you decided to go to Bryce. After this point you would be better off purchasing the annual pass for $80 and that is the max you would need to pay. This does not include camping fees and if you decided to visit Alcatraz Island it would not include the cost of the Ferry crosing. [entrance free]

---

Okay, the weather sounds like it shouldn't be too much of an issue then..we'll just have to do Yellowstone another time--it's so tempting to fit in too much in too little time! We're really not sure about including Bryce Canyon for that reason, and we've heard more people recommend Zion of the two. It was kind of a fork in the road for our path, so we figured we should choose only one...unless we can be convinced otherwise?? :p

Okay, yes Zion seems beautiful and at the very least it would be nice to spend extra time there. I think our original reason for stopping in Page is because we had initially planned on going to Antelope Canyon there, but later decided to cut it for expense reasons, mainly. Considering this attraction, is this something we should rethink, or do you agree that $50 per person or whatever to see the canyons is a steep fee for an afternoon, and our time is best spent somewhere else?

Again, the park pass sounds like a great deal...we will have to look into getting that! :)

Antelope canyon is on my 'to do' list, but up to now I have not been. Like yourself, I have had to pick and choose wieghing up all the Pros and cons and it remains on that 'To do' list. Personally I don't think the entry fee is too steep for such an amazing place and I believe most tours are 1.5 hours in duration, or 2.5 hours for photographic, or extended tours, that cost more like $80. So it makes no difference if you have an afternoon or all day, that's the time you get. What adds time is getting there in good time for the start of the tour and getting away again.

It really comes down to personal choice, but my point with your current itinerary is that to get to Page for a tour, you will be limited with time in Zion to a few hours in the morning. That could work if you were to take a 5pm tour, but if you decide not to do one at all, then I would sit tight in Zion and have the whole day and evening to relax and enjoy !

Keep in mind that you have to use the shuttle in Zion from April through October, and that will add time to getting around. The first one leaves the Visitor Center at 7:00 AM, and the last one leaves the Temple of Sinawava stop at 9:30 PM.

Alright, so after considering all of the advice we were given, we have created another draft of our trip, with minor adjustments along the way. Once again, any and all suggestions are more than welcome! (hidden fees, places to stay, eat, things to do, etc.). We're one step closer as our departure date approaches...we're hoping to reserve camping spots sometime within the next week or so, and potentially a hotel or two along the way if we find really good ones. Anyways, here it is!


-April 25th (Day 1)
Leave from Calgary, AB and drive until Idaho Falls, ID or Pocatello, ID. Accommodations are still unknown.

-April 26th (Day 2)
Leave from ID and take I-15 south to highway 17 (Hopefully arrive at sunset) to Zion National Park. Camp at Watchman Campground, Stay overnight. About $17 per night.

-April 27th (Day 3)
The next morning, do a quick hike or two in Zion, and hit the road for Kanab, UT. We will likely stay the night in here.

-April 28th (Day 4)
Sleep in, and hit the road. Stop in Page, AZ (about 1hr drive) and take the Antelope Canyon tour at 11:30am. Have lunch (Mexican food?). Head for the Grand Canyon Village (2-3hr drive…arrive at around 4pm)! We plan on camping--we're looking at the Mather Campground—set up our site and do a small rim hike; eat dinner. Watch sunset.

-April 29th (Day 5)
Get up early, do a big-ish hike. Leave by about 2 or 3pm and hit the road for Sedona, AZ. We plan to camp two nights in Sedona. Stay the night in Sedona.

-April 30th (Day 6)
Explore Sedona and do a big hike. Do something “cool”—rent mountain bikes, go on a plane tour, etc.—and stay the night (camp).

-May 1st (Day 7)
Get up, finish exploring Sedona, have breakfast and leave early for Yuma (long travel day) (where we will stay the night in a hotel). Dinner and a movie?

-May 2nd (Day 8)
Wake up, check out and leave relatively early for Niland, CA (about 2 hrs to Niland). Explore Salvation Mountain for a few hours, and then head to San Diego where we will stay the night.

-May 3rd (Day 9)
Wake up potentially explore a few things here, and leave for Newport Beach, CA. Explore the shopping scene, and hit the beach. Stay the night north of LA.

-May 4th (Day 10)
Wake up and hit the road to Santa Barbara and stay the night.

-May 5th (Day 11)
Wake up, check out and take the CA-1 to Santa Cruz (couple hours drive), where we plan to check out the "Mystery Spot" that morning and stay in Santa Cruz.

-May 6th (Day 12)
Wake up and explore San Francisco, check out the pier, ride Cable cars, and see the bridge. Date night?? Stay the night potentially in a hostel--"Adelaide Hostel"

-May 7th (13)
Once we get up, we will begin our journey home. We will stay in a couple hotels somewhere along the way as we'll be homebound through Redding, Kennewick and Spokane.

-May 8th (Day 14)
Finish the drive home, and hopefully arrive back in Calgary.

Thanks for your input...it's really appreciated!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

Antelope canyon is on my 'to do' list, but up to now I have not been. Like yourself, I have had to pick and choose wieghing up all the Pros and cons and it remains on that 'To do' list. Personally I don't think the entry fee is too steep for such an amazing place and I believe most tours are 1.5 hours in duration, or 2.5 hours for photographic, or extended tours, that cost more like $80. So it makes no difference if you have an afternoon or all day, that's the time you get. What adds time is getting there in good time for the start of the tour and getting away again.

It really comes down to personal choice, but my point with your current itinerary is that to get to Page for a tour, you will be limited with time in Zion to a few hours in the morning. That could work if you were to take a 5pm tour, but if you decide not to do one at all, then I would sit tight in Zion and have the whole day and evening to relax and enjoy !

---

We've re-considered and are now planning to at least consider Antelope Canyon again, and have included more time at Zion. Please check out my Draft two at the bottom of the thread and let me know what you think :)

Specifically, we are looking for a decent place to camp in Sedona for two nights. I found this website: http://www.dreamsedona.com/sedona-campgrounds.html that lists a few popular ones that seem good. Any other recommendations? We're hoping to find one with a shower as we will probably be wanting one after all the hiking haha. A couple of them mentioned on the site do have them, but they charge a minimum of $3 at one place. Is this to be expected at all campgrounds in the area?

Quote:

---

May 4th (Day 10)
Wake up and hit the road to Santa Barbara and stay the night.

-May 5th (Day 11)
Wake up, check out and take the CA-1 to Santa Cruz (couple hours drive), where we plan to check out the "Mystery Spot" that morning and stay in Santa Cruz.

---

It's a LOT more than a "couple hours" from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz, no matter WHICH road you take! I think you lost a whole day somewhere!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by glc

It's a LOT more than a "couple hours" from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz, no matter WHICH road you take! I think you lost a whole day somewhere!

---

Yes, my bad..it's around 5 hours, right? But even so, I'm sure it's doable to wake up, drive 5hrs, get to Santa Cruz at, say 3pm at the latest, potentially hit the beach and go to the "Mystery Spot", stay overnight in Santa Cruz, and head to San Fran the next morning (as it's only about an hour or so away from there?

It's all doable, but it's going to take longer than you expect. I would allow nearer 6 hours to Santa Cruz along CA1 and that's without stopping. I doubt you will be able to drive this great road and not stop, and why would you want to ? ;-) Start out at 8am and expect to roll into Santa Cruz around 4pm. Getting into San Fran will take more than an hour, I doubt you would manage that with a police escort !! Depending on where in SF you are headed and what the traffic is like, you should allow up to a couple of hours. Non of which are 'deal breakers', but when packing a lot in, I always veer on the side of caution, because it better to have too much time than not enough, as to not feel rushed, imo.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

It's all doable, but it's going to take longer than you expect. I would allow nearer 6 hours to Santa Cruz along CA1 and that's without stopping. I doubt you will be able to drive this great road and not stop, and why would you want to ? ;-) Start out at 8am and expect to roll into Santa Cruz around 4pm. Getting into San Fran will take more than an hour, I doubt you would manage that with a police escort !! Depending on where in SF you are headed and what the traffic is like, you should allow up to a couple of hours. Non of which are 'deal breakers', but when packing a lot in, I always veer on the side of caution, because it better to have too much time than not enough, as to not feel rushed, imo.

---

Hey Dave!

So we've broken the CA part up as follows:

-Wednesday May 2nd (Day 8)
Wake up, check out and leave relatively early for Niland, CA (about 2 hrs to Niland). Explore Salvation Mountain for a few hours, and then head to San Diego where we will stay the night.

-Thursday May 3rd (Day 9)
Wake up potentially explore a few things here, and leave for Newport Beach, CA. Explore the shopping scene, and hit the beach. In mid to late afternoon, head to Santa Monica and stay there.

-Friday May 4th (Day 10)
After waking up, finish checking out Santa Monica and head for Santa Barbara where we will stay the night. (this is potentially where we will stay in a nice hotel!)

-Saturday May 5th (Day 11)
Wake up, check out, and begin the drive to Santa Cruz (about 5hrs). Stop in Carmel along the way, and arrive in Santa Cruz later that afternoon. Plan to check out the "Mystery Spot" that afternoon or the next morning and stay in Santa Cruz.

-Sunday May 6th (Day 12)
Wake up and head to San Francisco (or check out Mystery Spot, if haven’t already). Explore San Francisco, check out the pier, ride Cable cars, and see the bridge. Date night?? Stay the night potentially in a hostel--"Adelaide Hostel"

-Monday May 7th (13)
Once we get up, we will begin our journey home. We will stay in a couple hotels somewhere along the way as we'll be homebound through Redding, Kennewick and Spokane. We are looking to stay in a place called Bend, Oregon.

-Tuesday May 8th (Day 14)
Continue the drive home, stop somewhere else

-Wednesday May 9th (Day 15)
Arrive back home.




How does this look? And also, have you done the Antelope Canyon tour? And would you recommend making reservations for it? What do you think?

I've also been looking for a good resource explaining what we are/aren't allowed to bring into the US border from Canada (in terms of food), but can't seem to find a solid reputable one. Do you know of any? I have read that fresh fruits and veggies are a no, and one place told me no meat or anything. I'm just wondering how we can go about packing sandwiches and such with such limited materials allowed to pass through. Any other advice as far as customs go?

I realized after I posted my reply that we had already discussed antelope canyon and you haven't been yet..haha. We're just reconsidering potentially going back to the original draft in the sense that we may arrive at Zion, stay at the campground (we've booked our campgrounds now), spend the whole next day there, and leave around dinner or something for Page where we will stay the night and do the Antelope Canyon tour in the morning (and explore Page before heading to the Grand Canyon). Does this sound like a sufficient amount of time to spend in each place to enjoy Zion, Page, and the Grand Canyon? I realize that more time in Zion would be ideal, but I'm just trying to work with what we have (acknowledging the comment as well on the need to use shuttles in Zion--if we started our day at 8am or so at Zion, we could spend about 10hrs there?)

If you decide to do Antelope canyon I personally would book a tour in advance, especially as you are on a bit of a time crunch. Your trip along the coast looks just fine although you still won't make it to Santa Cruz in 5 hours when taking the coast road. LOL ! You will always stumble across things that you hadn't planned for and maybe not make it to some that you have planned for, but that's what makes the road trip great !

Bend OR would make a good first night stop, or you could consider stopping earlier and have time to take a 'peak' at Crater Lake with Spokane a good 'target' for night 2.

Sorry, I have no idea about the border crossing and foods.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

If you decide to do Antelope canyon I personally would book a tour in advance, especially as you are on a bit of a time crunch. Your trip along the coast looks just fine although you still won't make it to Santa Cruz in 5 hours when taking the coast road. LOL ! You will always stumble across things that you hadn't planned for and maybe not make it to some that you have planned for, but that's what makes the road trip great !

Bend OR would make a good first night stop, or you could consider stopping earlier and have time to take a 'peak' at Crater Lake with Spokane a good 'target' for night 2.

Sorry, I have no idea about the border crossing and foods.

---

Okay we'll look into booking the tour! And would allowing 6 or so hours to get to Santa Cruz be fine? I suppose at that point in the trip we don't have any reservations made either so that we can stay flexible with plans.

As far as Crater Lake goes, I was looking it up and it looks awesome! However, alot of the sources say that it has a ton of snow and most hotels/campgrounds in the area don't even open until late May..so we may have to take a raincheque on that one! We may adjust the route to go up through Eureka though--just a thought.

This is really important though; I've heard conflicting things about checking into hotels. From Canada, my boyfriend and I are both legal "adults" but we are not yet 21. Some sources said that you won't be able to book a hotel room in your are not over this age. I called a Best Western in Idaho and they said it was fine as long as I had a driver's license and credit card, while Lemon Tree Inn in Santa Barbara said that they can't let me stay there unless I have valid ID and am over 21 (though he said it depends on how much the places enforce it, and making reservations through a 3rd party site in advance may let us slide, but we aren't wanting to stick to such a strict schedule of reservations in CA). Any advice or experience with this? It's very inconvenient..

You have to research each and every hotel to find out their age policies. They vary.