Monument Valley & Great Basin NP

Last year my husband and I visited Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite NP and San Francisco on our honeymoon. We absolutely loved it and were thinking of returning to America next year to do another road trip. So far, the places we know we'd definitely like to visit are Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon. After seeing the ghost towns and the abandoned mines around Death Valley last year, we were interested in possibly visiting places such as Ely and Great Basin NP, however I realise these are in a different direction to Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon. Is it possible to combine them all somehow? And aside from these, where else could we visit? I know there are lots of national parks, but without overdosing on them, how do we pick the best, and are there any interesting cities or towns which might break it up a little?
We'll probably have around 2 weeks, although we are considering a few days in Chicago first and then flying from there.

Every National Park is different and special. Some are certainly less known and less crowded -- Great Basin is one of those under-appreciated parks. Utah has one of the greatest collections of such parks. I have to leave for a meeting -- but consider making a loop trip from Salt Lake City -- you could easily see seven national parks in your two week journey. And welcome to the Forum!

Mark

As Mark mentioned you could create a nice loop and pick out some wonderful NP's and other attractions along the way. It would work well out of either SLC or Vegas. As well as the places you have mentioned there are Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol reef Arches and Canyonlands NP's in southern Utah alone. There are wonderful drives like Utah scenic Byway 12, towns like Springdale, Moab and Williams and possible other attractions like Hoover dam, Four Corners, Cathedral Gorge, Lake Powell, Antelope canyon, Dixie National Forest and so on.

One example would be too head from LV to Great Basin and then across into Utah, down to Monument valley and GC and then back to Vegas.

You won't have any problem mixing things up a bit but what I would suggest you do is to open a good map and research around RTA and see what it is that appeals to you the most, as you won't be able to do it all ! Once you have some dots on the map we can help you too get the best out of your trip.

In addition to the Utah National Parks mentioned above there is also Natural Bridges National Monument and south of there is Goosenecks State Park along Utah 261 north of Mexican Hat. Goosenecks is an amazing view and it only takes about 1/2 hour to do.

Note: Utah 261 from Natural Bridges to Goosenecks can not be done in a RV or pulling a trailer. The reason is Moki Dugway, a series of switchbacks down a mesa that is similar to La Bajada Hill on old Route 66 near Santa Fe. This short section is well-maintained gravel and is no problems for a car but large vehicles are prohibited. Moki Dugway in and of itself is worth seeing. The rest of Utah 261 is just a normal road. If you do not do Natural Bridges, Goosenecks can be reached from the south. It is just a short, easy drive from Mexican Hat on US 163 and Utah 261.

Just west of Kanab, Utah off US 89 is Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. The coral colored dunes are beautiful and unless you want to do some exploring on foot, it does not take long.

In the Moab/Arches NP/Canyonlands NP area there is also Dead Horse Point State Park where the movie Thelma & Louise was supposed to have been filmed. It is a magnificient view that, at least in my opinion, is more impressive than Canyonlands NP.

If you come in to Utah on I-70 from the west, there are some very nice rest areas/scenic overlooks that are somewhat unusual for interstates.

Do not underestimate Utah. I know of no other area of the country where you can see so much in a comparatively small area as you can in the area south of I-70 to the Arizona border.

If you choose to do the loop drive through Monument Valley, know that it is a dusty road that is very rough in places especially right at the start where it goes across solid rock. Later, it changes to a dirt road that is much smoother. There are guided tours in open vehicles but be prepared for a hot, dirty ride. When we were there last year, a lot of the people we saw on the tours had an, "Are we having fun yet?" look on their faces.

Have A Great Trip!!

Some great suggestions there Charlie, but for others who might look in and read this the statement below is not quite right.

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Originally posted by Charlie HNote: Utah 261 from Natural Bridges to Goosenecks can not be done in a RV or pulling a trailer. The reason is Moki Dugway, a series of switchbacks down a mesa that is similar to La Bajada Hill on old Route 66 near Santa Fe. This short section is well-maintained gravel and is no problems for a car but large vehicles are prohibited.

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There is a recommendation in place that vehicles over 10,000lbs, 28ft, or Trailers do not travel the Moki Dugway, but it is not prohibited. [In fact it was built by a mining company for quarry trucks]

In fact here we are in a 30ft RV !

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ica/usa385.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ica/usa382.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...i3002_0001.jpg

It's a great drive for sure !

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If you choose to do the loop drive through Monument Valley, know that it is a dusty road that is very rough in places especially right at the start where it goes across solid rock. Later, it changes to a dirt road that is much smoother. There are guided tours in open vehicles

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Just to clarify, you will not be permitted to do this drive in a rental car and would have to take a tour.

Thanks for the clarification on Moki Dugway Southwest Dave. I knew there were restrictions but I could not remember exactly what they were - I just did not want to take a chance on sending someone down the road in a prohibited vehicle. I just remember seeing a sign shortly after getting on 261 near Natural Bridges. On the map, it looked like the best way to get to Mexican Hat from Natural Bridges and, despite GPS Jill not wanting to go that way, I decided to take it anyway and told her to shut up. At the time, I was unaware of Moki Dugway and remember thinking as I drove down mile after mile of straight as a string, flatter than a pancake road, "What's up here?"

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despite GPS Jill not wanting to go that way, I decided to take it anyway and told her to shut up.

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I have similar arguments with my GPS Gal ! LOL I prefer paper maps, they don't talk back !

Dave.

Thanks for the advice everyone :) next stop - a big map!

Hi All,

My husband and I have a few key places we'd like to visit, but given the distances I'm not sure it's entirely feasible and just wanted some advice. We'd love to visit Chicago, Yellowstone, Monument Valley and Grand Canyon (plus maybe some other NPs in the Utah area). I realise Yellowstone is a way off from the other NPs.... But is there any way we could sensibly combine without driving too far every day? We're looking at around 2 weeks.

Thank you for any help.

Moderator Note: Please don't create multiple threads about the same trip.

It depends upon what you are thinking, really.

I would say about the only way you could do all of that in 2 weeks is as a one way trip, from Chicago to either Vegas or Phoenix. Doing that would be roughly 6 full days of driving (3 from Chicago to Yellowstone, 2 more to Monument Valley/Grand Canyon, 1 to Phx/Vegas) plus whatever extra parks you might add along the way.

If you were trying to do some sort of loop, then I'd say it would be tough to fit everything in.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

The good part about your propose journey is that the basic loop, Chicago-Yellowstone-Grand Canyon-Chicago, can be driven in seven days leaving you time for visits to the places you've mentioned. The bad part is that there's so much to see that even seven days worth of 'free time' is not enough to do an in-depth visit to any of them. If you'll be happy with a 'sampler' trip that will be as much about the drive as the places you drive to, then this should work very well for you.

What you can look at as you plan your RoadTrip is a mix of driving and sight-seeing each day. Some days will be mostly about driving, with only a few short stops. Other days will be major stops such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, while a day at either will be a glorious day, you could easily spend even more. On the routes between your major destinations there are other great places that you can spend a half day or so at, depending on your interests and time available. These include Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Little Bighorn Battlefield, the Grand Tetons, the Great Salt Lake, Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Zion, Monument Valley, Arches National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, and the landmarks of the old Oregon Trail.

AZBuck

Thanks guys. I probabaly should have been clearer though; I was thinking of doing Chicago as a separate entity so, fly into Chicago for a couple of days and then fly out; the question really can we fly to somewhere near e.g. Yellowstone? Spend a couple of days here and then fly again further south and do a loop (driving) from Vegas maybe? Is this too much flying? Would it better to attempt the drive from Yellowstone down?

As mentioned before, you could do a complete loop using SLC or Vegas as your start finish point. If you have a full 2 weeks for the loop trip [Chicago aside] then this would be possible, but much will depend on how long you would like to spend in any one place and how much time you are prepared to spend in the car.

A trip from SLC that took you down to Bryce canyon, Zion NP to the south rim of the GC, through Monument Valley to Moab [Arches and Canyonlands] and up through Rock Springs [Flaming Gorge Res, possibly Colorado NM and Dinosaur NM] and through the Grand Tetons to Yellowstone before heading back to SLC could be driven [just driving] in 4 comfortable days. That would leave you with a nice amount of time to juggle your sight seeing. You would add a little over 200 miles to include a visit to Vegas, or by starting and finishing from there.

One possible itinerary.

Day 1 to Bryce.
Day 2 explore Bryce to Zion [Springdale]
Day 3 Zion NP
Day 4 Grand canyon
Day 5 GC to Monument valley.
Day 6 To Moab
Day 7 Continue to explore Arches/Canyonlands.
Day 8 Towards Yellowstone [Rock Springs ?]
Day 9 To Tetons
Day 10 Tetons to Yellowstone
Day 11/12. Yellowstone
Day 13 To SLC.

Hi Guys,
Thanks so much for all your help. So getting down to the finer detail, here's what we have so far:
Fly to Chicago: 3 nights
Fly to Bozeman: 4 nights at Yellowstone
Fly to Salt Lake City & hire a car
Then we have maybe 6 or 7 nights to get to Las Vegas for flight home. We definitely want to visit Monument Valley and Grand Canyon (how long is sufficient for each of these - 1 day/2 days?) The question is what route would you suggest? Looking at the map it looks like we could drive to Moab from SLC
and stay there to do Arches & Canyonlands (how long would we need?) then on to MV & GC. Anything else to see on this route?

Or is there a better route, and what towns could we look at staying in, or can you stay in the parks?

Thank you for all your advice!!

You could quite comfortably drive to Moab and spend a couple of days visiting Arches and Canyonlands, followed by a day in Monument valley and a couple of days at the Grand canyon before continuing to Vegas, possibly via Seligman [route 66] and Hoover Dam.

How long to spend in any one place is immeasurable really, you could spend a few hours getting an overview, or a week at any of the National parks and still not get to see it all, so it's a case of travelling at a pace you are comfortable with. Another option would be to head to Zion and Bryce canyon and then through Page AZ [Antelope canyon, Lake Powell] to Monument valley and Grand canyon, and although it would be possible to do Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands, MV and Grand canyon, it might feel a little rushed. [?]

You can stay in the National parks but you usually pay a premium. If your budget can manage it there is nothing quite like 'being there'. Having said that, if you were to go to Zion and Bryce the lovely town of Springdale UT and the Rubys Inn complex make great places to stop respectively, and Moab is a good base for Arches. Monument valley has lodgings available, [Gouldings lodge] or you could stay in Kayenta, or nearer to the east entrance of the GC you will find the Cameron Trading post. If you can, treat yourself to a night at the south rim, but if not the nearest town is Tusayan with Flagstaff and Williams offering budget friendly options.

The plan you've laid out looks like it would work, although it will be very, very expensive. Multiple one-way flights along with one-way car rentals are going to almost certainly put your travel expenses well over the $1000 mark. As had been previously mentioned, it would be dramatically cheaper to do a loop out of Salt Lake City. Even if you kept the flight to Yellowstone, doing the final leg as a loop out of Vegas would likely be quite a bit cheaper than driving from SLC to Vegas.

Having said that, if money is no object, there are some other airports I might look at before Bozeman for flights to Yellowstone. Jackson WY's airport is basically right within Grand Teton National Park, there is some service right into West Yellowstone, and Cody WY would also be a bit closer than Bozeman.

Spending about a day each in Arches/Canyonlands/MV/GC would seem about right with the time you have. Moab works as a base for both Arches and Canyonlands. There are lodging options right within both MV and GC.