Planning National Parks Trip West - Summer 2014

Hi, I am planning an RV trip to several National Parks out West this summer and am planning to start with Yellowstone National Park. I will be renting the RV out of Las Vegas and traveling to Yellowstone, then to Bryce/Zion and then to Grand Canyon. We plan to stay at Yellowstone for 4 nights. We will be traveling in a FS31ft Class C RV. I was wondering if anyone could suggest some campgrounds to consider staying at during the trip? We would like to stay in campgrounds that offer some amount of a wilderness feeling with hookups if possible and I would like to be in the parks if possible or close by. Initially, some of the campgrounds I've looked at look more like parking lots and I would like to stay away from those types if possible.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hello and welcome to RTA !

The first place I would look is at the National parks website and check for availability, although it's possibly too late already. Yellowstone is a huge place and if possible you might be better off trying to book 2 nights at either end of the park to cut down on the miles spent going back and forth. The closest campground to Bryce with hook ups is 'Ruby's Inn' campground and if you can get a site use the Watchman campground for Zion NP. The campgrounds suitable for RV's are all going to be busy in the NP's in the summer, but they are all in nice surroundings and will save you a lot of hassle and miles travelling in and out of them each day.

So go to nps.gov as mentioned and search for sites, as they are in high demand with limited sites available you may have no luck. Remember you have to have an available site that will take your size of RV. If not, I would then get to work finding nearby sites as a matter of urgency. Just enter the NP name and RV camping into your search engine and check your options.

Thanks Dave!

Any thoughts on Bridge Bay Campground or a preference outside the park? Looks like there are some dates available the week of 7/20 which is the week I'm targeting to be at Yellowstone.

Thanks,
Michael

I haven't stayed at Bridge Bay, but if it looks acceptable to you I would get it nailed down asap. You will be able to find sites outside of the park, perhaps around West Yellowstone or Moran among others, but my personal opinion is you can't beat actually being there. As mentioned earlier, the park is huge and the going is slow and driving in and out each day is something I try to avoid with any of the parks.

I would stay at Bridge Bay over staying outside of Yellowstone, however, Bridge Bay would be among the bottom of my list for preferred campgrounds within the park. A pretty large section of of Bridge Bay is a grassy field, so not quite a parking lot, but not a lot of privacy or wilderness feel either.

I believe Fishing Bridge RV Park is the only place to camp with hookups within Yellowstone.

I think Canyon and Madison are two better options among the campgrounds that take reservations based on what you are looking for. If they don't have openings right now, keep checking back, as there are frequent cancellations, and what's listed as full today could have openings tomorrow.

Thanks Michael!

Does anyone have any thoughts on traveling from Las Vegas to Yellowstone on the first leg of the trip? Do you recommend stopping over for a night before entering the park? If so any thoughts on where?

You will need to break the journey to Yellowstone without a doubt. If you are renting the RV you will also have to take into consideration the pick up time and the time it takes to do the paperwork and show you the operations of it. The later you get on the road the less distance you can cover. Getting just north of Salt Lake City would be a good target if you do have to go through the motions of renting, unless you would have already picked it up or it is your own vehicle and then you could go a bit further with an early start. You also have the option of visiting Zion NP on the way up and make that your first overnight stop.

How long have you got for this trip in total ?

We're planning planning to arrive in Vegas on 7/18, pick-up the RV on 7/19 and we will have through 8/2 when we have to return the RV. The plan is to visit Yellowstone, Bryce/Zion, Grand Canyon North and South (if possible) The tentative schedule is:

7/19 - pick-up the RV and begin trip, stop overnight
7/20 - arrive at Yellowstone; 4 nights (at this time we are booked for Bay Bridge)
7/24 - leave Yellowstone and head for Bryce/Zion - say overnight
7/25 - arrive Bryce/Zion - could this all be coupled with Grand Canyon North? Still looking for a campground. Spend 3 nights in Bryce/Zion & Canyon North area if this is feasible
7/29 - arrive Grand Canyon South, spend 3 nights
8/1 - arrive back in Vegas/Return RV
8/2 - possible down day before leaving Vegas
8/3 - leave Vegas

I am flexible.

I would look for different campgrounds for Bryce/Zion/North Rim. They are just too far apart, and you'd end up spending a lot of hours in the RV backtracking between the parks and your site.

Once again, thanks for the input. It is greatly appreciated.

Does anyone have any recommendations on campground to look into for the Utah and Arizona parks? The RV will be 31ft. Someone suggested Ruby's for Bryce but I haven't checked it out yet.

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.

Even if you can pick up earlier, I would not be stopping in Phoenix to get supplies. Heading for Hoover Dam, you would no doubt be heading out on 93. Why not stop in Suprise, or even better, Wickenburg. If you plan to head to Page, there is also a variety of places well out of the Phoenix metropolis, along that route.

If you do pick up earlier, and head straight for the Dam, you could even pick up supplies in Boulder or Henderson, after visiting Hoover Dam. All these places have shopping well into late evening. If you're worried about lunch on that first day, why not pick up somethings before picking up the RV.

Lifey

Thanks for the advice. I was considering worst case scenario but you're correct. I will be in Phoenix Thursday night so I will arrange to do the pick-up as early as possible. And thanks for the advice on the supplies. I'm at a loss for how best to approach it right now. We'll need food/beverages and some camp related items. Thinking Supermarker and/or Walmart type location. Does anyone have thought on the camp related items. Are there stores the rent camp packages for RV renters such as camp chairs, lanterns, etc...?

Buying basic equipment like that from Walmart shouldn't be expensive, just donate it to a charitable resale store when you are done with it. You could of course check with the RV rental company to see what they might offer.

The RV companies often rent extra items but can be expensive when compared to buying. We have only ever rented the kitchen and bedding kits when booking for ease and convenience and other than carrying a torch with us, we have not bothered with anything else. The RV usually has an external light and most sites have a picnic table and bench set to sit at. Buying a couple of chairs is certainly an option, but really isn't a necessity or urgent. You will find a general store/supermarket in most towns and if you had to grab a few things from a fuel station to keep you going it wouldn't be the end of the world. Don't forget your firewood and firelighters which is also available at most stores and fuel stations.

So the trip is getting closer but still to early to get a commitment from the RV company on when we can pick it up. So the plan will be to pick up the RV and be on the road by 1:00pm on Friday, give or take an hour. We're going to head out as suggested to either Boulder City or Henderson, Nevada and camp the night. Then go to the Hoover Dam on Saturday morning. Are there any suggestion on a campground in either of those cities? Also, does anything think we're giving to much site seeing by taking the route we're taking to the Hoover Dam and should instead opt for other sites?

We'll head out on our trip Yellowstone following the stop at the Hoover Dam. Any suggestions for a stop over for Saturday night? Does this sound reasonable for the first two days?

Hi, I planning a trip out west to visit some National Parks. I'm planning my trip route and there's an area I'm stuck. I'll be picking up the RV in Phoenix and heading out the same day. At this time we're planning to head for Henderson, NV overnight and then the next day get up and head to the Hoover Dam. I understand that we can only enter the Hoover Dam access road from the Nevada side these days so that'll make a relatively quick trip from Henderson.

Then from the Hoover Dam we're planning to head up to Yellowstone. We plan to stop over some place en route Saturday night and was looking at Evaston, WY. Rough estimate we'll be probably be getting underway at around noon from the Hoover Dam. Any thoughts?

Mod note] Please keep all questions for this trip in this thread. Thank you

Hoover Dam to Evanston is over 500 miles - if you aren't leaving till noon that's way too far. In a RV that could be close to 10 hours.

There are RV park options in Nephi UT and that's about as far as you should aim for to pull in at a reasonable time for the night to get set down and eat. It'll be probably be around 7 hours of travel, so midday would be the latest I would want to leave. There is a Jones High country RV camp just a little way off the Interstate, I know nothing of it but it would be convenient for an overnight stop.

Sorry about the added thread. I appreciate all the feedback and it's been pretty consistent telling me I'm trying to do to much by including a trip out to Hoover Dam in the time frame I'm working with to reach Yellowstone. I think I'd rather keep the four nights in Yellowstone than give up another night to see the Dam. With that being said, with the change of plans by passing up Hoover, a previous post recommended heading up to Page, AZ on Friday, then to Evanston on Saturday and then we could hit Yellowstone on Sunday. Does this seem reasonable? Are there any other recommendations?

You can still see the dam and be in Yellowstone Sunday, you just won't make it to Evanston if you are not leaving the dam untill Noon. From Nephi UT you could still get into Yellowstone on Sunday. If you were on the road by 1pm on day one [I can't think of a reason not to be even earlier] it's possible you could stop at the Hoover dam late that afternoon, head to the campground and then go direct to Evanston.

The best way to arrange an early pick up time is to contact the local rental office from where you are collecting, not the on-line booking site.

I guess I feel like I might have tried to bite off more than I could chew with some of these distances. Being novices at RV driving and have some folks on the trip being first time campers I know we're going to move slower than you could in a regular vehicle or what we expected at first. The problem is I should probably re-calibrate my trip and stay more to the Arizona and Utah parks rather than trying to push it all the way up to Yellowstone. Earlier advice I got was solid and it was to try to get trip distances down to around an average or 5 hours give or take some on either side. I'm traveling in just a couple of weeks, how realistic is it to change the trip route at this point? What parks would I target with the RV in 14 nights?

You have the time to stick to your original plan if that's your preference. Have you made reservations in the Utah parks and Grand canyon etc ? Your biggest challenge would be finding availablity in the parks at this late stage. RV sites are limited in number and extremely popular and therefor once the NP sites are booked, those closest outside begin to fill. If you were to change your itinerary then you would be looking to create a loop that would include Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce canyon, Zion and the Grand canyon NP's, but again I don't think it necessary and it could bring new problems with available sites. I don't think you have bitten of more than you can chew overall, just wrongly estimated the time to get to Yellowstone, but arriving a day later wouldn't have too much of an impact on your overall trip plan.

An update on your planned itinerary and actual bookings to date might help us to suggest some 'tweaks'.

Another question: which entrance would I be going to enter Yellowstone thru if I'm traveling directly up from Phoenix, with some stops, or via Henderson, NV, with some stops? South Entrance or West? I'm going to be staying at the Bridge Bay Campground.

You have the option of either although the south entrance will take slightly longer. You should enter at one and depart by the other and try and plan an overnight stop that would give you at least a little time in the Tetons to the south.

Here is an updated Itinerary:

* 7/18 - pick-up RV in Phoenix and begin trip
* 7/20 - scheduled to arrive at Yellowstone w/reservation at Bay Bridge for 4 nights. Do not yet have stops identified nor reservations made for the two overnight stops
* 7/24 - leave Yellowstone and head for Bryce/Zion - Do not have overnight stop location nor reservation made.
* 7/25 - scheduled to arrive at Ruby's RV in Utah as base for Bryce/Zion for three nights
* 7/28 - scheduled to arrive at Kaibab Camper Village as base for Grand Canyon North Rim for 1 night - willing to remove this from plan
* 7/29 - scheduled to leave for and arrive at Williams KOA as base for Grand Canyon South for 3 nights
* 8/1 - schedule to drop RV off in Phoenix

We have also removed the Hoover Dam option from the plan.

Considering you are kind of rushing a bit to get to Yellowstone as it is, I would change the reservation and not plan to arrive until the 21st. There should be no penalty for cancelling 1 day at this point.

Instead, plan to spend that night around Grand Teton. The campgrounds within GT don't accept reservations anyway, it would shorten your drives on the first two days, and gives you a chance to see at least a little of that great park on your way into Yellowstone.

It depends on how comfortable you feel with the driving. You could get near Page AZ on night 1, then stop north of SLC and roll into Yellowstone during the afternoon of the 20th. To break the journey to Bryce you could look at breaking the journey in Rock Springs, that would give you a little time to at the Tetons and if you wanted, a little time at Flaming Gorge res. To spend more time at the Tetons and a little less behind the wheel you could, choose to stop somewhere between Jackson and Evanston.

As was mentioned earlier, Bryce is not really a great base from which to explore Zion. With an RV it could take 2.5 hours to travel one way when you take into consideration the wait to get the RV through the Mt Carmel tunnel. I would check the Watchman campground in Zion although I suspect it will be full, there are other options around Springdale which is the closest town and the free shuttle buses into the canyon run from here. The Zion NP parking lot can easily fill by mid-morning and it's not easy to find a space with a 30ft RV.

When you say "scheduled," are you actually booked in as previously recommended ? If not I would look into this urgently.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mlfrancis

* 7/28 - scheduled to arrive at Kaibab Camper Village as base for Grand Canyon North Rim for 1 night - willing to remove this from plan
* 7/29 - scheduled to leave for and arrive at Williams KOA as base for Grand Canyon South for 3 nights

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Assuming you follow Dave's advice, you could spend the night after your last day in Zion, in Kanab. This sets you up well to visit the North Rim the following day and stay at the Camper Village that night.

Next day, head to Williams via Cameron Trading Post, enter the GC at the east entrance, along Desert View Drive - following the Colorado River into the Canyon, and out the southern entrance to Williams. There are many viewpoints and overlooks along Desert View Drive, many of which you will want to stop at. Cameron Trading Post is also worth a stop. Last time I was there there was a ranger giving a talk near there on the two small planes which collided and crashed into the canyon back in the '50s.

Lifey

I can't thank all of you enough. I really appreciate the advice and feedback! I got myself tied up into a pretty good pretzel and got concerned with the drive times. This gives me something I can get working on right away.

Regarding Dave's question on what I meant by "scheduled": This means I have confirmed reservations at those campgrounds indicated for the lengths of stays indicated.

On the point about how comfortable we'll be driving the RV: we're new to it but I think we'll adapt pretty good once we get going. I know it's going to be slow going.

I'm know I'm going to have more questions but this does give me something I can work with and it is appreciated. I'm going to get started on getting the overnights I don't have booked nailed down and the mapping done.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where I can start researching on a location north of Salt Lake City?

Just check out town names of the area you want to stay at on a map and enter the name and RV park into your search engine. For a quick example, I found these Hot springs with camping not far north of Brigham City in Honeyville. Any place should do that is reasonable as it's just some place to rest up. It's good you have confirmed reservations although you might want to look into alternatives for Zion and cancel a night at Ruby's.

You are going to have a wonderful experience, so relax and enjoy the planning.