Summer road trip with kids

[John Jervis]

I'm planning a road trip in June from San Francisco to the Grand Canyon via Death Valley and Vegas. I have about 8 days and I have two kid’s boy 10 and girl 5. I would like to do a mix of camping and hotel and not drive for more that 3 hours a day.

Do you think I can fit in all the destinations above in the given time frame?
Do you have suggestions for good road trip guide books with places for kids?
Any suggestions for kid friendly campgrounds or hotels along the way

This is my first US road trip so any advice would be appreciated

[PNW Judy]

Greetings & welcome to the RTA forums!

This trip is just over 1700 miles RT. Best estimates are that it takes about 30-31 hours to drive this so, over 8 days, this would be almost 4 hours driving each day.

Is this a deal-breaker? I hope not. Personally, I would plan for a longer day or two of driving, and mix it up with staying in one spot and exploring for a day.

Most hotels and virtually all campground are kid-friendly so I don't think that will be a problem for you.

I've never done the Death Valley leg so it's hard for me to comment on that. This is a well-traveled route and many of our contributors are more familiar with it than I am so, hopefully, they'll chime in soon with specific advice.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm planning a road trip in June from San Francisco to the Grand Canyon via Death Valley and Vegas. I have about 8 days and I would like to do a mix of camping and hotel and not drive for more that 3 hours a day.

If you only drive in three hour periods, it will take two days to reach Death Valley from San Francisco by the most direct route, one day to reach Las Vegas and two days to reach the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas and so you will have used six days just in transit, which might work OK - what is the concern about driving more hours each day?

If you were to increase your drivin time to six hours per day, you could take in some of the Gold Rush country and enjoy the countryside a bit more.

Mark