Bay City, MI to California

hi, 5 friends and I are taking a round trip road trip from bay city, michigan to California and the aurrounding areas. We are camping the whole time, and we only have about 11 days to do the trip. We definately want to see the grand canyon, but we dont really know what else to see or do. We are going to be resting in las vegas at my friend's uncle's house one night, but other than all of this, we dont know what to see or do. Any advice? We like to see beautiful natural things, and we are on a low budget by the way. Thanks, peace out.

[Mark Sedenquist]

By the fastest, most direct route the mileage to Las Vegas is 2051 miles and so unless you intend to set up camp in the dark each day, you will need to cover a minimum of 500 miles per day. If you had the 800 or so miles to stop and see Arches, Zion and some of the other Utah parks you days will be much longer. It is possible, although unwise, to cover that distance in two days.

If you decide to include some serious driving days in between the hiking, climbing and camping, suggest driving in three-hour blocks and insist that the non-drivers sleep some.

A round trip from Bay City, to San Francisco via Zion, the Grand Canyon, Slick-rock etc will easily exceed 5600 miles. Hope you are ready for that much "sitting"!

[Joshua]

lol, We do plan to do some SERIOUS driving the first two days. We honestly want to get to Las Vegas by the end of the second day, or EARLY on the 3rd day. From there, we are clueless. I just need advice on where to go from Vegas. Keep in mind that once we get to vegas we'll only have 8 or so days to go places, and drive back. thanks.