Suggestions for late winter (end March) trip near Grand Canyon

[kwai]

All,

I'm thinking of a trip flying into Phoenix towards the end of March and driving to San Francisco over a two week period. I picked those particular airports because it allows me to do a one-way trip and both have direct flights to the UK. Anyway, I would appreciate thoughts on how to break down the trip and good places to stay.

I was thinking something along the lines of:

- Phoenix (1 night)
- Sedona (1 night)
- Grand Canyon (2 nights)
- Bryce Canyon (2 nights)
- Zion (3 nights)
- Las Vegas? (1 night)
- Death Valley (drive through - is there anywhere to stay between Vegas and Yosemite?)
- Yosemite (2 nights)
- San Francisco (1 night)

But I don't know the area at all, and haven't tried to plan out the route in detail yet, so any comments would be greatly appreciated. Also, I would be particularly interested in any places it was worth detouring to on the way.

The alternative would be to skip Yosemite and San Fran and fly into and out of Vegas.

cheers,
Ben

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm thinking of a trip flying into Phoenix towards the end of March and driving to San Francisco over a two week period. I picked those particular airports because it allows me to do a one-way trip and both have direct flights to the UK.

Ben, Welcome to the Forum!

The direct route highway passes between Death Valley and San Francisco (going through Yosemite NP) will still be closed due to snow when you are here. You can reach Yosemite and there are ~ 100 posts on the subject of routes between San Francisco and Las Vegas in the winter and spring montsh on this board -- use the search function and use San Francisco & Las Vegas as your keywords.

For that reason, I would suggest using either Las Vegas or Phoenix as your hub --- hundreds of places to explore within a 500 mile radius from either location.

But to respond to your query:

- Death Valley (drive through - is there anywhere to stay between Vegas and Yosemite?)

One of our favorite inns in America is in Death Valley -- the Furnace Creek Inn -- but there are also plenty of lodging alternatives in the towns west of Death Valley.

Mark

[kwai]

Thanks for your reply... sounds like I should drop San Fran then and probably base in Vegas. That being the case, is the trip up to Yosemite worthwhile?

I tried a search earlier and founds lots of useful comments, but found it difficult to tell the length of time it was worth staying in each location at this time of year.

Thanks again,
Ben

[Mark Sedenquist]

Thanks for your reply... sounds like I should drop San Fran then and probably base in Vegas. That being the case, is the trip up to Yosemite worthwhile?

Yosemite is a truly awesome park -- but you can not reach Yosemite from the east (Las Vegas) this time of year. Tioga Pass is closed. If you leave San Francisco in the trip, than I would suggest that you swing by Yosemite on your way -- but going around the mountains will require a full day (so it would be a two+ day trip from Las Vegas to San Francisco).

I tried a search earlier and founds lots of useful comments, but found it difficult to tell the length of time it was worth staying in each location at this time of year.

If you use Las Vegas as your base, you can be in five national parks within five hours and nearly 100 other state and regional parks. Each of them could easily consume all of your trip. Pick and choose -- they are all great.

Mark