Advice on 14 day summer route: SLC --> Las Vegas --> LA --> Yosemite -->San Francisco

[Ivo Mihaylov]

Dear all,

It is going to be my first journey to the U.S., and my girlfriend and I have 2 weeks from Salt Lake City in the first two weeks of June.

I think we are being a bit too adventurous, so I would first of all like to ask you if we are crazy (!!!).
Day Location
1 Salt Lake City Airport
2 Salt Lake
3 Salt Lake
4 Salt Lake
5 Vegas
6 Sedona/grand canyon
7 San Diego
8 Los Angeles
9 Los Angeles
10 Santa Barbara (or some nice beach!)
11 Yosemite
12 Yosemite
13 San Francisco
14 San Francisco
15 Salt Lake City Airport

Above are the days and places that seem worthy of seeing - the problem is that we should probably make some sacrifices to tailor this route! Any advice in Salt Lake City would be much appreciated!

I have attached a tentative route on Google Maps! Maybe it is a little bit crazy!

Best wishes to all of you,

Ivo

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

First off, is there a reason you are spending 4 nights in SLC? Nothing wrong with Salt Lake, but that's a big chunk of your trip. You're also extremely city heavy, and there are a lot of great natural areas that you're not including or not giving enough time for, right now.

Route wise, there are some things you could do that would probably work better for you.

First, it's quite a bit shorter to go from SLC directly to the Grand Canyon. Doing that would also have you going past places like Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. Also note, the Grand Canyon really deserves a day by itself, and I wouldn't try to do both GC and Sedona in the same day - especially not if you're also going to have a half day of driving on top of it.

After GC, then I would head to Vegas, then down to SD and back to LA, although in your initial plan, you really didn't have any time for San Diego at all, once you factored in the full day drive.

From LA, I'd head up to San Francisco, spending at least 2 day and going up the coast.

After SF, then going to Yosemite, which would let you leave the park via Tioga Pass before making your way back to Utah.

You might have to rework some things, especially when it comes to the amount of time you are spending in some places, but that's where I'd start.

[Southwest Dave]

I would agree with Michael. Is the extra driving worth what would amount to a few hours in SD ? Do you really need that much time in SLC when you are rushing through so many other places ? Your plan isn't crazy and if it's how you want to spend your time that's fine. What I would consider is cutting your time in SLC to a couple of days and perhaps drop SD. That would leave you a little more time for the natural wonders as mentioned by Michael.

[Lifemagician]

Would you consider reversing your trip, so that you can drive the PCH from SF to LA southbound? That would make it a more pleasant drive, putting the ocean and all the scenic view points on your side of the road. That way you will not have to cross over oncoming traffic each time you pull into and out of the scenic overlooks.

You could start with Yosemite (via I-80 and 395) to SF, the PCH to LA then on to the Grand Canyon via Sedona. to LV and back to SLC via Zion and Byce national parks. Allow at least a full day for each of GC, Zion and Yosemite - even that will not do them justice. Bryce can be enjoyed in half a day, unless you would like to do some of the hikes into the canyon.

Lifey